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HANOVER    C"  IV 


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Entered  according  to  Ad  of  Congress.  W43 


•  •  •  •  • 

•  •*   •     •• 


THE 


LIFE   AND    SPEECHES 


HON.    HENRY    CLAY 


IN    TWO    VOLUMES. 


COMPILED    AND    EDITED    BY 


DAN     EL.    M  ALIO  It  I 

<V       01-'  TI{K    •   -^? 


Sstzortii  HOttfon. 


NEW  YORK: 

ROBERT    P.  BIX  BY    &    CO 
1843. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  Year  Eighteen  Hundred  and  Forty -Three, 

BY    SAMUEL    N.   DICKINSON, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


l%&>\ 


,  .  .     . 


bostos: 

SAMUEL,   N.  DICKINSON,   PRINTER, 
WASHINGTON    STREET. 


CONTENTS  OF  YOLUME  I. 


PREFACE, 5 

LIFE  OF  HENRY  CLAY, 9 

SPEECH  ON  DOMESTIC  MANUFACTURES. 195 

SPEECH  ON  THE  LINE  OF  THE  PERDIDO, 200 

SPEECH  ON  RENEWING  THE  CHARTER  OF  THE  FIRST  BANK  OF  THE 

UNITED  STATES, 210 

^T        SPEECH  ON  THE  AUGMENTATION  OF  MILITARY  FORCE 222 

SPEECH  ON  THE  INCREASE  OF  THE  NAVY, v 230 

r  SPEECH  ON  THE  NEW  ARMY  BILL, 24° 

SPEECH  ON  HIS  RETURN  FROM  GHENT, S59 

SPEECH  ON  THE  UNITED  STATES  BANK  QUESTION, 262 

SPEECH  ON  THE  DIRECT  TAX,  AND  THE  STATE  OF  THE  NATION  AFTER 

THE   CLOSE   OF  THE  WAR  WITH  GREAT  BRITAIN, 2G8 

SPEECH  ON  THE  BILL  FOR  FORCING  NEUTRALITY, 2S6 

SPEECH  ON  COMMERCIAL  RESTRICTIONS  WITH  FOREIGN  NATIONS, 


SPEECH  ON  INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENT, 294 

SPEECH  ON  THE  WAR  BETWEEN  SPAIN  AND  HER  COLONIES, 29,7.. 

SPEECH  ON  INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENT, 300 

SPEECHES   ON  THE  EMANCIPATION  OF  SOUTH  AMERICA, 321,348,       "i- 

SPEECH  ON  THE  SEMINOLE  WAR,  * 3G4 

SPEECH  ON  SOUTH  AMERICAN  AFFAIRS, '-390^ 

SPEECH  ON  THE  SPANISH  TREATY, 392 

SPEECH  ON  THE  PROTECTION  OF  HOME  INDUSTRY, 405 

SPEECH  ON  THE  MISSION  TO   SOUTH  AMERICA, 425      V  *>'< 

SPEECH  ON  THE  GREEK  REVOLUTION, 432 

SPEECH  ON  AMERICAN  INDUSTRY, 440 

SPEECH  IN  REPLY  TO  JOHN  RANDOLPH, 483 

ADDRESS  TO  LA  FAYETTE, 484 


IV  CONTENTS. 

ADDRESS  TO  HIS  CONSTITUENTS  ON  THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION  OF  1825,  .  486 
SPEECH  ON  THE  ELECTION  OF  PRESIDENT  BY  CONGRESS  IN  1825,  ...     507 

SPEECH  ON  AFRICAN  COLONIZATION, 515 

SPEECH  ON  THE  CHARGE  OF  CORRUPTION, 538 

SPEECH  ON  THE  POLITICAL  CONDITION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  DURING 

J.  Q.  ADAMS'S  ADMINISTRATION, 554 

SPEECH  ON  RETIRING  FROM  OFFICE, 560 

SPEECH  ON  THE  COMMENCEMENT  OF  JACKSON'S  ADMINISTRATION,     .       .     564 
SPEECH  ON  THE  EFFECT  OF  THE  PROTECTIVE  SYSTEM  ON  THE  SOUTH- 
ERN STATES, 582 

SPEECH  ON  THE  REDUCTION  OF  DUTIES  ON  IMPORTS, 586 

SPEECH  ON  THE  NOMINATION  OF  MR.  VAN  BUREN,  AS  MINISTER  TO  GREAT 

BRITAIN, 599 


PREFACE 


In  writing  the  Biography  of  Henry  Clay,  we  are  conscious  of 
entering  a  field  several  times  explored,  by  individuals  of  great  ability, 
who  have  spread  before  a  delighted  public  the  rich  rewards  of  their 
researches.  But  its  great  amplitude  —  the  loftiness  of  its  hills  —  the 
breadth  of  its  valleys  —  and  the  vastness  of  its  enclosures,  induce  the 
belief,  that  the  office  of  another  explorer  would  not  be  altogether  that 
of  a  gleaner;  on  the  contrary,  that  the  proper  performance  of  its 
duties  would  result  in  the  discovery  of  new  beauties,  and  in  the 
acquisition  of  new  treasure.  Under  the  influence  of  this  belief,  the 
resolution  was  taken  and  preliminaries  settled  of  our  undertaking, 
and  ourself  brought  to  its  borders,  indulging  in  visions  of  anticipated 
pleasure,  not  unlike  those  which  an  enthusiastic  botanist  experiences, 
who,  with  feranthos  across  his  shoulders,  and  analyzing  apparatus  in 
his  satchel,  is  about  to  enter  the  fair  field  of  nature,  to  cull  and 
examine  the  loveliest  specimens  of  her  skill.  Personal  gratification, 
however,  was  not  the  only  nor  chief  motive  prompting  us  to  the 
undertaking.  We  desired  to  procure  a  larger  and  better  collection 
than  had  ever  been  made  of  the  mental  gems  of  him  who  had  moved 
in  patriotic  majesty  over  it,  and  adorned  its  enclosures  of  intellectual 
verdure  with  the  brilliants  of  pure  and  lofty  action ;  to  gather  and 
collocate  these,  we  were  strongly  urged  by  the  consideration  that  we 
should  thus  contribute,  in  some  degree,  to  carry  into  execution  that 
which  forms  one  of  the  most  interesting  features  of  Mr.  Clay's  char- 
acter—  a  desire  to  submit  his  every  public  act  to  the  closest  public 
scrutiny  —  a  desire  which  has  not  been  introduced  to  subserve  a 
certain  purpose,  but  which  is  coeval  with  his  political  existence,  and 
which  he  has,  under  all  circumstances,  unequivocally  avowed.  A 
further  motive  was  derived  from  our  own  ardent  desire  to  behold  a 


VI  PREFACE. 

more  deeply-seated  and  generally-extended  conviction  of  the  purity, 
disinterestedness,  and  inestimable  value  of  his  services,  which,  in 
view  of  our  own  experience,  we  firmly  believed  would  be  the  inva- 
riable  issue-of-a  -careful  and  candid  examination  of  them.  That  we 
sincerely  and  strongly  wished  the  dissemination  and  establishment  of 
this  conviction  we  gladly  affirm,  not  because  we  attached  the  slightest 
importance  to  it,  considered  as  a  mere  isolated  fact,  but  because  we 
knew  it  would  be  productive  of  great  and  permanent  good  in  the 
minds  of  all  where  it  should  find  a  lodgment. 

It  is  a  well  known  and  prominent  truth,  that  those  who  are  familiar 
with  the  beauties  and  sublimities  of  the  natural  world,  are  distin- 
guished for  expansive,  liberal,  and  noble  views.  An  effect  parallel  to 
this  is  distinctly  seen  in  those  who  are  surrounded  by  the  magnificent 
scenery  of  the  mental  and  moral  world,  and  whose  dwellings  are 
irradiated  by  their  effulgent  luminaries.  Hence,  a  sage  custom  of  the 
ancient  Greeks,  as  related  by  one  of  their  historians,  of  causing  their 
youth  to  be  similarly  circumstanced  —  especially  those  who  were 
being  educated  with  direct  reference  to  the  assumption  of  the  duties 
and  responsibilities  of  public  life.  In  qualifying  these  appropriately 
to  discharge  the  former  and  sustain  the  latter,  their  guardians  and 
preceptors  deemed  it  of  vital  importance  to  place  before  them  the 
noblest  scenes  and  subjects.  In  close  connection  with  the  precept 
'know  thyself'  they  enjoined  that  of  ' know  the  good  and  great  of 
others'  To  them  it  was  well  known,  that  the  contemplation  of  deeds 
of  mental  and  moral  grandeur  was  most  salutary  —  that  it  generated 
a  desire  to  imitate  and  surpass  them  —  nay,  more;  that  it  limned 
them  upon  the  walls  of  the  soul,"  and  filled  it  with  the  most  beautiful 
intellectual  imagery,  which  would  eventually  develope  itself  in  action 
—  magnanimous,  patriotic,  and  conservative  of  the  best  interests  of 
mankind.  To  attempt  to  prove  that  such  deeds  thickly  adorn  the 
field  of  Mr.  Clay's  history  would  be  superfluous,  since  the  fact  is  well 
established  in  all  civilized  countries. 

So  much  in  relation  to  the  motives  for  our  undertaking.  A  brief 
statement  of  the  manner  and  circumstances  of  its  performance  may 
not  be  inappropriate. 

Our  visions  of  anticipated  pleasure,  at  its  commencement,  were 
fully  realized  during  its  progress.  We  had  expected  to  be  rewarded 
by  the  discovery  of  intellectual  diamonds  of  the  first  water,  but  not 
in  such  rich  profusion  as  we  found  them.  In  consequence  of  the 
frequent  struggles  between  our  inclination  and  inability  to  gather  and 
bring  away  all,  we  fear  that  many  of  intrinsic  value  have  been  left 
behind ;  but  we  trust  and  believe,  that  the  most  beautiful  and  impor- 


PREFACE.  Y[[ 


tant  specimens,  will  be  found  in  our  collection.  Entire  originality  for 
it  is  not  claimed,  but  aid  from  various  sources  has  been  received  in 
its  formation.  Deeming  the  facts  and  events  of  Mr.  Clay's  career 
public  property,  we  have  freely  taken  and  appropriated  them,  wherever 
found,  without  considering  it  incumbent  upon  us  to  designate  their 
locality. 

With  regard  to  the  Speeches  of  Mr.  Clay,  no  labor  has  been  spared 
in  seeking  for  them,  and  it  is  believed  that  few,  if  any,  which  have 
been  reported,  will  be  found  wanting  in  our  collection.  A  brief 
memoir  has  been  prefixed  to  each,  illustrative  of  the  subject  and 
occasion  on  which  it  was  delivered,  and  the  fate  of  the  question.  In 
this  labor,  we  have  been  materially  assisted  by  Mr.  Edwin  Williams, 
the  former  secretary  of  the  American  Institute ;  a  gentleman  well 
known  for  his  accuracy  and  ability  in  historical  and  statistical  matters. 

In  giving  the  result  of  our  investigations,  we  express  our  fears  that 
it  will  be  found  to  contain  imperfections,  notwithstanding  our  endeav- 
ors to  guard  against  them  It  has  been  exceedingly  difficult  to  speak 
of  Mr.  Clay's  eminent  acts,  without  sliding  imperceptibly  into  the 
path  of  eulogy.  This,  perhaps,  has  led  to  the  error  of  saying  too 
much  sometimes,  and  too  little  at  others.  For  defects  of  this  nature, 
however,  the  intelligent  reader  will  require  no  apology.  But  the  defi- 
ciency most  prominent,  and  one  which  we  lament  most  sincerely,  is, 
that  of  not  having  done  justice  to  his  transcendent  talents  and  abili- 
ties as  an  orator.  For  this,  an  excuse  must  be  furnished  by  our 
incompetency ;  the  consciousness  of  which  fell  upon  us,  with  over- 
whelming force,  as  we  stood  in  the  presence  of  his  eloquence.  We 
watched  its  wonderful  and  spirit-like  movements  and  operations,  and 
turned  away  from  the  task  of  adequate  description,  as  we  would  have 
shrank  from  the  fruitless  endeavor  to  take  the  dimensions  of  a  bound- 
less and  unfathomable  ocean.  Attempts  at  describing  it  we  have 
indeed  made,  but  they  are  abortive  —  dim  shadows  of  its  noble  sub- 
stance, and  tenantless  abodes  of  its  beauty.  Our  belief  of  the  utter 
impossibility  to  convey  an  adequate  idea  of  it  through  the  medium  of 
written  or  verbal  statement,  has  been  confirmed  by  the  opinion  of 
those  who  have  often  beheld  its  manifestations.  A  distinguished 
senator  remarked  to  us  very  recently,  that  Mr.  Clay's  eloquence  was 
absolutely  intangible  tcylelineation  —  that  the  most  labored  and  thril- 
ling description  could  not  embrace  it,  and  that,  to  be  understood,  it 
must  be  seen  and  felt.  Neither  is  it  contained  in  those  inimitable 
productions  of  mind  —  his  speeches.  Abundant  evidences  of  its 
magic  influence  are  found  in  these.  The  monuments  heaved  up  by  its 
hand  of  power,  stand  thick  about  its  gorgeous  pathway,  which  runs 


Vlll  PREFACE. 

through  them  all  like  a  golden  tissue,  but  it  is  not  there.     Its  nature 
is  too  closely  allied  to  etheriality  to  find  a  fit  terrestrial  abode. 

What  has  been  said  of  Mr.  Clay's  eloquence,  is,  to  a  great  extent, 
true  of  his  philanthropy  and  patriotism.  No  individual  was  ever  less 
controlled  by  sectional  feeling.  The  height  of  benevolence  on  which 
he  planted  himself  was  so.  lofty  as  to  enable  him,  while  legislating  for 
his  own  country,  in  particular,  to  have  an  eye  to,  and  care  for,  the 
interests  of  all  other  countries.  In  what  manner  and  to  what  extent 
they  have  been  benefited,  by  his  exalted  and  humane  services,  it  is 
believed  an  ample  and  authentic  source  of  information  will  be  found 
in  our  compilation  of  them.  In  the  full  assurance  that  these  will 
endure  the  ordeal  of  the  closest  and  most  philosophic  scrutiny  to  the 
end  of  time,  we  present  them  to  the  public,  and  cannot  avoid  giving 
utterance  to  the  desire  that  they  may  be  speedily  subjected  to  it,  and 
in  the  same  liberal  spirit  which  distinguished  their  performance. 
Should  such  a  result  be  realized,  we  shall  consider  the  time  employed 
in  gathering  and  arranging  them  most  profitably  occupied. 


LIFE  OF  HENEY  CLAY. 


Biographic  usage  might  require  us  to  give  the  pedigree  of  the 
distinguished  individual  who  forms  the  subject  of  the  following 
memoir.  Many  considerations,  however,  combine  to  induce  a 
departure  from  this  usage.  In  the  first  place,  we  are  strongly  dis- 
posed to  question  the  practical  utility  of  it ;  and  in  the  second,  to 
doubt  our  ability,  even  after  the  most  diligent  search,  to  exhibit 
what  is  ordinarily  the  object  of  such  a  search  —  an  illustrious 
pedigree.  Indeed,  we  regard  it  as  very  problematical,  whether  we 
should  be  able  to  get  beyond  the  pale  of  republican  simplicity. 
But  the  most  cogent  consideration  is  the  belief  that  our  efforts 
would  not  be  more  highly  appreciated  than  were  those  of  the 
emperor  of  Austria  by  Napoleon  Bonaparte.  The  Austrian 
monarch,  desirous  of  proving  his  future  son-in-law  royally  de- 
scended, was  busily  engaged  in  making  the  searches  requisite  to 
establish  the  fact.  Napoleon,  becoming  acquainted  with  his  inten- 
tion, immediately  visited  him,  and  exclaimed,  '  Stop,  stop,  sire !  I 
alone  am  the  author  of  my  fortune,  and  desire  it  to  be  so  understood : 
neither  royal  descent  nor  royalty  has  contributed  any  thing  to  its 
achievement,  and  though  I  might  legitimately  claim  both,  would 
not  mention  either.'  We  do  not  know  that  a  similar  indifference 
is  felt  by  Mr.  Clay,  in  relation  to  his  lineage,  but  his  plain,  unosten- 
tatious habits,  and  firm  adherence  to  republican  principles,  warrant 
us  in  presuming  that  such  is  the  case.  Certain  it  is,  however,  that 
for  his  present  elevated  position,  he  is  as  little  indebted  to  any 
adventitious  advantages  of  birth  or  fortune,  as  was  the  mighty 
conqueror ;  and  with  equal  propriety  might  he  say,  in  view  of  the 
means  by  which  he  had  attained  that  position,  I  alone  am  the 
architect  of  my  fortune.  Without  attempting,  therefore,  to  invest 
his  origin  with  the  splendors  of  a  titled  ancestry,  it  may  suffice  to 
observe,  that  family  reminiscences  render  it  certain  that  his  imme- 
vol.  i.  2 


10  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

diate  progenitors  were  distinguished  for  sterling  worth,  virtue  and 
integrity.  His  father,  a. Baptist  clergyman,  labored  in  his  official 
capacity  .with  great  #pe?ptance,  in  a  district  of  country  in  Hanover 
county,*  Virginiaj  familiarly  denominated  'The  Slashes,'  where, 
on  the  12th  o£*  A'prH,  17.77,. his  fifth  child,  Henry,  was  born.  He 
was  not  destined  to  enjoy  those  instructions  and  counsels  which  a 
father  only  knows  how  to  impart,  —  for  when  he  had  attained  his 
fifth  year,  his  father  died.  This  event  consigned  him  entirely 
to  the  care  of  his  mother  —  a  woman  of  an  uncommonly  vigorous 
mind,  richly  adorned  with  feminine  graces,  and  every  way  compe- 
tent to  superintend  his  incipient  education. 

Unfortunately,  the  embarrassed  condition  of  her  husband's 
estate  at  his  death,  besides  greatly  augmenting  her  cares,  prevented 
her  from  giving  Henry  that  thorough  course  of  study  which  she 
designed  him  to  pursue.  So  far,  therefore,  from  receiving  a  liberal, 
he  did  not  receive  a  good  elementary  education.  The  lowly  district 
school  of  that  region,  to  which  his  instructions  were  limited,  was 
deficient  in  almost  every  essential  respect.  But  even  under  these 
inauspicious  circumstances,  in  early  boyhood  he  manifested  a  strong 
desire  for  knowledge,  which  in  consequence  of  the  pecuniary  diffi- 
culties before  mentioned,  could  not  be  gratified.  All  that  the 
fondest  maternal  tenderness  could  do,  was  to  lead  him  to  the  rills 
of  learning,  whose  sweet  waters,  instead  of  allaying,  rendered  that 
desire  more  intense,  and  induced  the  resolution  to  seek  its  gratifi- 
cation at  their  unadulterated  source.  This,  in  after  life,  by  his 
indomitable  energy,  he  was  enabled  to  execute. 

The  means  of  education  afforded  him,  though  meagre  in  the 
extreme,  he  did  not  uninterruptedly  enjoy.  The  straitened  cir- 
cumstances of  the  family  made  it  necessary  for  him,  in  common 
with  his  brothers,  to  devote  large  portions  of  time  to  manual 
employments.  He  was  no  stranger  to  the  use  of  the  plough,  the 
spade,  and  the  hoe,  over  which  literally  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow 
he  earned  his  daily  bread.  He  gained  for  himself  the  title  of 
•  Mill  Boy  of  the  Slashes,'  by  his  frequent  visits  to  a  neighboring 
grist-mill,  on  the  Pamunkey  river.  These  he  usually  made,  seated 
on  a  bag  of  grain  thrown  across  a  horse,  which  he  thus  rode  with 
a  rope  bridle,  without  a  saddle. 

He  appears  not  to  have  shrunk  from  any  employment,  however 
humble,  when  directed  to  it  by  his  beloved  mother.  To  her  his 
attachment  was  most  ardent,  and  often  has  he  expressed' his  deep 
regret  that  he  was  permitted  to  enjoy  her  society  during  so  brief  a 
period.  In  1792  she  was  married  to  Mr.  Henry  Watkins,  and 
removed  to  Woodford  county,  Kentucky,  accompanied  by  all  her 
children,  except  Henry  and  his  eldest  brother.  At  the  age  of  four- 
teen we  find  him  in  a  small  drug  store,  in  Richmond,  Virginia, 
kept  by  Mr.  Richard  Denny.  His  stay  here  was  short,  and  at  the 
commencement  of  1792  he  entered  the  office  of  Mr.  Peter  Tinsley, 


LIFE     OP     HENRY     CLAY.  11 

clerk  of  the  High  Court  of  Chancery.  Here  he  found  employ- 
ment more  congenial  to  his  taste  than  any  to  which  he  had  hitherto 
devoted  himself,  as  well  as  more  ample  means  for  mental  culture. 

The  venerable  chancellor  Wythe,  a  gentleman  of  great  personal 
worth  and  profound  erudition,  attracted  by  his  industrious  habits 
and  amiable  appearance,  took  him  into  his  especial  favor,  gave 
him  the  benefit  of  his  instructions,  and  finally  made  him  his  aman- 
uensis. By  the  opportunities  for  familiar  intercourse  with  this 
great  man,  which  were  now  afforded  him,  the  most  salutary 
impressions  were  received  and  rapid  advances  made  in  the  acqui- 
sition of  knowledge.  He  sought  to  become  better  acquainted  with 
his  vernacular  language,  and  in  this  was  aided  by  his  friend,  who 
recommended  several  works  for  his  perusal,  calculated  to  assist 
him.  Much  of  his  time  was  employed  in  copying  the  lengthy 
official  documents  of  the  chancellor,  who,  being  passionately  fond 
of  Greek,  interlarded  them  liberally  with  passages  from  his  most 
admired  authors.  This  rendered  his  task  peculiarly  onerous,  for 
he  was  compelled  to  copy  them  in  the  original,  and  by  imitation, 
as  he  was  ignorant  of  the  language.  He  acquitted  himself,  how- 
ever, to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  his  employer,  won  his  esteem, 
obtained  much  valuable,  legal,  and  general  information,  and  laid 
the  foundation  of  those  habits  of  regularity  and  methodical  appli- 
cation which  were  subsequently  of  such  great  practical  advantage 
to  him. 

During  the  year  of  1796  he  left  the  office  of  Mr.  Tinsley  and 
went  to  reside  with  the  attorney  general  of  Virginia,  Robert 
Brooke,  Esq.  Here  his  advantages  for  studying  law  were  better 
than  they  had  previously  been,  of  which  he  eagerly  availed  himself, 
and  with  much  success.  The  year  1797  appears  to  be  the  only 
one  in  which  he  pursued  the  study  of  law  uninterrupted,  yet  it 
must  be  certain  that  during  his  residence  of  several  years  in  the 
capital  of  Virginia,  daily  cognizant  of  legal  proceedings,  and 
associating  with  the  most  eminent  legal  gentlemen  of  the  period, 
he  acquired  an  amount  of  legal  information  neither  inconsiderable 
nor  unimportant.  Near  the  close  of  the  year  he  was  licensed  to 
practice  law,  by  the  judges  of  the  Virginia  Court  of  Appeals.  He 
entered  on  the  duties  of  his  profession  at  Lexington,  Kentucky, 
under  auspices  not  the  most  favorable,  as  appears  from  his  speech 
of  June,  1842,  at  the  same  place.  In  this  he  says  he  '  was  without 
patrons,  without  friends,  and  destitute  of  the  means  of  paying  his 
weekly  board.  I  remember  how  comfortable  I  thought  I  should 
be,  if  I  could  make  £100,  Virginia  money,  per  annum,  and  with 
what  delight  I  received  the  first  fifteen  shilling  fee.  My  hopes 
were  more  than  realized ;  I  immediately  rushed  into  a  lucrative 
practice.' 

Though  success  most  unexpected,  crowned  his  first  efforts,  he 
did  by  no  means  relax  his  exertions  to  qualify  himself  more  thor- 


12  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

oughly  for  the  profession  he  had  chosen.  While  other  young  men 
of  his  own  age,  and  not  more  eligibly  situated,  with  regard  to  means 
and  employment,  were  spending  their  evenings  in  recreations  suited 
to  their  juvenile  dispositions,  he  was  eagerly  conning  over  his  own 
self-directed  and  unaided  lessons  of  learning.  Most  assiduously 
did  he  devote  his  every  leisure  hour  in  enriching  his  mind,  and  in 
polishing  his  mental  armor.  Modest,  unassuming,  apparently 
feeble  in  constitution,  languid  and  listless  in  his  movements,  he 
exhibited  little  in  his  deportment  indicative  of  those  lofty  powers 
of  eloquence  and  commanding  talents,  which  in  latent  energy 
were  reposing  in  .his  mind.  An  incident,  however,  occurred  a 
short  time  after,  at  a  meeting  of  a  debating  society,  by  which  they 
were  brought  to  light.  He  had  been  a  member  of  the  society  some 
time,  but  refrained  from  taking  an  active  part  in  its  exercises. 
This  was  attributed  to  those  traits  of  character  before  mentioned. 
At  the  meeting  referred  to,  a  question  had  been  discussed  at  con- 
siderable length  and  apparently  with  much  ability,  on  which  the 
customary  vote  was  about  to  be  taken,  when  he  observed  in  an 
under  tone  to  a  person  seated  by  him,  '  the  subject  does  not  seem 
to  be  exhausted.'  The  individual  addressed,  exclaimed,  i  do  not 
put  the  question  yet,  Mr.  Clay  will  speak.'  The  chairman  by  a 
smile  and  nod  of  the  head  signified  his  willingness  to  allow  the 
discussion  to  be  continued  by  him,  who  thereupon  arose  under  every 
appearance  of  trepidation  and  embarrassment.  The  first  words 
that  fell  from  his  lips  were,  ?  Gentlemen  of  the  jury.'  His  embar- 
rassment now  was  extreme ;  blushing,  hesitating,  and  stammering, 
he  repeated  the  words,  '  Gentlemen  of  the  jury.'  The  audience 
evinced  genuine  politeness  and  good  breeding,  by  seeming  not  to 
notice  his  peculiarly  unpleasant  and  trying  condition.  Suddenly 
regaining  his  self-possession,  he  made  a  speech  of  such  force  and 
eloquence,  as  to  carry  conviction  and  astonishment  at  once  to  the 
hearts  of  his  hearers.  Subsequently  he  took  a  prominent  part  in 
the  debates  of  the  society,  and  became  one  of  its  most  efficient 
members. 
jy/  Shortly  after,  he  was  admitted  to  the  Court  of  Quarter  Sessions 
of  Fayette  county,  a  court  of  general  jurisdiction.  Perhaps  at  no 
previous  period  was  the  Lexington  bar  more  highly  distinguished 
for  the  talents  and  learning  of  its  members  than  at  that  time. 
Among  them  were  George  Nicholas,  John  Brekenridge,  William 
Murray,  and  others,  whose  long  established  reputation  and  profes- 
sional skill  seemed  to  set  competition  at  defiance.  They  found  in 
Mr.  Clay,  however,  a  most  formidable  competitor:  one  who, 
though  bland,  courteous,  and  affable,  in  the  ordinary  intercourse  of 
life,  yet  on  the  field  of  civic  strife  was  as  unyielding  and  invulnera- 
ble as  the  'gnarled  oak.'  His  talents  ^secured  respect,  and  soon 
placed  him  on  a  level  with  the  highest.  He  possessed  the  unbound- 
ed confidence  of  the  community  where  he  resided,  and  the  ease 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  13 

with  which  he  secured  this  was  truly  surprising.  So  perfectly- 
insinuating  and  winning  were  his  ways,  and  so  captivating  his 
appearance,  that  it  was  usually  yielded  at  the  first  interview.  Such 
attributes  of  mind  and  person  could  not  and  did  not  fail  to  surround 
him  with  influential  and  devoted  friends,  and  secure  for  him  a  more 
than  respectable  patronage.  A  few  short  months  previous  he  stood 
alone,  a  stranger,  unaided,  unfriended  and  destitute,  amid  the  wilds 
of  the  then  far-off  west.  Now,  the  obstacles  which  then  seemed 
gigantic,  had  dwindled  into  insignificance.  The  rough  and  forbid- 
ding aspect  of  the  road  which  he  had  marked  out  for  himself  to 
pursue,  had  entirely  disappeared,  and  friends  and  favors  poured  in 
upon  him  from  all  quarters,  and  he  found  himself  borne  along  by 
the  breeze  of  popular  approbation,  unconscious  that  it  had  yet 
been  awakened. 

One  to  him  important  result  of  that  confidence  which  a  discern- 
ing and  generous  public  reposed  in  him,  was  continual  professional 
employment.  His  acute  and  refined  sensibilities,  his  philanthropic 
heart,  and  sympathizing  disposition,  joined  to  his  profound  knowl- 
edge of  human  nature  and  commanding  powers  of  eloquence, 
pointed  him  out  as  one  eminently  well  qualified  to  conduct  criminal 
cases.  With  these,  therefore,  we  find  him  much  and  successfully 
engaged,  and  it  is  a  remarkable  fact,  taking  into  consideration  the 
large  number  of  these  cases  committed  to  his  care,  that  never  in  a 
single  instance  was  he  defeated.  One  of  the  most  important  early 
criminal  suits  in  which  he  was  retained,  was  that  of  the  wife  of  a 
very  reputable  farmer  by  the  name  of  Phelps,  a  woman  who  stood 
high  in  the  estimation  of  those  who  knew  her,  and  deservedly,  for 
she  had  led  hitherto  an  irreproachable  life.  In  a  fit  of  passion, 
caused  by  some  personal  reflection  of  her  husband's  sister,  she 
seized  a  gun  and  shot  her  through  the  heart.  The  poor  girl  had 
only  time  to  exclaim,  *  Sister,  you  have  killed  me,'  and  expired. 
The  great  respectability  of  the  parties  caused  the  most  intense 
excitement,  and  an  immense  crowd  assembled  to  witness  the  trial. 
Of  the  fact  of  killing  the  proof  was  most  abundant,  and  the  only 
point  to  be  considered  was  that  which  respected  the  nature  of  the 
crime.  It  was  argued  with  great  ability  on  the  part  of  the  prose- 
cuting attorney,  who  labored  hard  to  make  it  out  a  case  of  deliber- 
ate wilful  murder;  but  in  this  he  was  foiled  by  the  superior  skiD 
and  adroitness  of  Mr.  Clay,  who  not  only  succeeded  in  saving  the 
life  of  his  client,  but  obtained  as  light  a  verdict  for  imprisonment 
as  the  law  would  allow. 

In  another  similar  suit,  which  occurred  shortly  after,  he  evinced, 
if  possible,  greater  ability.  Two  men,  Germans,  father  and  son, 
were  indicted  for  murder,  and  were  tried  in  Harrison  county.  The 
act  of  killing,  in  this  instance  also,  was  proven  by  evidence  so 
clear  and  strong,  that  it  was  considered  not  only  a  case  of  murder, 
but  an  exceedingly  aggravated  one.     The  trial  lasted  five  days,  at 


14  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

the  close  of  which  he  addressed  the  jury  in  the  most  impassioned 
and  eloquent  manner,  who  were  so  moved  by  his  pathetic  appeals 
that  they  rendered  a  verdict  of  manslaughter  only.  After  another 
hard  day's  struggle  he  succeeded  in  obtaining  an  arrest  of  judg- 
ment, by  which  his  clients  were  set  at  liberty.  They  expressed 
their  gratitude  in  the  warmest  terms  to  their  deliverer,  in  which 
they  were  joined  by  an  old  ill-favored  female,  the  wife  of  one  and 
the  mother  of  the  other,  who  adopted  a  different  mode,  however, 
of  tendering  her  thanks,  which  was  by  throwing  her  arms  around 
Mr.  Clay's  neck  and  repeatedly  kissing  him,  in  the  presence  of  the 
court  and  spectators.  Respecting  her  feelings,  he  did  not  attempt 
to  repulse  her,  but  submitted  with  such  grace  and  dignity  to  her 
caresses  as  to  elicit  outbursts  of  applause. 

Mr.  Clay  manifested  great  sagacity  in  discerning  and  turning 
to  his  advantage  a  technical  law-point,  involving  doubt.  The 
following  case  illustrates  this.  A  man  by  the  name  of  Willis, 
indicted  for  murder,  escaped  conviction  by  the  disagreement  of 
the  jury,  and  was  put  upon  his  trial  the  second  time  for  the  crime 
alleged.  After  hearing  the  arguments  of  the  prosecuting  attorney, 
he  brought  forward  the  well  known  rule  of  law,  that  the  life  of  no 
one  shall  be  put  in  jeopardy  twice  for  the  same  offence,  and  insisted 
on  its  applicability  to  the  case  under  consideration,  contending  that 
the  trial,  according  to  that  rule,  was  manifestly  illegal,  and  that 
therefore  conviction  would  be  impossible.  At  first  the  court  was 
disposed  to  rule  out  his  objections,  which  was  met  on  the  part  of 
Mr.  Clay  with  a  prompt  refusal  to  proceed  with  the  case,  unless 
allowed  to  view  it  in  this  aspect,  and  actually  left  the  room  for  that 
purpose.  He  was  soon  recalled  and  permitted  to  proceed,  and, 
without  the  remotest  reference  to  the  testimony  previously  given,  he 
obtained  an  acquittal  solely  on  the  ground  assumed.  In  only  one 
instance  do  we  find  him  engaged  as  public  prosecutor,  in  which 
he  procured  the  conviction  of  a  slave  for  the  murder  of  his  over- 
seer. With  great  reluctance  he  discharged  the  duties  of  his  office 
in  this  case,  and  has  often  been  heard  to  regret  that  he  had  any 
agency  in  procuring  the  execution  of  the  friendless  black. 

In  civil  suits  he  also  won  great  celebrity.  In  the  settlement  of 
important  land  claims,  he  rendered  himself  very  conspicuous.  It 
is  related  of  him  that  being  engaged  in  one  that  involved  immense 
interests,  he  associated  with  him  a  prominent  lawyer  to  whom  he 
intrusted  its  management,  as  urgent  business  demanded  his  absence 
from  court.  Two  days  were  occupied  in  discussing  the  legal 
points  that  were  to  govern  the  instructions  of  the  court  to  the  jury, 
on  all  of  which  his  colleague  was  frustrated,  Mr.  Clay  returned 
before  a  decision  was  rendered,  and  without  acquainting  himself 
with  the  nature  of  the  testimony,  or  ascertaining  the  manner  in 
which  the  discussion  was  conducted,  after  conferring  a  few  min- 
utes with  his  associate,  he  prepared  and  presented  in  a  few  words 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  15 

the  form  in  which  he  wished  the  instructions  to  be  given,  accompa- 
nying it  with  his  reasons,  which  were  so  convincing  that  the  suit 
was  terminated  in  his  favor,  in  less  than  an  hour  after  he  reentered 
the  court  room. 

His  genius  and  talents  now  seen  and  acknowledged  by  all  had 
gained  for  him  high  professional  honors,  and  fitted  him  to  act  a 
prominent  part  on  another  and  more  extended  field  —  that  of  the 
patriot  politician.  The  date  of  his  entrance  on  this  field  may  be 
placed  as  far  back  as  1797,  and  it  is  worthy  of  particular  remark, 
that  the  first  subject  he  was  led  to  investigate,  on  approaching  it, 
was  one  peculiarly  calculated  to  call  into  exercise  those  prominent 
features  of  his  character,  philanthropy  and  patriotism.  Slavery,\ 
although  existing  in  Kentucky  in  its  mildest  form,  could  not  and 
did  not  appear  to  him  otherwise  than  unsightly  and  revolting  —  an 
evil,  and  one  of  great  magnitude ;  nor  did  he  hesitate  to  pronounce 
it  such.  To  him,  its  practical  tendencies,  in  public  and  civil  no 
less  than  in  private  and  social  life,  were  obviously  bad.  He  saw  it 
diffusing  its  baneful  influences  through  the  halls  of  legislation,  and 
twining  its  sable  folds  around  the  very  pillars  of  government,  con- 
taminating and  withering.  His  was  not  the  position  of  an  unmoved 
or  speculating  observer ;  the  mightiest  energies,  the  holiest  impulses 
of  his  nature  were  kindled  within  him,  to  arrest  its  progress,  to 
break  up  the  unnatural,  the  unhallowed  alliance.  But  in  yielding, 
as  he  did,  prompt  obedience  to  those  emotions,  he  did  not  rush 
madman-like,  impelled  by  a  blind  zeal,  into  the  work,  regardless  of 
results.  The  sanguinary  consequences  of  such  a  course  rose  up 
and  stared  him  full  in  the  face,  with  most  appalling  power,  nor 
could  he  shut  his  eyes  to  the  palpable  fact,  that  it  would  inevitably 
eventuate  in  the  utter  annihilation  of  those  very  interests  he  sought 
to  protect.  It  appeared  necessary,  therefore,  to  advance  cautiously, 
to  sit  down,  and,  divested  of  all  prejudice,  wisely  count  the  cost. 
He  found  it  requisite  to  act  the  part  of  a  skilful  and  experienced 
operator,  not  that  of  a  conceited  empiric;  to  have  the  bandage 
and  the  liniment  ready  before  resorting  to  the  scalpel  and  caulter- 
ing  iron.  After  taking  the  most  enlightened  view  of  the  subject, 
regarding  it  in  all  its  aspects  and  bearings,  he  came  to  the  conclu- ■ 
sion,  that  the  only  feasible  method  which  would  both  ensure  the  I 
safety  of  the  body  politic,  and  preserve  inviolate  their  domestic 
institutions,  was  a  gradual  disengagement.  Hence  he  sought  by  ; 
every  available  means,  through  the  press  by  his  touching  and 
eloquent  descriptions,  by  night  and  by  day,  to  secure  the  introduction 
of  a  provision  to  that  effect,  in  a  new  constitution,  then  under 
consideration  for  adoption.  Happy  would  it  have  been  for  Ken- 
tucky had  she  listened  to  the  entreaties  of  her  son  in  this  behalf,  for 
slavery  would  have  long  since  ceased  to  blacken  her  borders.  His 
humane  efforts  were  not,  however,  successful ;  a  majority  of  the 
members  of  the  convention  being  opposed  to  the  provision.     It 


16  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

cannot  be  doubted  that  Mr.  Clay  very  clearly  foresaw  that  the 
contest  would  thus  terminate,  possessing  as  he  did  accurate  knowl- 
edge of  the  state  of  the  public  mind,  in  relation  to  the  subject  of 
slavery ;  hence  our  surprise  and  admiration.  It  is  not  more  certain 
that  his  efforts  were  earnest  and  vigorous  in  defence  of  the  measure, 
than  that  they  were  prompted  by  disinterested  motives.  The  nature 
of  his  circumstances  at  this  period  is  such  as  to  render  it  certain 
that  he  did  not  stop  to  estimate  the  consequences  of  defeat,  either 
to  his  popularity  or  his  purse ;  in  short,  that  so  far  as  personality 
was  concerned,  '  cui  bono '  was  neither  in  his  mind  nor  on  his  lips. 
How  ridiculously  absurd  then,  in  the  light  of  such  abundant 
evidence  to  the  contrary,  the  assertions  of  his  enemies,  that  he  was 
actuated  by  selfish  motives,  by  an  inordinate  desire  to  attract  atten- 
tion. There  was  no  ground  for  such  a  desire.  In  Kentucky,  at 
least,  his  popularity  would  hardly  admit  of  augmentation,  and 
daily,  and  almost  hourly  the  testimonials  of  approbation  lavished 
upon  him,  and  the  high  appreciation  of  his  character,  his  services, 
and  his  talents,  cannot  be  enumerated.  Though  defeated,  he  was 
not  discouraged  nor  disheartened.  Conscious  that  his  action  had 
been  in  accordance  with  his  conviction  of  duty,  he  derived  great 
consolation  from  the  fact,  and  girded  himself  to  do  battle  again  for 
the  same  principle  in  a  different  connection. 

Mr.  Clay  was  a  lover  of  Liberty,  not  exclusively  on  account  of 
any  particular  advantages  her  possession  might  confer,  but  on 
account  of  her  own  intrinsic  loveliness  and  inalienability.  In  look- 
ing at  his  political  career,  we  find  that  his  most  gigantic  efforts  were 
put  forth  whenever  he  discovered  a  disposition  to  abridge  her  lawful 
exercise.  It  seems  to  have  been  even  at  its  commencement  a 
settled  principle  with  him,  to  resist  oppression  under  whatever  form 
presented.  This  he  discovered  in  the  odious  Alien  and  Sedition 
laws,  enacted  in  1798-9.  These  were  anathematised  by  the  democ- 
racy of  the  country,  as  hostile  to  our  institutions,  involving  an 
unwarrantable  assumption  of  power,  manifestly  unconstitutional, 
savoring  strongly  of  tyrannical  usurpation,  and  not  to  be  tolera- 
ted. The  Alien  law  empowered  the  president  to  command  any  alien 
whom  he  should  judge  dangerous  to  the  peace  and  safety  of  the 
country,  to  depart  out  of  the  territory  within  such  time  as  he  should 
specify,  under  penalty  of  being  imprisoned  for  a  time  not  exceeding 
three  years.  The  Sedition  law  was  intended  to  guard  against  the 
abuse  of  speech  and  of  the  press.  Besides  subjecting  to  imprison- 
ment, it  imposed  a  heavy  pecuniary  fine,  on  such  as  combined, 
conspired,  or  united,  to  oppose  any  governmental  measure,  —  who 
should  utter,  write,  print,  publish,  &c,  any  false,  and  scandalous, 
and  malicious  writing,  against  the  government  of  the  United  States 
or  the  president,  &c.  The  appearance  of  these  laws  was  greeted 
with  one  general  outburst  of  indignation,  from  one  end  of  the  land 
to  the  other,  but  in  no  section  was  the  expression  of  disapprobation 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  17 

move  strongly  marked  or  prompt  than  in  Kentucky.  In  the  front 
rank  of  those  who  opposed  them  stood  young  Clay,  dealing  blows 
so  thick  and  heavy  with  the  ponderous  battle-axe  of  his  eloquence, 
as  to  drive  his  foes  in  disorder  and  dismay  from  the  field  of  politi- 
cal strife. 

It  is  related  that  on  one  occasion  the  people  had  assembled  in  a 
large  crowd  in  a  grove  near  Lexington,  to  listen  to  a  discussion  to 
come  off  between  the  advocates  and  opposers  of  these  laws.  The 
greatest  interest  had  been  awakened,  extensive  preparation  made 
by  the  combatants,  and  with  the  most  inflammatory  zeal  they  entered 
the  lists.  The  assemblage  was  first  addressed  by  Mr.  George 
Nicholas,  a  gentleman  of  distinguished  ability  and  commanding 
eloquence.  His  effort  is  represented  as  having  been  one  of  great 
vigor,  and  characterized  by  that  logical  and  philosophical  acumen, 
for  which  he  was  so  celebrated.  When  he  ceased,  the  populace, 
wrought  up  to  the  highest  degree  of  enthusiasm,  poured  out  their 
rapturous  applause.  '  Clay,'  '  Clay,'  was  now  loudly  called  from 
all  directions,  and  as  he  ascended  the  stand,  it  was  clearly  percepti- 
ble by  his  eagle  eye  and  compressed  lips  that  no  ordinary  emotions 
were  struggling  in  his  bosom.  As  the  spirit  of  the  tempest  finds 
the  ocean  when  he  descends  in  his  mightiest  energy,  so  he  found 
the  boisterous  mass  swelling  to  and  fro  like  the  surges  of  the  deep. 
But  he  was  at  home  doing  his  legitimate  work,  pouring  the  oil  of 
eloquence  over  a  turbulent  sea  of  passion,  until  its  tumultuous 
heavings  subsided  and  left  one  quiet,  calm,  and  unruffled  surface. 
The  subject  in  his  hands  appeared  in  a  new  light,  and  he  soon 
succeeded  in  securing  for  it  that  attention  which  is  accompanied 
with  feelings  too  deep  for  utterance :  like  those  experienced  by  one 
standing  on  the  edge  of  a  crater,  gazing  down  into  its  fiery  abyss. 
His  predecessor  had  poured  a  flood  of  sunshine  over  the  multitude, 
which  caused  those  heartfelt,  spontaneous  out-gushings  of  joyful 
emotion,  which  are  its  usual  comcomitants.  But  his  office  was 
that  of  the  lightning's  flash  and  thunder  peal,  hushing,  awing,  and 
subduing.  When  he  closed  there  were  no  clamorous  expressions, 
no  deafening  shouts  of  applause,  but  something  far  more  signifi- 
cant he  read  in  the  quivering  lips,  indignant  looks,  and  frowning 
brows  around  him  ;  and  heard,  in  the  deep  low  growl  that  came 
up,  a  much  more  flattering  tribute  to  his  talents.  He  was  followed 
by  Mr.  William  Murray,  an  orator  of  great  popularity,  and  well 
qualified  to  exhibit  acceptably  the  merits  of  those  laws,  if  indeed 
they  possessed  any.  His  efforts,  however,  were  futile.  The  con- 
viction of  their  pernicious  tendency  had  been  planted  too  deep  in 
the  minds  of  the  people  by  Mr.  Clay,  to  permit  them  to  listen  to 
their  merits,  or  to  allow  them  to  believe  that  they  had  any.  He 
would  not  have  been  suffered  to  proceed  had  not  the  previous 
speakers  urgently  solicited  permission.  Another  attempt  was  made 
to  reply,  but  the  people  could  be  restrained  no  longer,  and  made  a 
vol.  i.  3 


J 


18  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

furious  rush  towards  the  place  occupied  by  the  speaker,  who  was 
compelled  to  make  a  precipitate  retreat  to  escape  personal  violence. 
They  now  seized  Nicholas  and  Clay,  bore  them  on  their  shoulders 
to  a  carriage,  and  amid  the  most  enthusiastic  cheering,  drew  them 
through  the  streets  of  Lexington.  A  proud  day  was  this  for  Mr. 
Clay;  a  day  in  which  he  earned  a  far  more  glorious  title  than  any 
that  royal  hands  could  confer  upon  him,  that  of  the  '  great  com- 
moner.' It  was  the  first  of  the  bright  days  of  the  years  of  his 
fame  —  the  sure  precursor  of  that  unfading  chaplet  which  time  was 
destined  to  bind  about  his  brow. 

In  1803,  Mr.  Clay,  in  company  with  several  of  his  personal 
friends,  was  spending  several  weeks  at  the  Olympian  Springs,  in 
Bath  county,  for  the  benefit  of  his  health,  and  during  that  time 
there  was  an  election  of  members  to  the  legislature.  His  friends, 
without  his  knowledge,  and  as  appears  contrary  to  his  wishes, 
brought  him  forward  as  a  candidate.  The  prospect  of  his  election 
was  not  very  flattering ;  indeed,  it  seemed  to  be  impossible.  Sev- 
eral candidates  who  were  veterans  in  the  business,  had  occupied 
the  field  sometime  in  advance  of  him,  and  besides  electioneering 
warmly  for  themselves,  employed  the  influence  of  powerful  friends. 
Though  he  ran  very  well  at  the  commencement,  it  was  thought 
that  he  was  somewhat  behind.  His  opponents,  besides  using  every 
legitimate,  resorted  to  unfair  means  to  accomplish  his  defeat, 
reporting  that  he  was  incapacitated  for  the  office  by  ill  health ;  that 
he  did  not  desire,  neither  would  accept  it.  Such  measures  in  all 
probability  would  have  been  successful,  had  not  his  opportune 
return  before  the  canvass  had  progressed  very  far,  furnished  occular 
proof  of  the  falsehood  of  these  assertions,  and  enabled  him  to  coun- 
teract the  influence  of  the  slanderous  reports  put  in  circulation.  It 
was  repugnant  to  his  feelings,  contrary  to  his  exalted  ideas  of  honor, 
and  did  not  comport  with  the  dignity  of  the  office  to  set  forth  per- 
sonally his  claims  and  qualifications.  But  yielding  to  the  entreaties 
of  his  friends,  and  urged  also  by  the  base  subterfuges  and  low 
intrigues  every  where  practiced  to  defeat  his  election,  he  consented 
to  enter  the  arena,  and  right  well  did  he  acquit  himself,  as  the 
sequel  will  show.  His  remarks  were  few,  exceedingly  pertinent, 
conveying  to  the  electors  his  views  of  state  policy,  refuting  such  of 
the  reports  as  were  false,  and  admitting  such  as  were  true :  to  wit, 
that  he  was  young  and  inexperienced,  that  he  had  not  proclaimed 
himself  a  candidate,  nor  sought  their  suffrage ;  but  since  his  friends 
had  seen  proper  to  place  his  name  before  the  people,  it  would  be 
gratifying  to  them  if  he  could  be  elected.  While  thus  engaged  in 
stump  speaking,  as  it  is  termed  in  Kentucky,  an  incident  occurred 
which  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  relate.  It  illustrates  his  tact  and 
ingenuity  in  seizing  and  turning  to  good  account  trivial  circumstan- 
ces, for  which  he  is  so  celebrated,  and  to  which  he  is  indebted  for 
the  enviable  title  of  being  great  in  little  things.     He  had  been 


LIFE     OP     HENRY     CLAY.  19 

engaged  in  speaking  some  time,  when  a  company  of  riflemen,  who 
had  been  performing  military  exercise,  attracted  by  his  attitude, 
concluded  to  go  and  hear  what  that  fellow  had  to  say,  as  they 
termed  it,  and  accordingly  drew  near.  They  listened  with  respect- 
ful attention  and  evidently  with  deep  interest,  until  he  closed,  when 
one  of  their  number,  a  man  about  fifty  years  of  age,  who  had 
evidently  seen  much  backwoods  service,  stood  leaning  on  his  rifle, 
regarding  the  young  speaker  with  a  fixed  and  most  sagacious  look. 
He  was  apparently  the  Nimrod  of  the  company,  for  he  exhibited 
every  characteristic  of  a  mighty  hunter,  —  buckskin  breeches  and 
hunting-shirt,  coon-skin  cap,  black  bushy  beard,  and  a  visage  which, 
had  it  been  in  juxtaposition  with  his  leathern  bullet  pouch,  might 
have  been  taken  for  part  and  parcel  of  the  same.  At  his  belt  hung 
the  knife  and  hatchet,  and  the  huge  indispensable  powder-horn 
across  a  breast  bare  and  brown  as  the  bleak  hills  he  often  traversed, 
yet  which  concealed  as  brave  and  noble  a  heart  as  ever  beat  beneath 
a  fairer  covering.  He  beckoned  with  his  hand  to  Mr.  Clay  to 
approach  him,  who  immediately  complied.  '  Young  man,'  said 
he,  '  you  want  to  go  to  the  legislature,  I  see  ? '  '  Why,  yes,'  replied 
Mr.  Clay,  ;  yes,  I  should  like  to  go,  since  my  friends  have  seen 
proper  to  put  me  up  as  a  candidate  before  the  people ;  I  do  not  wish 
to  be  defeated.'  '  Are  you  a  good  shot  ? '  *  The  best  in  the  country.' 
1  Then  you  shall  go  ;  but  you  must  give  us  a  specimen  of  your  skill ; 
we  must  see  you  shoot.'  '  I  never  shoot  any  rifle  but  my  own, 
and  that  is  at  home.'  '  No  matter,  here  is  old  Bess,  she  never  fails 
in  the  hands  of  a  marksman ;  she  has  often  sent  death  through  a 
squirrel's  head  one  hundred  yards,  and  daylight  through  many  a 
red  skin  twice  that  distance ;  if  you  can  shoot  any  gun  you  can 
shoot  old  Bess.'  '  Well,  put  up  your  mark,  put  up  your  mark,' 
replied  Mr.  Clay.  The  target  was  placed  at  the  distance  of  about 
eighty  yards,  when,  with  all  the  coolness  and  steadiness  of  an  old 
experienced  marksman,  he  drew  old  Bess  to  his  shoulder  and  fired. 
The  bullet  pierced  the  target  near  the  centre.  '  Oh,  a  chance  shot ! 
a  chance  shot!'  exclaimed  several  of  his  political  opponents.  'A 
chance  shot !  He  might  shoot  all  day  and  not  hit  the  mark  again ; 
let  him  try  it  over,  let  him  try  it  over.'  <  No ;  beat  that,  beat  that, 
and  then  I  will,'  retorted  Mr.  Clay.  But  as  no  one  seemed  disposed 
to  make  the  attempt,  it  was  considered  that  he  had  given  satisfac- 
tory proof  of  being  the  best  shot  in  the  county ;  and  this  unimpor- 
tant incident  gained  him  the  vote  of  every  hunter  and  marksman 
in  the  assembly,  which  was  composed  principally  of  that  class 
of  persons,  as  well  as  the  support  of  the  same  throughout  the 
county.  The  most  remarkable  feature  respecting  the  whole  trans- 
action is  yet  to  be  told.  Said  Mr.  Clay,  '  I  had  never  before  fired  a 
rifle,  and  have  not  since.'  The  result  of  the  election  proved  Mr. 
Clay  much  more  popular  than  it  had  been  supposed  he  was ;  he- 
was  elected  almost  by  acclamation.     Our  astonishment  may  well 


i 


20  LIFE     OP     HENRY     CLAY. 

be  excited,  when  we  consider  that  this  was  the  first  time  that  he 
was  a  candidate  for  an  office,  and  the  circumstances  under  which 
it  took  place.  It  must  be  certain  that  he  was  esteemed  a  young 
man  of  great  promise  and  ability.  That  confidence  he  seems  so 
early  to  have  inspired  he  has  ever  retained,  and  it  is  a  no  less  just 
than  flattering  tribute  to  his  worth,  that  where  he  is  known  best, 
there  he  is  esteemed  the  most.  This  appears  from  the  fact  that  the 
citizens  of  Fayette  county  have  never  refused  him  an  office  when 
brought  forward  by  his  friends  as  a  candidate. 

At  the  time  of  his  election  to  this,  his  first  office,  the  public  mind 
was  much  agitated  in  reference  to  the  Lexington  Insurance  Com- 
pany. Felix  Grundy,  a  political  partizan  of  great  eminence,  had 
proclaimed  himself  hostile  to  its  existence,  and  expressed  his  inten- 
tion to  move  the  repeal  of  its  charter.  This  question  was  brought 
to  bear  directly  on  the  election,  and  as  the  views  of  Mr.  Clay  were 
known  to  be  opposed  to  his,  he  was  selected  to  advocate  the  claims 
of  the  institution.  The  attempt  made  during  the  ensuing  session 
to  procure  the  repeal  of  the  incorporating  law  was  easily  defeated 
by  him,  but  in  the  succeeding  one  Mr.  Grundy  himself  was  a 
member,  and  a  majority  of  the  House  came  pledged  to  support 
the  measures  advocated  by  him.  Argument  in  such  a  state  of 
things  it  was  thought  would  avail  little ;  for  the  representative,  feel- 
ing bound  to  obey  the  will  of  his  constituents,  would  be  compelled 
to  vote  for  the  repeal,  although  convinced  of  its  injustice.  The 
debate  that  ensued  was  one  of  great  ability,  conducted  by  Mr. 
Clay  and  Mr.  Grundy,  and  attracted  crowds  of  spectators.  They 
were  both  young,  aspiring  after  forensic  honors,  and  both  eloquent. 
Mr.  Grundy,  though  wily,  shrewd,  and  a  good  political  manager;in 
strength  of  argument,  force,  and  felicity  of  illustration,  and  the 
faculty  of  setting  his  subject  in  a  strong  light  before  his  hearers, 
was  evidently  inferior  to  his  antagonist.  Mr.  Grundy  at  first 
waged  an  aggressive  war,  and  with  great  boldness  and  vigor 
demolishing  his  enemy's  outposts,  pushed  his  way  far  into  his 
country.  Elated  with  success,  and  the  ease  with  which  he  over- 
came all  opposition,  he  imagined  victory  already  achieved.  But 
he  was  destined  to  be  checked  midway  in  his  brilliant  career,  to 
encounter  his  enemy's  strong  corps  de  reserve.  The  contest  is 
represented  as  having  exhibited  a  scene  of  eloquent  sublimity, 
seldom  witnessed  or  surpassed.  Mr.  Grundy  had  marshalled  his 
forces  with  the  skill  of  a  veteran,  and  flanked  by  powerful  auxilia- 
ries, was  proceeding  in  the  utmost  regularity,  and  as  he  thought 
with  absolute  certainty,  to  strike  the  last  decisive  blow.  A  phalanx 
thus  appointed,  led  on  by  such  a  general,  seemed  invincible,  and 
indeed  was,  if  any  could  be  in  such  a  conflict.  Up  to  the  time  of 
the  grand  onslaught,  Mr.  Clay  seemed  to  be  regardless  of  the 
operations  of  his  adversary.  He  was,  however,  silently  engaged  in 
collecting  and  arranging  his  resources,  and  treasuring  his  energies 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY  21 

for  the  final  hour ;  and  when  it  came  he  arose  and  hurled  them  at 
the  heads  of  his  mighty  foe  and  emissaries  as  the  avalanche  hurls 
his  ice-mount,  or  the  volcano  his  scathing  flood  of  flame.  Mr. 
Grundy's  struggle  to  maintain  his  ground  was  desperate,  but  short, 
for  no  force  could  do  it  under  such  circumstances ;  and,  finding 
himself  borne  backwards  by  the  impetuosity  of  his  assailant,  he 
attempted  to  effect  an  honorable  retreat.  In  this  he  failed,  and  was 
finally  compelled  to  surrender.  • 

Although  the  measure  passed  the  house,  the  senate,  whose 
members  had  listened  to  the  discussion, without  any  efforts,  pro  or 
con,  refused  most  unanimously  to  sustain  it ;  and  thus  the  com- 
pany, through  the  efforts  of  its  vindicator,  was  suffered  to  retain 
its  charter. 

An  event  occurred  during  the  session  of  1S05,  highly  illustrative 
of  the  versatility  of  Mr.  Clay's  genius.  An  attempt  was  made  to 
obtain  the  removal  of  the  capital  from  Frankfort.  Mr.  Clay,  in  a 
speech  delivered  at  the  time,  reverted  to  the  peculiar  physical 
appearance  of  the  place,  as  furnishing  an  argument  in  favor  of  the 
proposed  removal.  Frankfort  is  walled  in  on  all  sides  by  towering 
rocky  precipices,  and  not  unlike  a  vast  pit.  It  presents,  said  Mr. 
Clay,  the  model  of  an  inverted  hat.  Frankfort  is  the  body  of  the 
hat,  and  the  lands  adjacent  are  the  brim.  To  change  the  figure,  it 
is  nature's  great  penitentiary ;  and  if  the  members  would  know  the 
bodily  condition  of  the  prisoners,  let  them  look  at  those  poor  crea- 
tures in  the  gallery.  As  he  said  this  he  directed  their  attention  to 
some  half  a  dozen  emaciated,  spectre-like  specimens  of  humanity, 
who  happened  to  be  moping  about  there,  looking  as  though  they 
had  just  stolen  a  march  from  the  grave-yard.  On  observing  the 
eyes  of  the  house  thus  turned  towards  them,  and  aware  of  their 
ghostly  aspect,  they  screened  themselves  with  such  ridiculous  pre- 
cipitancy behind  the  pillars  and  railing  as  to  cause  the  most  violent 
laughter.  This  well-directed  effort  at  wit  and  humor  was  com- 
pletefully  successful,  and  the  house  gave  their  votes  in  favor  of  the 
measure.  The  resolution,  however,  was  never  carried  into  effect, 
as  it  was  found  impossible  to  agree  upon  a  new  location.  It  would 
be  difficult,  and  perhaps  not  particularly  desirable,  to  follow  Mr. 
Clay  through  all  the  various  and  numerous  services  rendered  by 
him  in  the  legislature  of  Kentucky.  We  shall  give  an  outline 
only  of  them,  presenting  such  specimens  as  shall  illustrate  the 
leading  characteristics  of  his  mind,  and  dwell  longer  on  that  portion 
of  his  history  which  regards  him  as  connected  with  the  manage- 
ment of  the  affairs  of  the  nation.  While  acting  in  the  capacity  of 
a  state  legislator,  he  was  distinguished  for  zeal  in  prosecuting  his 
professional  labors,  which  soon  conducted  him  to  the  summit  of 
that  lofty  legal  eminence,  far  above  the  murky  regions  of  pettifog- 
gery and  low  intrigue.  Here,  surrounded  by  an  atmosphere  redo- 
lent of  judicial  purity,  and  seated  fast  by  the  throne  of  Justice, 


22  LIFEOFHENRYCLAY. 

he  exerted  himself  to  preserve  inviolate  the  sanctity  of  her  temple, 
and  to  see  that  her  decisions  were  rigidly  and  impartially  enforced. 
He  particularly  delighted,  on  the  one  hand,  to  procure  her  favors  for 
the  poor  and  obscure,  in  facilitating  the  approach  to  her  courts  of 
those  who  by  poverty  or  oppression  were  debarred  access ;  and 
on  the  other,  to  oppose  the  unjust  prosecutor.  No  bribe  could 
induce  him  to  countenance,  directly  or  indirectly,  his  designs. 
While  acting  under  the  influence  of  these  most  noble  principles, 
he  became  engaged  in  an  unpleasant  affair  of  honor.  It  appears 
that  Col.  Joseph  Hamilton  Daviess,  district  attorney  of  the  United 
States,  had  struck  an  inn-keeper  in  Frankfort,  who  had  made  some 
remark  offensive  to  him ;  the  inn-keeper  endeavored  to  obtain  legal 
reparation  for  the  wound  his  honor  had  sustained,  and  for  that 
purpose  applied  for  a  writ.  This  was  readily  obtained,  but  owing 
to  the  high  standing  and  influence  of  the  accused,  no  lawyer  could 
be  found  who  was  willing  to  conduct  the  prosecution.  In  this 
state  of  things,  after  consulting  with  his  friends  he  wrote  a  letter  to 
Mr.  Clay,  detailing  the  facts  in  the  case,  and  soliciting  his  aid.  He 
promptly  sent  a  reply,  in  which  he  consented  to  act  as  his  attorney. 
The  suit  was  brought  at  Lexington,  and  Mr.  Clay,  whose  sympa- 
thetic feelings  were  warmly  interested  in  behalf  of  his  client, 
vindicated  him  from  the  rude  and  unreasonably  harsh  treatment 
which  he  received  at  the  hands  of  Mr.  Daviess,  who  was  his  own 
attorney.  Mr.  Clay's  strictures  were  keen  and  cutting  to  such  an 
extent,  that  Col.  Daviess,  at  a  pause  in  the  trial,  sent  Mr.  Clay  a 
note,  couched  in  not  very  civil,  and  somewhat  threatening  terms, 
warning  him  to  desist  from  such  bitter  remarks.  Mr.  Clay  replied 
that  he  should  conduct  his  client's  case  as  his  judgment  prompted, 
uninfluenced  and  unawed  from  any  source  —  least  of  all  from  his 
client's  antagonist.  At  the  close  of  the  trial  Col.  Daviess  sent  him  a 
challenge  to  single  combat,  which  he  accepted.  Subsequently  the 
affair  was  settled,  through  the  mutual  interference  of  the  friends  of 
both  parties,  and  the  most  cordial  friendship  existed  between  them 
till  the  death  of  Col.  Daviess,  who  was  killed  at  the  battle  of 
Tippecanoe. 

Near  the  close  of  1806  Mr.  Clay  received  an  application  from 
Aaron  Burr  to  appear  in  his  behalf.  Burr  had  been  arrested  on  a 
charge  of  being  engaged  in  illegal  military  operations.  The  pop- 
ular mind  was  much  agitated  by  the  belief  of  his  treasonable 
designs,  founded  on  various  rumors  of  his  projected  invasion  of 
the  Mexican  provinces,  in  which  the  whole  western  territory  was 
implicated.  While  these  rumors  were  occasioning  much  public 
anxiety,  two  men,  named  John  Wood  and  J.  M.  Street,  arrived 
from  Virginia  and  located  at  Frankfort.  Their  object  seemed  to 
be  to  publish  a  weekly  paper,  which  they  styled  the  '  Western 
World,'  in  which  they  revived  an  old  political  controversy  which 
had  slumbered   nearly  twenty  years.     The   subject  of  the  rumors 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  23 

was  also  introduced  into  its  columns,  and  several  statements  made 
in  reference  thereto,  which  seemed,  if  true,  to  make  out  the  evidence 
of  treason  and  conspiracy  as  more  than  probable.  They  were 
however,  for  the  most  part  assumptive,  and  not  substantiated  by 
any  well  authenticated  testimony,  besides  appearing  under  a  very 
questionable  character,  being  contained  in  communications  over 
the  signature  of  'an  observer.'  It  was  subsequently  ascertained 
that  these  were  written  by  one  of  the  most  violent  federalists  of 
the  day  —  notorious  for  his  antipathy  toward  the  democratic  party, 
of  which  at  that  time  Mr.  Burr  was  a  distinguished  member. 
His  name  was  Humphrey  Marshall.  He  and  his  emissaries,  to 
accomplish  their  purposes,  resorted  to  the  most  base  and  dishon- 
orable means.  In  an  address  prepared  by  Mr.  Marshall,  he 
reiterated  the  statements  of  'an  observer,'  of  which  he  himself 
was  the  author,  and  also  charged  the  leading  members  of  the 
Jefferson  party  in  Kentucky,  among  whom  were  Mr.  Clay's  most 
intimate  friends,  with  the  treasonable  design  of  annexing  that 
state  to  the  Spanish  dominions  in  North  America.  The  address 
was  laid  before  the  legislature,  who  investigated  the  matter ;  but 
not  succeeding  in  eliciting  any  thing  to  corroborate  the  charges 
made,  it  was  dropped.  The  public  mind  was  wrought  up  to  a 
high  degree  of  indignation  at  these  attempts  to  ruin  some  of  the 
most  worthy  and  talented  men  in  the  community.  While  the 
public  was  still  under  the  influence  of  the  sympathetic  feelings 
excited  in  behalf  of  those  against  whom  such  gross  accusations 
had  been  made,  Mr.  Burr  was  charged  with  a  conspiracy  of  more 
recent  date,  and  in  course  was  regarded  with  the  same  sympathy 
extended  to  those  previously  criminated.  He  was  esteemed  a 
persecuted  patriot,  and  his  innocence  was  matter  of  popular  belief. 
It  was  thought  pretty  generally,  that  his  arrest  originated  in  deep- 
rooted  prejudice  existing  in  the  mind  of  colonel  Daviess,  the  district 
attorney,  a  warm  admirer  of  colonel  Alexander  Hamilton,  who 
was  killed  in  a  duel  by  Mr.  Burr.  There  was  good  ground  for 
believing  that  the  attorney  was  prompted  more  by  revengeful 
feelings  than  a  desire  of  promoting  the  administration  of  justice. 
During  the  same  year,  soon  after  Mr.  Burr  had  returned  from  New 
Orleans,  the  public  mind  was  again  inflamed  by  the  '  observer,' 
which  contained  statements  of  such  a  nature  as  to  direct  the  attention 
of  the  district  attorney  to  Mr.  Burr,  whose  arrest  he  attempted  to 
procure,  but  without  success.  Mr.  Burr  witnessed  the  proceedings, 
and  in  a  speech  which  he  made  at  the  time,  alluded  to  them,  which 
he  characterized  as  harsh  and  oppressive  in  the  extreme,  expressing 
himself  perfectly  willing,  and  indeed  soliciting  to  be  Iried  by  an 
unprejudiced  court.  His  dignified  deportment,  and  fair,  open 
proposition,  caused  the  popular  feeling  to  be  deeply  enlisted  in  his 
favor.  His  request  was  granted,  a  jury  chosen,  and  a  day  appointed 
for  trial.     When  it  arrived,  universal  surprise  was  created  by  the 


24  MFB     OF     HENRY     CLAY, 

novel  and  very  unusual  course  pursued  by  Col.  Daviess.  He 
moved  the  discharge  of  the  jury  in  consequence  of  an  important 
witness  being  absent.  He  succeeded,  to  the  great  regret  of  Mr. 
Burr,  who  was  desirous  of  placing  the  whole  business  before  a 
competent  and  impartial  judicial  tribunal. 

The  attorney,  some  months  subsequent,  imagined  himself  war- 
ranted in  resuming  the  prosecution.  The  second  day  of  December 
was  appointed  for  the  trial.  On  the  day  previous  Mr.  Burr  addressed 
a  note  to  Mr.  Clay,  soliciting  his  aid,  of  which  the  following  is  an 
extract.  '  I  have  no  design  nor  have  I  taken  any  measure  to  pro- 
mote a  dissolution  of  the  Union,  or  a  separation  of  any  one  or 
more  states  from  the  residue.  I  have  neither  published  a  line  on 
this  subject,  nor  has  any  one,  through  my  agency  or  with  my 
knowledge.  I  have  no  design  to  intermeddle  with  the  government 
or  to  disturb  the  tranquillity  of  the  United  States,  or  of  its  territories, 
or  any  part  of  them.  I  have  neither  given,  nor  signed,  nor  prom- 
ised a  commission  to  any  person  for  any  purpose.  I  do  not  own 
a  musket,  nor  bayonet,  nor  any  single  article  of  military  stores ; 
nor  does  any  person  for  me,  by  my  authority,  or  with  my  knowl- 
edge. My  views  have  been  fully  explained  to,  and  approved  by, 
several  of  the  principal  officers  of  government,  and  I  believe  are 
well  understood  by  the  administration,  and  seen  by  it  with  compla- 
cency. They  are  such  as  every  man  of  honor,  and  every  good 
citizen  must  approve.  Considering  the  high  station  you  now  fill 
in  our  national  councils,  I  have  thought  these  explanations  proper 
as  well  to  counteract  the  chimerical  tales  which  malevolent  persons 
have  so  industriously  circulated,  as  to  satisfy  you  that  you  have 
not  espoused  the  cause  of  a  man  in  any  way  unfriendly  to  the  laws, 
the  government,  or  the  interests  of  his  country.' 

Mr.  Burr  was  doubtless  aware  of  the  scruples  felt  by  Mr.  Clay 
respecting  the  propriety  of  acting  as  his  counsel,  which  scruples 
were  occasioned  principally  by  the  new  and  interesting  relation 
just  assumed  by  him  —  that  of  United  States  senator.  Mr.  Clay's 
doubts  were  satisfied,  and  he  consented  to  appear  at  his  trial  as  his 
attorney,  in  connection  with  Col.  John  Allen.  To  them  Mr.  Burr  in 
the  expectation  of  securing  their  services,  had  previously  sent  a 
large  sum  of  money,  which  they  declined  receiving,  and  returned 
to  him.  The  day  appointed  for  trial  at  length  arrived,  and  again 
the  attorney  sought  to  delay  the  proceedings  of  the  court,  on  the 
ground  of  the  absence  of  an  important  witness.  Mr.  Clay  strenu- 
ously contended  that  such  tardy  procedure,  where  such  interests 
were  involved,  and  where  the  most  speedy  action  was  requisite, 
was  unsanctioned  by  correct  judicial  usage ;  that  the  accused  was 
sustaining  material  injury  in  consequence  of  the  obstacles  thus 
thrown  in  the  way  of  his  establishing  his  innocence,  which  he  was 
Impatiently  and  anxiously  waiting  to  do.  Mr.  Clay's  representa- 
tions  succeeded.     The    attorney   was   required   by   the   court   to 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CL  AY .  25 

proceed  immediately.  Accordingly  all  the  evidence  he  could  pro- 
duce was  spread  before  the  grand  jury,  who,  after  a  patient  and 
careful  investigation,  returned  the  indictment  accompanied  with 
their  refusal  to  consider  it  a  true  bill,  and  reasons  for  the  same, — 
alleging  that  the  testimony  contained  nothing  to  criminate  the 
accused,  '  nor  can  we  from  all  the  inquiry  and  investigation  of  the 
subject  discern  that  any  thing  improper  or  injurious  to  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  or  contrary  to  the  laws  thereof,  is 
designed  or  contemplated.'  Their  decision  was  received  with  the 
strongest  demonstrations  of  approbation  from  all  quarters,  which 
were  exceedingly  gratifying  to  Mr.  Clay,  and  served  to  strengthen 
his  conviction  of  Mr.  Burr's  innocence  when  he  consented  to  act 
as  his  counsel.  It  is  unnecessary  to  say,  that  had  he  been  aware 
of  Mr.  Burr's  real  designs,  no  inducement  could  have  been  held 
out  by  that  person  strong  enough  to  have  determined  him  to  appear 
in  his  defence.  Subsequent  events  show  this  to  be  true  —  events 
which  removed  all  doubts  as  to  Mr.  Burr's  guilt.  A  mass  of 
unequivocal  testimony  had  been  obtained,  in  relation  to  his  opera- 
tions upon  which  he  had  already  entered,  and  of  his  future  projects, 
by  the  exertions  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  which  testimony  was  exhibited 
to  Mr.  Clay,  at  Washington,  where  he  repaired  soon  after  the  trial 
to  take  his  seat  in  the  senate.  One  of  the  most  remarkable  and 
indubitable  portions  of  the  evidence  alluded  to,  was  a  letter  in  cipher 
which  Mr.  Burr  had  sent  by  captain  Samuel  Swartwout  to  the 
commander  of  the  United  States  army,  general  Wilkinson,  which 
contained  a  somewhat  circumstantial  account  of  his  proceedings 
and  intended  proceedings.  In  this  he  expressly  stated  his  design 
of  seizing  on  Baton  Rouge,  preliminary  to  extending  his  conquests 
into  the  Spanish  provinces.  Such  disclosures  opened  the  eyes  of 
the  public  to  the  true  character  of  Mr.  Burr,  and  called  forth  expres- 
sions of  their  just  indignation,  in  which  Mr.  Clay  also  united,  — 
who,  after  an  interval  of  several  years,  for  the  first  time  subsequent 
to  the  trial,  met  Mr.  Burr  in  the  city  of  New  York.  Mr.  Clay  was 
sitting  in  the  court  room  of  the  City  Hall,  when  a  gentleman 
approached  and  tendered  him  his  hand  with  the  customary  saluta- 
tion. But  Mr.  Clay  recognizing,  treated  him  with  marked  coldness 
and  refused  to  receive  or  return  the  proffered  civility.  Mr.  Burr, 
however,  endeavored  to  engage  him  in  conversation,  congratulating 
him  on  his  successful  efforts  at  Ghent,  in  relation  to  the  treaty, 
and  an  arrangement  which  he  and  his  associates  had  effected  with 
Great  Britain,  whereby  valuable  comniercial  advantages  were 
secured  to  America.  To  all  his  efforts  at  conversation  Mr.  Clay 
turned  a  deaf  ear,  replying  very  briefly  to  his  inquiries  and  giving 
him  no  encouragement  to  proceed.  On  leaving,  Mr.  Burr  requested 
the  privilege  of  a  brief  interview  with  him,  who  in  answer, 
informed  him  where  he  had  taken  lodgings.  The  colonel,  how- 
ever, did  not  call,  and  thus  terminated  all  the  intercourse  ever  had 


VOL.  I. 


26  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

by  Mr.  Clay  with  him.  We  have  thus  endeavored  faithfully  and 
impartially  to  record  all  the  facts  in  relation  to  that  intercourse,  that 
the  world  may  see  and  decide  upon  the  truth  or  falsehood  of  the 
charges  made  against  Mr.  Clay,  in  consequence  of  it.  How  can 
they  be  tortured  so  as  to  yield  any  evidence  calculated  to  impeach 
his  integrity  ?  How  to  make  it  appear  manifestly  wrong  to  act  as 
his  counsel,  and  to  conduct  that  trial,  the  right  to  which  was  guar- 
antied by  the  constitution  ?  But  above  all,  how  can  they  be  made 
to  furnish  a  foundation  for  those  cruel  charges  of  acting  in  concert 
with  the  accused,  of  being  privy  to  his  plans,  as  aiding  and  abet- 
ting him,  and  of  disrobing  him  of  his  hard,  well  earned,  unspotted 
robes  of  legal  and  political  purity,  and  clothing  him  in  the  black 
habiliments  of  a  traitor,  engaged  in  bartering  away  the  liberties 
of  his  country  ?  But  in  the  language  of  another,  '  the  shaft,  though 
aimed  with  a  will  sufficiently  deadly,  fell  upon  a  breast  of  steel.' 
The  charge  of  treason  preferred  against  a  man  who  has  done  more 
for  his  own  country  than  any  other  living  statesman,  and  whose 
voice  has  echoed  beyond  her  confines,  and  with  a  tone  of  creative 
power  called  other  republics  into  being,  is  like  the  other  infamous 
calumnies  that  have  been  propagated  against  the  same  illustrious 
individual,  and  like  them,  must  soon  be  lost  amid  the  lumber  of 
forgotten  things.  Such  conspiracies  to  ruin  a  patriot  can  only  end 
in  the  prostration  of  the  conspirators. 

'  He  who  of  old  would  rend  the  oak, 
Dreamed  not  of  the  rebound.' 

Mr.  Clay's  election  to  the  senate  of  the  United  States  was  for 
one  session  only  —  the  unexpired  portion  of  general  Adair's  term, 
who  had  resigned  his  seat.  Immediately  after  his  initiation  into 
his  new  office,  he  engaged  actively  in  the  senatorial  business.  He 
found  the  senate  discussing  the  merits  of  a  bill  providing  for  the 
erection  of  a  bridge  over  the  Potomac.  Its  erection  was  strongly 
desired  by  the  inhabitants  of  Washington  and  Alexandria,  and  as 
strongly  deprecated  by  those  of  Georgetown.  Many  efforts  were 
made  by  both  parties  to  secure  his  services  in  aid  of  their  particu- 
lar predilections,  but  nothing  definite  could  be  ascertained  respecting 
his  views  in  relation  to  the  "bill,  and  he  refused  to  commit  himself 
by  pledging  his  support  or  opposition  to  it.  He  was  not,  though, 
indifferent  to  the  proposed  measure,  but  diligently  employed  him- 
self in  settling  in  his  own  mind  the  question  of  its  constitutionality, 
and  in  deciding  on  its  expediency.  The  result  of  his  investiga- 
tions was  the  conviction  that  it  was  sanctioned  by  the  constitution, 
and  a  judicious  measure  of  internal  policy.  He  so  regarded  it  in 
a  speech  which  he  made  in  its  favor,  by  which  he  succeeded  in 
producing  a  similar  conviction  in  the  minds  of  all  the  members 
who  had  not  pledged  themselves  to  oppose  it,  and  thus  secured  its 
passage.  This  speech,  although  never  reported,  is  represented  as 
one  of  his  happiest  efforts,  distinguished  for  satire  and  humor,  as 


LI(FE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  27 

well  as  gravity  and  sound  logical  argument,  indeed,  as  embodying 
all  the  characteristics  of  a  perfect  specimen  of  eloquence.  From 
the  ground  there  taken,  and  the  first  time  publicly,  as  to  what  he 
deemed  true  governmental  policy,  in  relation  to  internal  improve- 
ment, he  has  never  in  a  single  instance  receded.  With  proud 
satisfaction  may  the  friends  of  that  system  of  which  he  has  been 
justly  styled  '  the  Father]  point  to  this  unparalleled  example  of 
unwavering  adherence  and  fidelity  to  principles  since  demonstrated 
to  be  the  only  permanent  source  of  our  national  prosperity.  In 
what  an  interesting  attitude  do  we  behold  their  originator'  and 
vindicator  —  a  youth  from  Kentuckian  wilds,  rising  up  in  the  midst 
of  grave  senators  and  hoary-headed  sages,  and  stretching  out  a 
timid,  yet  patriot-nerved  arm,  towards  the  shrine  of  Liberty. 
He  plucks  from  her  altar  a  burning  brand  and  applies  it  to  those 
inflammable  materials  which  his  genius  and  talents  had  collected 
around  him.  The  flame  that  followed,  though  bright,  he  did  not 
suppose  would  be  seen  and  felt  far  beyond  the  precincts  of  her 
home.  The  utmost  stretch  of  his  fancy  could  not  present  to  him 
the  cheering  vision,  of  the  deepest  recesses  of  the  woody  wilds  he 
had  left,  illumined  by  its  benign  beams  —  that  they  were  destined  to 
play  around  the  summits  of  the  Alleghanies,  glance  across  the 
broad  prairie,  blaze  over  the  lake,  and  flash  along  the  river,  pene- 
trating every  department  of  industrial  life,  with  their  developing, 
moulding,  and  preserving  power,  until  the  broad  breast  of  our  vast 
republic  should  beam  bright  and  beautiful  as  the  '  brow  of  night.' 
An  anecdote  is  related  of  Mr.  Clay,  aptly  illustrating  his  ability 
to  encounter  opposition,  in  whatever  manner  presented.  A  sena- 
tor from  Connecticut  had  endeavored  to  inspire  the  younger  mem- 
bers of  the  senate  with  a  respect  for  him,  nearly  allied  to  awe,  and 
to  this  end  was  accustomed  to  use  towards  them  harsh  and  exceed- 
ingly haughty  language,  but  especially  to  make  an  ostentatious 
display  of  his  attainments  and  his  supposed  superior  knowledge 
of  the  subject  under  discussion.  Mr.  Clay  could  ill  brook  his 
insolent  looks  and  language,  and  haughty,  overbearing  manner,  and 
took  occasion  in  his  speech  to  hit  them  off,  which  he  did  by  quoting 
the  laughable  simile  of  Peter  Pindar's  Magpie : 

1  Thus  have  I  seen  a  magpie  in  the  street, 
A  chattering  bird  we  often  meet, 
A  bird  for  curiosity  well  known, 

With  head  awry, 

And  cunning  eye, 
Peep  knowingly  into  a  marrow  bone.' 

It  would  be  difficult  to  say  which  was  the  greater,  the  merri- 
ment which  this  sally  caused,  or  the  chagrin  of  the  senator 
mentioned. 

During  the  session  an  attempt  was  made  to  clothe  the  executive 
with  power  to  arrest  and  confine  colonel  Burr,  if  deemed  necessary 
by  him,  without  experiencing  the  delays  often  consequent  on  the 


28  LIFEOFHENRYCLAY. 

uncertain  operations  of  law.  Mr.  Clay  did  not  take  an  active  part 
in  the  discussion  that  ensued,  but  barely  recorded  his  vote  against 
it.  He  regarded  the  suspension  of  the  act  of  habeas  corpus,  by 
which  alone  this  power  could  be  conferred,  as  highly  dangerous, 
and  which  could  be  justified  in  the  greatest  emergency  only.  He 
thought  it,  however,  unadvisable  to  mingle  in  the  discussion  in 
consequence  of  having  acted  as  Mr.  Burr  s  counsel.  The  measure 
passed  the  senate,  but  was  defeated  in  the  lower  house. 

In  the  month  of  February  of  the  same  year,  Mr.  Clay  exerted 
himself  to  procure  an  appropriation  for  the  purpose  of  constructing 
a  canal  in  Kentucky,  having  presented  a  resolution  to  that  effect. 
The  subject  was  referred  to  a  committee,  to  whom  as  chairman  he 
submitted  a  lengthy  and  able  report.  He  also  brought  forward  a 
resolution  to  improve  the  navigation  of  the  Ohio  river,  which  was 
favorably  received  by  the  senate,  and  adopted  with  unanimity. 
The  secretary  of  the  treasury  also  was  called  upon  to  obtain  all 
the  information  he  could  impart  and  report  the  same,  relative  to 
constructing  canals  and  making  such  other  internal  improvements 
as  might  come  legitimately  within  the  sphere  of  congressional 
action.  With  what  deep  interest  Mr.  Clay  regarded  the  prosecu- 
tion of  these  and  kindred  works,  may  be  learned  from  the  phrase- 
ology of  the  resolutions  which  he  introduced  recommending  them. 
In  the  report  before  mentioned  there  is  the  following  passage. 
1  How  far  is  it  the  policy  of  the  government  to  aid  in  works  of  this 
kind  when  it  has  no  distinct  interest  ?  Whether  indeed  in  such  a 
case  it  has  the  constitutional  power  of  patronage  and  encourage- 
ment, it  is  not  necessary  to  be  decided  in  the  present  instance. 
The  resolution  directing  the  secretary  to  procure  information,  is 
as  follows.  '  Resolved,  that  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  be 
directed  to  prepare  and  report  to  tfre  senate  at  their  next  session  a 
plan  for  the  application  of  such  means  as  are  within  the  power  of 
congress,  to  the  purposes  of  opening  roads  and  making  canals, 
together  with  a  statement  of  undertakings  of  that  nature,  which  as 
objects  of  public  improvement  may  require  and  deserve  the  aid  of 
government,  and  also  a  statement  of  works  of  the  nature  men- 
tioned, which  have  been  commenced,  the  progress  which  has  been 
made  in  them,  and  the  means  and  prospect  of  their  being  comple- 
ted, and  all  such  information  as  in  the  opinion  of  the  secretary 
shall  be  material,  in  relation  to  the  objects  of  this  resolution." 
This  resolution  passed  almost  unanimously. 

At  the  expiration  of  his  senatorial  term  the  citizens  of  Fayette 
county  gave  him  their  suffrages  again  for  the  state  legislature,  to 
which  he  was  elected  by  a  majority  much  larger  than  his  most 
sanguine  friends  expected.  In  consequence  of  the  part  Mr.  Clay 
had  performed  in  the  affair  of  colonel  Burr,  his  popularity  sustained 
some  diminution,  which,  however,  was  only  temporary.  His  ene- 
mies •  attempted  to  excite  similar  feelings  of  odium  towards  him 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  29 

with  which  Mr.  Burr  was  visited,  and  partially  succeeded,  but 
which  were  dissipated  by  an  address  made  by  Mr.  Clay,  in  relation 
to  his  connection  with  him,  and  succeeded  to  such  an  overwhelm- 
ing extent  in  turning  the  tide  of  calumny  directed  towards  him, 
against  hi3  enemies,  that  it  would  have  been  exceedingly  hazardous 
for  any  one,  in  the  presence  of  his  friends,  to  repeat  the  slanderous 
charges.  He  was  elected  speaker  of  the  assembly  at  the  next 
session,  although  opposed  by  a  very  popular  member  as  a  candi- 
date for  the  same  office.  In  this  station  he  was  distinguished  for 
zeal,  energy,  and  decision,  exhibited  in  discharging  its  duties. 
He  would  sometimes  engage  in  the  debates  of  the  house  when  a 
subject  of  unusual  interest  was  before  it.  An  attempt  was  made 
during  this  term  worthy  of  the  dark  ages  —  an  attempt  to  prohibit 
the  reading  of  any  British  elementary  work  on  law,  and  reference 
to  any  precedent  of  a  British  court.  Contrary  to  what  might  have 
been  expected,  this  monstrous  proposition,  this  antinomian  attempt 
found  favor  in  the  eyes  of  more  than  four-fifths  of  the  members  of 
the  house,  and  had  not  Mr.  Clay  rushed  to  the  rescue,  the  whole 
system  of  common  law,  so  far  as  Kentucky  was  concerned,  would 
have  been  destroyed.  His  timely  interference  averted  the  catas- 
trophe. The  prohibition  was  advocated  on  the  ground  that  it  was 
inexpedient  for  an  independent  nation  to  derive  any  assistance 
in  the  administration  of  justice,  from  the  legal  decisions  of  a  foreign 
court ;  especially  from  those  of  the  one  in  question.  It  cannot  be 
doubted  that  the  friends  of  the  prohibition  were  stimulated  by 
ardent  though  somewhat  bigoted  patriotism.  Those  deep  seated 
feelings  of  repugnance  towards  the  nation  at  whose  hands  we  had 
received  such  oppressive  treatment  but  a  few  years  previous,  had 
not  yet  subsided,  and  very  naturally  extended  to  every  thing  per- 
taining to  that  nation.  This  fact  partially  apologizes  for  that 
intemperate  and  inconsiderate  zeal  with  which  more  than  four-fifths 
of  the  house  set  about  demolishing  what  it  was  vitally  important 
should  be  incorporated  with  the  fabric  of  our  liberties,  and  become 
a  constituent  part  of  the  same.  They  desired  to  be  removed  as 
far  as  possible  from  Great  Britain,  in  legal  as  well  as  in  other 
respects,  without  carefully  considering  the  effect  of  that,  removal. 
This  law,  viewed  through  the  distorted  medium  of  prejudice  and 
hatred,  seemed  a  huge  excrescence  on  the  body  of  our  institutions, 
whose  incumbency  exerted  a  crushing  instead  of  a  sustaining 
influence,  draining  their  energies,  instead  of  imparting  to  them  no 
inconsiderable  portion  of  their  vitality,  and  instantly  the  axe  of 
judicial  reform  was  seized  by  these  sapient  legislators  for  its  ampu- 
tation. Against  this  fratricidal  attempt,  Mr.  Clay  raised  his  power- 
ful arm.  He  had  witnessed  with  feelings  of  unfeigned  regret,  this 
rash  attempt  to  lay  violent  hands  on  that  system  with  which  was 
associated  every  thing  valuable  and  venerable  in  jurisprudence. 
That  system  which  might  justly  be  styled  the  legal  Thesaurus  of 


30  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

the  world,  founded  by  the  hand  of  social  exigency  amid  fearful 
convulsions,  and  reared  by  the  united  efforts  of  the  most  eminent 
jurisconsulats  the  world  ever  saw,  he  endeavored  to  shield  against 
the  ruthless  assaults  of  this  legislative  vandalism.  He  was  aware 
that  the  popular  opinion  considered  this  system  as  unnecessarily 
voluminous  —  an  immense  mixture  of  superfluities,  prolixities,  and 
absurdities,  unadapted  to,  and  unneeded  by,  our  institutions. 
These  erroneous  apprehensions  and  long  existing  prejudices,  he 
combated  and  corrected.  He  demonstrated  its  utility  by  a  lucid 
exposition  of  the  beauty,  symmetry,  and  simplicity  of  its  funda- 
mental principles,  and  its  necessity,  by  depicting  in  most  glowing 
colors  the  disastrous  consequences  which  would  inevitably  follow 
its  destruction.  Fearing,  however,  that  the  resolution  would  pass, 
he  met  its  supporters  in  the  spirit  of  compromise,  and  moved  so 
to  amend  it,  that  the  prohibition  should  extend  to  those  decisions 
only,  that  had  been  given  since  the  fourth  day  of  July,  1776.  His 
reasons  for  permitting  those  to  remain,  which  were  given  previous 
to  that  period,  were  as  convincing  as  they  were  sensible.  He 
argued  that  up  to  the  time  of  the  declaration  of  independence,  the 
laws  of  the  one  nation  were  those  of  the  other,  and  that  therefore 
the  adoption  of  the  primary  resolution  would  be  in  effect  abolish- 
ing our  own  laws.  He  is  said  to  have  given  on  this  occasion,  one 
of  the  most  splendid  specimens  of  elocution  ever  witnessed.  A 
gentleman  who  was  present  describes  it  as  a  perfect  model.  «  Every 
muscle  of  the  orator's  face  was  at  work ;  his  whole  body  seemed 
agitated,  as  if  each  part  was  instinct  with  a  separate  life ;  and  his 
small  white  hand,  with  its  blue  veins  apparently  distended  almost 
to  bursting,  moved  gracefully,  but  with  all  the  energy  of  rapid  and 
vehement  gesture.  The  appearance  of  the  speaker  seemed  that 
of  a  pure  intellect,  wrought  up  to  its  mightiest  energies,  and  brightly 
glowing  through  the  thin  and  transparent  veil  of  flesh  that  enrobed 
it.'  His  control  over  his  auditory  was  most  absolute  and  astonish- 
ing—  now  bathing  them  in  tears,  and  now  convulsing  them 
with  laughter,  causing  them  to  alternate  between  hope  and  fear, 
love  and  hate,  at  his  bidding.  When  he  concluded,  scarcely  a 
vestige  of  opposition  remained,  and  the  amended  resolution  was 
adopted  almost  by  acclamation.  While  the  prominence,  which 
this  and  similar  efforts  gave  Mr.  Clay,  was  a  source  of  satisfaction 
to  him,  and  gratification  to  his  friends,  it  was  attended  with  the 
unpleasant  effect  of  exposing  him  to  the  keenest  shafts  of  his 
political  enemies.  In  the  year  1808  he  was  most  violently  assailed 
by  Humphrey  Marshall,  an  ultra  federalist,  a  man  of  talents  and 
eloquence.  He  let  no  opportunity  pass  unimproved  to  give  vent 
to  his  rancorous  feelings  toward  Mr.  Clay,  and  indeed  towards  all 
the  prominent  supporters  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  administration.  He 
had  repeatedly  attacked  Mr.  Clay  through  the  press,  but  now,  being 
a  member  of  the  legislature,  was  enabled  to  make  them  in  person. 


LJFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  31 

Mr.  Clay's  friends,  desirous  of  bringing  them  together,  made 
arrangements  to  this  effect,  by  not  re-electing  him  speaker.  Mr. 
Marshall  seemed  anxious  to  measure  weapons  with  Mr.  Clay ;  fol- 
lowing him  in  all  his  movements,  and  opposing  him  at  every  turn. 
In  the  early  part  of  the  session,  Mr.  Clay  placed  several  resolutions 
before  the  house,  relating  to  the  embargo  and  British  orders  in 
council,  remonstrating  against  the  arbitrary  demands  of  that  nation, 
and  pledging  Kentucky  to  action,  comformable  to  the  decisions  of 
the  general  government  in  relation  thereto.  They  recognized  Mr. 
Jefferson's  policy  as  sound,  approved  his  measures,  and  pronounced 
him  entitled  to  the  thanks  of  his  country,  for  the  ability,  upright- 
ness, and  intelligence  which  he  displayed  in  the  management,  both 
of  our  foreign  relations  and  domestic  concerns.  Mr.  Marshall 
endeavored  to  procure  their  amendment,  sc  as  to  condemn  the 
embargo,  and  reprobate,  without  stint  or  measure,  Mr.  Jefferson's 
administration.  Their  rejection  was  most  emphatic,  by  a  vote  of 
sixty-four  to  one  —  he  voting  in  their  favor,  —  and  Mr.  Clay's  were 
adopted  by  the  same  vote.  But  the  vials  of  Mr.  Marshall's  fiercest 
and  most,  vituperative  wrath  were  reserved  for  the  occasion  when 
Mr.  Clay  stood  up  in  defence  of  his  favorite  policy,  of  affording 
protection  to  domestic  industry,  by  introducing  a  resolution,  declar- 
ing that  it  was  expedient  for  each  member  of  the  house,  for  the 
purpose  of  giving  unequivocal  evidence  of  his  attachment  to  this 
principle,  to  clothe  himself  in  fabrics  of  domestic  manufacture. 
This  patriotic  attempt  was  not  only  denounced  by  his  foe  as  dem- 
agogic, and  prompted  by  motives  of  the  most  inordinate  and 
grasping  ambition  ;  but  leaving  the  resolution,  he  attacked  its  author 
in  genuine  billingsgate  style.  Utterly  regardless  of  every  rule  of 
gentlemanly  courtesy,  parliamentary  propriety,  or  common  decency 
even,  he  exhausted  the  vocabulary  in  search  of  opprobious  and 
insulting  epithets,  which  he  applied  in  the  spirit  of  the  most  liberal 
abuse.  Such  foul  and  unmerited  treatment  could  not  be  quietly 
borne  by  a  person  of  Mr.  Clay's  ardent  and  sensitive  temperament, 
and  he  rebuked  him  in  language  deservedly  harsh,  and  calculated 
to  sting  him  to  the  quick.  The  quarrel  progressed  until  it  reached 
that  stage  where  Mr.  Clay  considered  himself  bound,  according  to 
Kentuckian  interpretation  of  the  law  of  honor,  to  challenge  Mr. 
Marshall  to  meet  him  and  settle  it  in  single  combat.  It  was 
accepted,  and  the  parties,  pursuant  to  appointment,  met  and  ex- 
changed two  or  three  shots,  resulting  in  a  slight  wound  to  each. 
The  duel  was  terminated  by  the  interference  of  the  seconds,  who 
protested  against  its  further  procedure. 

In  1809,  a  case  of  contested  election  came  before  the  legislature, 
in  the  settlement  of  which,  Mr.  Clay  acted  a  conspicuous  part. 
The  electors  of  Hardin  county  had  given  four  hundred  and  thirty- 
six  votes  for  Charles  Helm,  three  hundred  and  fifty  for  Samuel 
Haycroft,  and  two  hundred  and  seventy-one  for  John  Thomas,  two 


32  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

of  whom  were  entitled  to  seats.  It  appeared  that  Mr.  Haycroft,  at 
the  time  of  the  election,  held  an  office,  which,  according  to  the 
constitution  of  Kentucky,  rendered  him  ineligible  to  a  seat  in  the 
general  assembly.  Mr.  Clay  submitted  his  views  of  the  case,  in  a 
report  prepared  by  him,  as  chairman  of  a  committee  appointed  in 
accordance  with  a  motion  made  by  him  to  inquire  whether  Mr. 
Haycroft  was  entitled  to  a  seat,  and  if  not,  to  decide  on  the  claims 
of  Mr.  Thomas  to  one.  This  report  was  adopted  unanimously, 
and  has  since  constituted  the  rule  in  similar  cases  in  Kentucky. 
Its  doctrines  are  so  sound,  and  at  the  same  time  so  simple,  that  we 
cannot  forbear  inserting  an  extract.  '  The  fact  being  ascertained 
that  Mr.  Haycroft  held  an  office  of  profit  under  the  commonwealth 
at  the  time  of  the  election,  the  constitutional  disqualification 
attaches  and  excludes  him;  he  was  ineligible  and  therefore  cannot 
be  entitled  to  his  seat  It  remains  to  inquire  into  the  pretensions 
of  Mr.  Thomas.  His  claim  can  only  be  supported  by  a  total 
rejection  of  the  votes  given  to  Mr.  Haycroft,  as  void  to  all  intents 
whatever.  It  is  not  pretended  that  they  were  given  by  persons  not 
qualified  according  to  the  constitution,  and  consequently,  if  rejected 
it  must  be  not  for  any  inherent  objection  in  themselves,  but  because 
they  have  been  bestowed  in  a  manner  forbidden  by  the  constitution 
or  laws.  By  an  act  passed  18th  of  December,  1S00,  it  is  required 
that  persons  holding  offices  incompatible  with  a  seat  in  the  legis- 
lature, shall  resign  them  before  they  are  voted  for ;  and  it  is  provi- 
ded that  all  votes  given  to  any  such  person  prior  to  such  resigna- 
tion shall  be  utterly  void.  This  act,  when  applied  to  the  case  in 
question,  perhaps  admits  of  the  construction  that  the  votes  given 
to  Mr.  Haycroft,  though  void  and  ineffectual  in  creating  any  right 
in  him  to  a  seat  in  the  house,  cannot  affect  in  any  manner  the  situ- 
ation of  his  competitor.  Any  other  exposition  of  it  is,  in  the 
opinion  of  your  committee,  wholly  inconsistent  with  the  constitu- 
tion, and  would  be  extremely  dangerous  in  practice.  It  would  be 
subversive  of  the  great  principle  of  free  government  that  the 
majority  shall  prevail.  It  would  operate  as  a  deception  of  the 
people,  for  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  votes  given  to  Mr.  Hay- 
croft were  bestowed  upon  a  full  persuasion  that  he  had  a  right  to 
receive  them.  And  it  would  infringe  the  rights  of  this  house, 
guarantied  by  the  constitution,  to  judge  of  the  qualifications  of  its 
members.  It  would,  in  fact,  be  a  declaration  that  disqualification 
produces  qualification  —  that  the  incapacity  of  one  man  capacitates 
another  to  hold  a  seat  in  this  house.  Your  committee  are  therefore 
unanimously  and  decidedly  of  opinion  that  neither  of  the  gentle- 
men is  entitled  to  a  seat.'  'This  act  closed  his  career  in  the  legis- 
lature of  Kentucky,  to  which  he  tendered  his  resignation  soon  after. 
He  was  elected  to  the  senate  of  the  United  States  for  two  years  — 
the  unexpired  portion  of  Mr.  Buckner  Thurston's  term,  who  had 
resigned  his  seat  in  that  body.     During  Mr.  Clay's  continuance  in 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY 


the  legislature,  he  had  produced  the  deepest  impression  of  his  abil- 
ity and  talents,  and  won  the  favor  of  his  associates,  to  what  extent 
may  be  determined  from  the  fact  of  their  selecting  him  for  the  office 
before  named,  by  a  vote  of  two  thirds.  He  retired,  accompanied 
with  their  expressions  of  sincere  regret  for  his  loss,  and  high  esti- 
mate of  his  services.  The  annals  of  Kentucky  present  no  brighter 
spot  than  that  which  in  imperishable'  characters  records  his  name. 
It  is  the  oasis  of  her  history,  verdant  and  beautiful,  begirt  with  the 
wreath  of  his  noble  deeds,  brilliant  with  the  gems  of  benevolence, 
philanthropy  and  patriotism. 

The  manner  in  which  he  discharged  his  duties  while  connected 
with  her  legislature,  is  forcibly  described  by  one  intimately  ac- 
quainted with  him.  '  He  appears  to  have  been  the  pervading 
spirit  of  the  whole  body.  He  never  came  to  the  debates  without 
the  knowledge  necessary  to  the  perfect  elucidation  of  his  subject, 
and  he  always  had  the  power  of  making  his  knowledge  so  practi- 
cal, and  lighting  it  so  brightly  up  with  the  fire  of  eloquence,  and 
the  living  soul  of  intellect,  that  without  resorting  to  the  arts  of  in- 
sidiousness,  he  could  generally  control  the  movements  of  the  legis- 
lature at  will.  His  was  not  an  undue  influence ;  it  was  the  sim- 
ple ascendency  of  mind  over  mind.  The  bills  which  originated 
with  him,  instead  of  being  characterized  by  the  eccentricities  and 
ambitious  innovations  which  are  too  often  visible  in  the  course  of 
young  men  of  genius  suddenly  elevated  to  power  and  influence, 
were  remarkable  only  for  their  plain  common  sense,  and  their  ten- 
dency to  advance  the  substantial  interests  of  the  state.  Though 
he  carried  his  plans  into  effect  by  the  aid  of  the  magical  incanta- 
tions of  the  orator,  he  always  conceived  them  with  the  coolness 
and  discretion  of  a  philosopher.  No  subject  was  so  great  as  to 
baffle  his  powers,  none  so  minute  as  to  elude  them.  He  could 
handle  the  telescope  and  the  microscope  with  equal  skill.  In  him 
the  haughty  demagogues  of  the  legislature  found  an  antagonist 
who  never  failed  to  foil  them  in  their  bold  projects,  and  the  intriguers 
of  lower  degree  were  baffled  with  equal  certainty  whenever 
they  attempted  to  get  any  petty  measure  through  the  house  for 
their  own  personal  gratification  or  that  of  their  friends.  The  peo- 
ple, therefore,  justly  regarded  him  as  emphatically  their  own. 

In  the  winter  of  1809-10,  soon  after  he  took  his  seat  the  seconc 
time  in  the  senate,  his  attention  was  turned  towards  a  subject  kin-^ 
dred  to  that  to  which  it  had  been  directed  when  he  first  became  a 
member  of  that  body  —  that  of  domestic  manufactures.  It  is 
remarkable  fact,  that  the  first  two  subjects  which  demanded  and 
secured  his  aid  on  entering  congress,  were  those  of  primary  im- 
portance to  the  welfare  of  the  republic  —  subjects  subsequently 
shown,  in  the  unillusive  light  of  experience,  to  be  not  only  as  inti-! 
mately  connected  with  private  as  with  public  prosperity,  but  as 
constituting  the  very  lungs  of  Liberty  herself,  generating  and  dif- 
vol.  i.  5 


34  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

fusing  copious  alimental  streams  to  every  organ  and  member  of 
her  body,  thus  producing  that  health  and  vigor  whereby  she  was 
enabled  to  extend  proper  encouragement  and  protection  to  all  her 
children.  Up  to  this  period  but  little  thought,  and  less  action  had 
been  bestowed  by  government  upon  the  subject  of  domestic 
manufactures,  and  the  light  duties  imposed  on  articles  of  foreign 
growth  and  manufacture,  were  for  the  purpose  of  raising  a  revenue, 
and  not  intended  to  afford  any  protection  or  encouragement  to  any 
branch  of  domestic  industry.  Our  country,  instead  of  putting  her 
young,  muscular  hands  vigorously  forth,  and  from  her  own  inex- 
haustible resources  constructing  such  articles  as  she  needed,  sat 
still  in  the  same  supine  attitude  of  abject  dependence  on  Great 
Britain  which  she  was  in  when  the  war  of  the  revolution  com- 
menced, stretching  them  out  to  foreign  artificers,  and  receiving 
those  articles  at  their  hands.  How  long  she  might  have  remained 
in  this  inglorious  position,  it  is  difficult  to  determine,  had  not  her 
relations  with  that  nation  assumed  an  aspect  so  threatening  and 
belligerent,  as  to  alarm  and  induce  her  to  withdraw  and  employ 
them  in  her  own  protection.  Now  the  increasing  prospect  of  war 
served  in  some  degree  to  arouse  the  nation  from  that  lethargic 
state  of  indifference  in  which  it  had  so  long  slumbered.  At  least 
it  was  deemed  advisable  to  anticipate  such  an  event,  by  making 
provision  for  the  materials  usually  needed  in  such  an  emergency. 
Accordingly  a  bill  was  introduced  to  appropriate  a  sum  of  money 
to  purchase  cordage,  sail  cloths,  and  the  ordinary  munitions  of 
war,  and  so  amended  as  to  give  preference  to  articles  of  domestic 
growth  and  manufacture,  provided  the  interests  of  the  nation  should 
not  suffer  thereby.  Mr.  Lloyd,  a  senator  from  Massachusetts, 
moved  to  strike  out  the  amendment  granting  the  preference,  and 
supported  his  motion  by  a  long  and  powerful  speech.  A  general 
and  interesting  discussion  ensued,  in  which  the  policy  of  extend- 
ing direct  protection  by  the  government  to  domestic  manufactures 
was  considered.  Mr.  Clay  was  among  the  first  to  avow  himself 
decidedly  in  favor  of  the  policy,  and  by  his  speech  made  at  the 
time  proved  both  its  expediency  and  wisdom.  His  remarks  were 
plain  and  practical,  chiefly  confined  to  statements  of  facts,  with 
brief  comments,  yet  so  philosophically  and  skilfully  arranged  as  to 
produce  their  intended  effect.  In  the  course  of  his  observations, 
he  alluded  to  that  preference  generally  given  in  our  country  to  ar- 
ticles of  foreign  production,  by  saying,  that  '  a  gentleman's  head 
could  not  withstand  the  influence  of  the  solar  heat  unless  covered 
with  a  London  hat ;  his  feet  could  not  bear  the  pebbles  or  the  frost 
unless  protected  by  London  shoes  ;  and  the  comfort  and  ornament 
of  his  person  was  consulted  only  where  his  coat  was  cut  out  by  the 
shears  of  a  tailor  just  from  London.  At  length,  however,  the  won- 
derful discovery  has  been  made  that  it  is  not  absolutely  beyond  the 
reach  of  American  skill  and  ingenuity  to  produce  these  articles,  com- 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  35 

bining  with  equal  elegance  greater  durability.  And  I  entertain  no 
doubt  that  in  a  short  time  the  no  less' important  fact  will  be  devel- 
oped, that  the  domestic  manufactures  of  the  United  States,  fostered 
by  government,  and  aided  by  household  exertions,  are  fully  compe- 
tent to  supply  us  with  at  least  every  necessary  article  of  clothing. 
I,  therefore,  for  one,  (to  use  the  fashionable  cant  of  the  day,)  am 
in  favor  of  encouraging  them ;  not  to  the  extent  to  which  they  are 
carried  in  England,  but  to  such  an  extent  as  will  redeem  us  en- 
tirely from  all  dependence  on  foreign  countries.' 

Mr.  Clay  exposed  the  fallacy  of  the  specious  reasoning  of  Mr. 
Lloyd  and  other  members  hostile  to  the  measure,  who  based  their 
opposition  on  the  ground  of  the  bad  practical  tendency  of  a  system 
of  domestic  manufactures  fostered  by  government ;  and  in  illus- 
tration of  which  they  cited  the  wretched  and  most  famished  con- 
dition of  the  operatives  of  Manchester,  Birmingham,  and  other 
manufacturing  cities  of  Great  Britain.  They  maintained  that  the 
introduction  of  such  a  system  into  America  would  be  attended 
with  the  same  sad  consequences  —  that  these  were  the  natural 
results  of  such  a  system,  surrounded  by  such  governmental  en- 
couragement, and  inseparably  connected  with  it.  Mr.  Clay  in  re- 
ply declared  that  this  was  a  non  sequiter  —  that  although  such  con- 
sequences might  be,  and  doubtless  were  incidental  to  such  a 
system,  it  by  no  means  followed  that  they  were  unavoidably  and 
inevitably  consequent  upon  it  under  all  circumstances.  The  case 
instanced,  he  said,  furnished  no  proof  to  that  effect, —  that  the  de- 
plorable condition  of  the  manufacturing  districts  of  Great  Britain 
had  not  been,  neither  could  be  satisfactorily  accounted  for  in  the 
manner  attempted.  It  was  not  attributable  to  the  fact  of  their 
being  manufacturing  districts  —  to  the  existence  of  that  system 
which  they  were  then  considering,  but  to  the  abuse  of  that  system. 
That  it  would  be  just  as  philosophical  and  logical,  in  view  of  the 
excruciating  sufferings  of  the  gormandizer,  to  conclude  that  the 
invariable  tendency  of  food  when  introduced  into  the  stomach  is 
deleterious,  as  to  adduce  the  squalor  and  wretchedness  of  England's 
manufacturing  population  as  proof  positive  of  the  pernicious  ten- 
dency of  the  system  under  which  they  operated.  This  was  not 
sufficiently  restricted.  It  was  too  grasping  —  intended  to  make  her 
the  manufacturing  monopolist  of  the  world,  and  so  shaped  as  to 
shut  out  effectually  all  rivalry.  To  this  grand,  distinctive  feature 
of  that  system  the  evil  in  question  could  be  directly  traced  —  an 
evil  that  would  be  seen  attendant  on  any  vast,  artificial  establish- 
ment similarly  conducted,  whether  encouraged  by  public  or  private 
patronage.  That  the  objections,  therefore,  of  opposing  members 
lost  all  their  validity  when  directed  towards  the  system  itself,  which 
they  possibly  might  possess  when  directed  towards  the  feature 
mentioned,  if  it  were  not  known  that  this  was  merely  conventional, 
and  not  inherent,  which  might  be  retained  or  rejected  at  pleasure. 


36  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

It  had  not  been,  indeed  it  could  not  be  denied,  that  to  this  system, 
badly  as  it  was  organized,  England  was  materially  indebted  for 
that  extensive  developement  of  her  natural  resources  which  she 
had  made,  and  especially  for  her  maratime  importance.  That  her 
literary  and  scientific  institutions  owed  their  permanence  and  emi- 
nence" mainly  to  it,  which  had  diffused  also  streams  of  beneficial 
influence  through  every  part  of  her  vast  dominions.  In  the  case 
of  England,  throwing  the  broad  shield  of  her  protection  around 
this  system,  two  results  were  witnessed,  the  satisfaction  of  her  own 
and  the  world's  wants  in  relation  to  manufactures.  But  it  was  not 
intended  nor  desired  to  imitate  her  in  this  respect  by  carrying  the 
principle  of  protection  so  far.  The  public  aid  solicited  for  the 
American  manufacturer  was  moderate,  just  sufficient  to  enable 
him  to  supply  the  domestic  demand  for  his  fabrics.  The  measure, 
even  then,  was  most  obviously  one  of  expedience  and  wisdom, 
and  doubtless  always  would  be  ;  but  there  were  indications  to 
render  it  certain  that  it  would  soon  become  one  of  necessity. 
There  was  a  strong  prospect  of  our  being  deprived  of  our  accus- 
tomed commercial  intercourse,  in  consequence  of  the  arbitrary 
and  illegal  proceedings  of  the  belligerent  nations  of  Europe,  and 
that  we  should  be  obstructed  by  military  power  from  an  exercise 
of  our  right  to  carry  the  productions  of  our  own  soil  to  the  proper 
market  for  them.  The  circumstances  that  then  surrounded  the 
country  rendered  it  imperiously  incumbent  upon  her  to  look  to 
herself,  and  in  herself,  and  from  her  inestimably  valuable  raw  materi- 
als make  for  herself  such  articles  as  were  requisite  for  her  pros- 
perity in  peace,  and  protection  in  war.  In  short,  to  take  such 
measures  as  to  forever  obviate  the  necessity  of  resorting  to  the  work- 
shops of  the  old  world  for  them.  Mr.  Clay  referred  to  our  immense 
natural  resources,  scattered  in  rich  and  varied  profusion  over  the 
land,  as  furnishing  an  argument  in  favor  of  the  policy  he  was  ad- 
vocating. In  contending  for  our  manufacturing  interests,  it  by  no 
means  followed,  as  had  been  intimated,  that  he  deemed  them  of 
paramount  importance  to  the  nation.  He  did  not  hesitate  to  admit 
that  on  the  culture  of  the  soil  her  happiness  and  wealth  chiefly 
depended; — that  here  lay  the  mine  from  which  her  treasury  must 
be  replenished  by  the  hand  of  agriculture,  if  she  would  have  an 
overflowing  one,  and  expressed  his  decided  belief  that  commerce 
was,  and  ought  to  be  more  indebted  to  it  than  to  manufactures. 
He  did  not  desire  the  department  of  the  plough  and  sickle  to  be 
encroached  upon  by  that  of  the  spindle  and  shuttle  ;  yet  he  con- 
tended that  it  was  proper  that  we  should  supply  ourselves  '  with 
clothing  made  by  our  own  industry,  and  no  longer  be  dependent 
for  our  very  coats  upon  a  country  that  was  then  an  envious  rival, 
and  might  soon  be  an  enemy.  A  judicious  American  farmer  in 
the  household  way,'  said  he,  'manufactures  whatever  is  requisite  for 
his  family.     He  squanders  but  little  in  the  gewgaws  of  Europe. 


LIFEOFHENRYCLAY.  37 

He  presents  in  epitome  what  the  nation  ought  to  be  in  extenso. 
Their  manufactures  should  bear  the  same  proportion,  and  effect 
the  same  object  in  relation  to  the  whole  community,  which  the  part 
of  the  household  employed  in  domestic  manufacturing  bears  to 
the  whole  family.'  The  view  taken  by  Mr.  Clay  was  so  enlight- 
ened, sound  and  practical,  as  to  commend  the  bill  to  their  most 
favorable  consideration,  and  induce  them  to  adopt  it  as  amended. 
The  salutary  effects  that  flowed  from  it  soon  became  apparent.  The 
public  purveyors  immediately  succeeded  in  making  arrangements 
for  the  specified  articles  with  American  capitalists,  on  most  advan- 
tageous terms,  so  that  when  the  storm  burst  upon  us,  as  it  did  soon 
after,  though  not  perfectly  prepared  for  its  encounter,  we  were 
not  as  defenceless  as  we  should  have  been,  had  our  dependence 
been  placed  exclusively  on  foreign  nations.  The  impetus  given  'to 
domestic  manufactures  was  astonishing,  resulting  in  their  increase 
during  the  following  year  over  those  of  the  year  previous,  to  the 
amount  of  more  than  fifty  millions  of  dollars.  Of  this  increase, 
Mr.  Madison,  in  his  message  to  congress  the  following  session, 
makes  most  favorable  mention,  by  declaring  that  he  felt  particular 
satisfaction  in  remarking  that  an  interior  view  of  the  country  pre- 
sented many  grateful  proofs  of  the  extension  of  useful  manufac- 
tures ;  the  combined  product  of  professional  occupation  and 
household  industry.  He  expressed  his  conviction  that,  the  change 
which  had  introduced  these  substitutes  for  supplies  heretofore 
obtained  by  foreign  commerce,  might,  in  a  national  view,  be  justly 
regarded  as  of  itself  more  than  a  recompense  for  those  privations 
and  losses  resulting  from  foreign  injustice,  which  first  suggested 
the  propriety  of  fostering  them.  Here  then,  from  that  system,  while 
yet  in  the  germ,  was  gathered  an  antepast  of  that  immense  fruition, 
which  it  was  destined  to  yield,  when  its  stately  trunk  had  towered 
in  symmetry  and  majesty  toward  heaven,  imparting  prosperity  and 
security  to  millions  of  freemen,  dwelling  beneath  its  branches. 
But  let  it  not  be  forgotten  that  it  is  to  the  persevering  and  unremit- 
ting exertions  of  Henry  Clay  that  we  are  indebted  for  the  planting 
and  the  growth  of  that  goodly  tree. 

He  had  scarcely  ceased  from  his  efficient  labors  in  procuring  the 
adoption  of  the  bill  before  mentioned,  when  another  opportunity 
presented  itself  for  the  exercise  of  that  expansive  patriotism  for 
which  his  every  public  act  is  distinguished,  and  one  which  he  em- 
braced with  his  characteristic  eagerness  and  promptitude.  There 
was  strong  prospect  that  the  United  States  would  be  dismembered 
of  a  portion  of  her  territory  —  the  large  and  fertile  district  included 
between  the  Mississippi  and  Perdido  Rivers,  being  the  present 
states  of  Mississippi  and  Alabama,  and  the  territory  of  West 
Florida,  or  the  greater  part  of  it.  To  prevent  this,  Mr.  Clay  came 
boldly  forth,  triumphing  over  all  opposition,  and  clearly  vindicated 
her  right  to  it.     The  United  States  became  possessed  of  it  in  1803, 


38  LTFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

when  it  was  ceded  to  her  by  France,  with  every  thing  appertaining 
just  as  she  had  received  it  from  Spain,  who  formally  acquiesced  in 
the  cession  in  1804.  The  United  States,  from  conciliatory  motives 
partly,  and  partly  in  consequence  of  events  which  they  could  not 
control,  suffered  it  to  remain  in  the  possession  of  Spain,  who  tem- 
porarily exercised  authority  over  it.  But  her  authority  was  now 
being  subverted,  a  large  portion  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  province 
refusing  to  submit  to  it.  Reports  also  were  rife  that  agents  des- 
patched by  the  king  of  England,  were  actively  engaged  in  endeav- 
oring to  induce  the  people  to  come  under  British  government.  In 
this  emergency,  president  Madison,  thinking  that  longer  delay  in 
taking  possession  of  it  would  expose  the  country  to  ulterior  events 
which  might  affect  the  rights  and  welfare  of  the  Union,  contraven- 
ing, perhaps,  the  views  of  both  parties,  endangering  the  tranquillity 
and  security  of  the  adjoining  territories,  and  afford  fresh  facilities 
to  violations  of  our  revenue  and  commercial  laws,  issued  his  proc- 
lamation, directing  that  immediate  possession  should  be  taken  of 
the  said  territory.  Mr.  Claiborne,  governor  of  Orleans  territory, 
was  instructed  to  take  immediately  the  requisite  steps  for  annexing 
it  to  that  over  which  he  presided,  and  to  see  that  the  laws  of  the 
United  States  were  rigidly  enforced,  to  which  he  yielded  prompt 
obedience.  At  this  conjuncture  the  cry  that  came  up  from  the 
party  opposing  his  administration  was  loud  and  long.  They 
attempted  to  prove  that  this  measure  was  not  only  impolitic  and 
uncalled  for,  but  extremely  unjust  toward  Spain,  intended  to  in- 
volve us  in  a  war  with  England,  who,  as  her  ally,  would  take  um- 
brage on  account  of  it,  and  that  it  was  also  unconstitutional.  The 
federalists,  through  the  press,  and  in  legislative  assemblies,  repre- 
sented the  country  as  already  surrounded  in  circumstances  of  great 
peril  in  consequence  of  this  procedure.  A  warm  debate  ensued  in 
congress  on  a  bill  reported  by  a  committee  to  whom  the  procla- 
mation was  referred,  which  declared  that  the  laws  then  in  force  in 
the  territory  of  Orleans,  extended  and  had  full  force  to  the  river 
Perdido.  Mr.  Pope,  one  of  the  committee,  in  a  speech  made  at 
the  time,  explained  the  grounds  which  induced  them  to  make  the 
report,  and  was  followed  by  Mr.  Horsey,  a  senator  from  Delaware, 
in  opposition.  He  pronounced  the  title  of  the  United  States  in- 
valid, thought  it  inexpedient  to  take  possession  of  the  territory  by 
force,  and  questioned  the  right  of  the  president  to  issue  his  procla- 
mation to  that  effect.  He  declared  that  document  both  war  and 
legislation,  inasmuch  as  it  authorized  occupancy  by  military  force, 
and  invested  a  governor  with  all  the  authorities  and  functions  in 
regard  to  the  province  in  question,  that  he  legitimately  possessed  in 
presiding  over  his  own.  His  sympathies  seemed  to  be  strongly 
enlisted  in  behalf  of  the  king  of  Spain,  whose  prospective  loss  he 
deplored  in  language  of  deep  commiseration.  His  speech  was  in 
many  respects  able,  but  it  had  been  much  more  appropriately  de- 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  39 

livered  in  Madrid  at  the  foot  of  the  Spanish  monarch's  throne,  and 
in  the  presence  of  his  court,  than  at  Washington,  beneath  the  aegis 
of  liberty,  and  surrounded  by  patriotic  and  intelligent  freemen. 
Mr.  Clay  regarded  with  feelings  of  deep  regret  as  well  as  surprise, 
this  anti-republican  effort,  this  unnatural  attempt  by  a  son  of  Free- 
dom to  support  the  unfounded  pretensions  of  a  foreign  prince  to  a 
portion  of  her  own  blood-bought  soil, —  that  soil  from  which  he 
drew  his  sustenance,  and  on  which  were  reared  those  institutions 
that  constitute  it  an  appropriate  asylum  for  the  down-trodden  of 
every  other  nation  beneath  the  canopy  of  heaven.  Although  la- 
boring under  a  severe  indisposition,  he  could  not,  while  he  posses- 
sed the  power  of  utterance,  sit  tamely  still  and  listen  to  such  senti- 
ments promulgated  in  the  very  temple  of  liberty.  He  rose  to  reply 
in  that  graceful,  dignified  manner,  so  peculiar  to  himself.  As  he 
drew  up  his  tall  form  into  that  commanding  attitude  which  he  was 
accustomed  to  assume  as  preliminary  to  a  mighty  parliamentary 
effort,  it  could  be  easily  discovered  in  his  countenance,  what  was 
the  nature  of  his  feelings,  and  how  deep  the  fountain  of  eloquence 
had  been  stirred  within  him,  whose  effusions,  directed  with  unerring 
precision,  were  soon  to  bear  his  auditory  away  on  their  resistless 
tide,  to  the  goal  on  which  his  keen  eye  was  fixed.  This  speech  of 
Mr.  Clay  may  justly  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  finished  spec- 
imens of  argumentative  eloquence,  profound  investigation,  purity 
of  diction,  and  logical  reasoning,  that  the  records  of  any  legislative 
body  can  furnish.  It  evinced  by  its  demonstrative  and  inferential 
character,  the  most  thorough  and  patient  examination  of  the  sub- 
ject, in  all  its  minute  details,  and  indicated  most  clearly  his  main 
design  to  be,  not  a  brilliant  and  striking  display,  calculated  to 
please  and  captivate  the  fancy,  but  to  array  before  the  senate  a  for- 
midable front  of  facts,  to  hem  in  the  whole  house  with  a  wall*  of 
adamantine  argument,  which  could  be  neither  scaled  nor  sapped  \ 
and  he  was  completely  successful.  He  commenced  by  a  brief 
exordium  of  the  most  caustic  irony,  which  fell  like  molten  lead 
upon  the  heads  of  his  opponents.  He  expressed  his  admiration  at 
the  more  than  Aristidean  justice  which  prompted  certain  gentle- 
men, in  a  question  of  territorial  title  between  the  United  States 
and  a  foreign  nation,  to  espouse  the  cause  of  the  foreign,  presuming 
that  Spain  in  any  future  negotiations,  would  be  magnanimous 
enough  not  to  avail  herself  of  these  voluntary  concessions  in  her 
favor  in  the  senate  of  the  United  States.  He  said  he  would  leave 
the  honorable  gentleman  from  Delaware  to  bewail  the  fallen  for- 
tunes of  the  king  of  Spain,  without  stopping  to  inquire  whether 
their  loss  was  occasioned  by  treachery  or  not,  or  whether  it  could 
be  traced  to  any  agency  of  the  American  government.  He  con- 
fessed that  he  had  little  sympathy  for  princes,  but  that  it  was  reser- 
ved for  the  people,  the  great  mass  of  mankind,  and  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  declare  that  the  people  of  Spain  had  it  most  unreservedly 


40  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.. 

and  most  sincerely.  He  went  into  a  minute  and  circumstantial 
history  of  the  territory  in  dispute,  and  proved  by  a  chain  of  reason- 
ing the  most  clear  and  satisfactory,  that  its  title  was  in  the  United 
States.  In  doing  this  he  adopted  that  mode  which  the  nature  of 
the  subject  suggested,  by  a  critical  examination  of  all  the  title  pa- 
pers, transfers,  and  all  other  documents  in  any  way  relating  or  ap- 
pertaining to  it.  He  examined  the  patent  granted  by  Louis  the 
XIV  to  Crozat  in  1712,  which  patent  covered  the  province  in 
question,  and  declared  that  it  was  at  that  time  designated  by  the 
name  of  the  Province  of  Louisiana,  and  was  bounded  on  the 
west  by  old  and  new  Mexico,  and  on  the  east  by  Carolina.  This 
document  he  regarded  as  settling  the  question  beyond  all  doubt, 
that  the  country  under  consideration  was  embraced  within  the 
limits  of  Louisiana.  He  proved  that  it  originally  belonged  to 
France,  who  claimed  it  by  virtue  of  certain  discoveries  made  by 
La  Solle  and  others  during  the  seventeenth  century;  that  she 
ceded  it  to  Spain  in  1762,  who  retroceded  it  to  France  in  1800,  by 
the  treaty  of  St.  Ildefonso,  and  that  it  belonged  to  the  United 
Slates  by  purchase  from  her  as  a  portion  of  Louisiana  in  1803. 
After  the  most  thorough  investigation,  considering  all  the  ambigu- 
ous expressions  unintentionally  incorporated  with  the  treaties 
relating  to  the  territory,  and  applying  to  them  the  most  impartial 
and  rigid  rules  of  construction,  he  presented  the  title  of  the  United 
States  te  it  as  most  indefeasible,  and  as  standing  on  a  basis  which 
all  the  sophistry,  and  ingenuity,  and  ill-directed  sympathy  of  the 
opposition  could  not  shake.  He  then  proceeded  to  inquire  if  the 
proclamation  directing  the  occupation  of  property  thus  acquired  by 
solemn  treaty  was  an  unauthorized  measure  of  war  and  legislation. 
In  this,  his  vindication  of  the  course  pursued  by  Mr.  Madison 
was  most  triumphant.  He  proved  by  citing  acts  of  congress 
passed  in  1803-4,  that  the  president  was  fully  empowered  to  au- 
thorize the  occupation  of  the  territory.  He  maintained  that  these 
laws  furnished  '  a  legislative  construction  of  the  treaty  correspon- 
dent with  that  given  by  the  executive,  and  they  vest  in  this  branch 
of  the  government  indisputably  a  power  to  take  possession  of  the 
country  whenever  it  might  be  proper  in  his  discretion  ;  so  far, 
therefore,  from  having  violated  the  constitution  in  the  action  he 
had  taken  and  caused  to  be  taken,  he  had  hardly  carried  out  its 
provisions,  one  of  which  expressly  enjoined  it  upon  him  to  see 
that  the  laws  of  the  United  States  were  faithfully  and  impartially 
executed,  in  every  district  of  country  over  which  she  could  right- 
fully exercise  jurisdiction.  After  settling  the  questions  of  title  and 
constitutional  action  of  the  president,  he  proceeded  to  notice 
some  of  the  arguments  of  the  opposition  against  taking  forcible 
possession,  which  attempted  to  show  that  war  would  result.  '  We 
are  told,'  said  he,  '  of  the  vengeance  of  resuscitated  Spain.  If  Spain, 
under  any  modification  of  her  government,  choose  to  make  war 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  41 

upon  us  for  the  act  under  consideration,  the  nation,  I  have  no 
doubt,  will  be  willing  to  meet  war.  But  the  gentleman'  (Mr. 
Horsey)  '  reminds  us  that  Great  Britain,  the  ally  of  Spain,  may  be 
obliged  by  her  connection  with  Spain  to  take  part  with  her  against 
us,  and  to  consider  this  measure  of  the  president  as  justifying  an 
appeal  to  arms.  Sir,  is  the  time  never  to  arrive  when  we  may 
manage  our  own  affairs  without  the  fear  of  insulting  his  Britannic 
majesty  ?  Ts  the  rod  of  British  power  to  be  for  ever  suspended 
over  our  heads  ?  Does  congress  put  on  an  embargo  to  shelter  our 
rightful  commerce  against  the  piratical  depredations  committed 
upon  it  on  the  ocean  ?  we  are  immediately  warned  of  the  indigna- 
tion of  offended  England.  Is  a  law  of  non-intercourse  proposed? 
the  whole  navy  of  the  haughty  mistress  of  the  seas  is  made  to 
thunder  in  our  ears.  Does  the  president  refuse  to  continue  a  cor- 
respondence with  a  minister  who  violates  the  decorum  belonging 
to  his  diplomatic  character,  by  giving  and  deliberately  repeating  an 
affront  to  the  wThole  nation  ?  we  are  instantly  menaced  with  the 
chastisement  wirich  English  pride  will  not  fail  to  inflict.  "Whether 
we  assert  our  rights  by  sea  or  attempt  their  maintenance  by  land  — 
whithersoever  we  turn  ourselves,  this  phantom  incessantly  pursues 
us.  Already  has  it  had  too  much  influence  on  the  councils  of  the 
nation.  It  contributed  to  the  repeal  of  the  embargo  —  that  dishon- 
orable repeal  which  has  so  much  tarnished  the  character  of  our 
government.  Mr.  president,  I  have  before  said  on  this  floor,  and 
now  take  occasion  again  to  remark,  that  I  most  sincerely  desire 
peace  and  amity  with  England;  that  I  even  prefer  an  adjustment 
of  all  differences  with  her,  before  one  with  any  other  nation.  But 
if  she  persist  in  a  denial  of  justice  to  us,  or  if  she  avails  herself  of 
the  occupation  of  West  Florida  to  commence  war  upon  us,  I  trust 
and  hope  that  all  hearts  will  unite  in  a  bold  and  vigorous  vindica- 
tion of  our  rights.'  The  effect  produced  by  Mr.  Clay's  speech  was 
most  obvious,  inducing  many  of  the  most  strenuous  opposers  of 
the  course  pursued  by  the  president,  who  were  firmly  resolved  on 
recording  their  votes  in  disapproval  of  it,  to  come  frankly  forward 
and  candidly  to  acknowledge  their  error,  and  express  their  deter- 
mination to  sustain  him  in  this  measure.  They  were  true  to  their 
declaration,  and  thus  the  approval  of  the  proclamation  was  secu- 
red. But  '  had  there  been  at  that  time  in  the  senate  no  democratic 
champion  like  Mr.  Clay  —  one  who  could  stand  up  among  the  tall 
and  fierce  spirits  of  faction  to  vindicate  the  rights  of  our  country, 
and  utter  a  solemn  warning  in  the  ears  of  those  who  would  wan- 
tonly throw  the  key  of  her  strength  into  the  hands  of  an  enemy  —  it 
is  difficult  to  say  how  imminently  dangerous  might  have  been  the 
present  condition  of  the  republic' 

Mr.  Clay's  labors  during  the  remainder  of  the  session  were  ar- 
duous and  unremitted,  as  well   as  most  valuable,  to  particular 
individuals  as  well  as  to  the  nation.     The  discharge  of  his  duty 
vol*  L  6 


42  LIFE     OF     HENRY      CLAY. 

towards  his  country,  he  seems  ever  to  have  considered  of  the  most 
pressing  importance,  and  it  is  gladdening  to  the  heart  of  every  true 
American  to  witness  the  disinterested,  the  noble  and  generous 
manner  with  which  it  was  performed.  In  whatever  relations,  and 
however  circumstanced  we  find  him,  we  see  him  presenting,  in 
this  respect,  one  unvaried  aspect.  He  took  an  active  part  in  all  the 
discussions  of  consequence,  where  any  important  and  essential 
principle  was  involved.  He  was  several  times  appointed  one  of  a 
committee,  to  whom  matters  of  interest  were  referred.  Here  he 
displayed  accurate  discrimination,  soundness  of  judgment,  and  great 
ability,  in  immediately  discerning  and  seizing  the  strong  points 
of  a  subject,  calculated  to  render  conspicuous  its  merits  or  expose 
its  defects.  He  acted  as  chairman  of  a  committee,  to  whom  was 
recommitted  a  bill,  granting  a  right  of  preemption  to  purchasers  of 
public  lands,  in  certain  cases,  and  reported  it  with  amendments, 
which  were  read.  After  receiving  some  alterations,  it  wTas  again 
recommitted,  reported,  and  finally  passed  the  senate.  The  cause 
of  the  poor  settler  and  the  hardy  pioneer  could  not  have  been 
committed  to  better  hands  —  to  one  who  would  more  studiously 
and  feelingly  consult  their  best  interests.  Experience  had  made 
him  acquainted  with  the  privations,  wants,  and  toils,  which  they 
were  compelled  to  encounter,  in  causing  the  forest  to  recede  before 
their  slow,  fatiguing  march,  and  this  opened  a  wide  avenue  to 
the  fountain  of  his  sympathetic  feelings,  which  gushed  sponta- 
neously forth  whenever  he  contemplated  the  evils  and  the  difficul- 
ties which  beset  their  path.  This  he  exerted  himself  to  render  as 
smooth  as  possible.  Hence  he  early  and  continually  advocated 
a  most  liberal  policy  towards  that  class  of  his  country's  yeomanry, 
maintaining  that  she  should  extend  to  them  every  facility  in  her 
power,  consistent  with  wisdom  and  justice.  Mr.  Clay  has  always 
watched  the  movements  of  the  emigrant  with  feelings  of  almost 
paternal  solicitude,  and  wherever  he  has  pitched  his  temporary 
tent,  or  made  his  permanent  abode,  there  he  has  exerted  himself  to 
induce  his  country  to  extend  her  beneficial  legislation,  and  to  lay  at 
his  door  as  many  of  the  benefits  of  civilized  life  as  possible,  with 
their  ameliorating  influences.  How  illiberal  then,  how  unjust  the 
attempts  of  those  inimical  to  him,  to  convert  his  noble  benevolence 
into  a  weapon  of  hostility  against  him,  by  endeavoring  to  procure 
credence  for  those  senseless  reports,  which  represented  him  as  un- 
friendly to  the  interests  of  the  emigrant,  and  as  endeavoring  to 
aggrandize  himself  at  their  expense.  But  time  is  fast  dispelling  the 
cloud  of  error,  which  was  thus  raised  and  caused  to  brood  over  the 
public  mind,  and  the  sun-light  of  truth  is  pouring  in  its  irradiating 
beams,  most  clearly  revealing  the  justice  and  wisdom  of  his  advo- 
cacy, in  relation  to  the  public  domain. 

His  attention  was  engrossed  by  other  and  correlative  subjects  soon 
after  —  that  of  the  protection  of  the  hardy  back-woods  men  and 


LIFE     OF.     HENRY     CLAY.  43 

frontier  inhabitants  against  Indian  depreciations,  and  the  regulating 
of  intercourse  between  them.  He  reported  a  bill  supplementary 
to  an  act  entitled  '  an  act  to  regulate  trade  and  intercourse  with  the 
Indian  tribes,  and  to  preserve  peace  on  the  frontier.'  This  was 
placed  before  a  committee,  of  which  he  was  chairman ;  and  by  his 
philanthropic  exertions  and  diligent  labors,  the  whole  west  were  laid 
under  deep  obligations  to  him,  for  those  wise  measures  adopted  in 
reference  to  them,  whereby  their  interests  and  lives  were  shielded 
against  the  predatory  attack  of  the  aborigines. 

He  warmly  espoused  the  cause  of  the  people  of  Orleans  Terri- 
tory, who  were  desirous  of  forming  a  constitution  and  government. 
Accordingly,  on  the  twentieth  of  April  of  the  same  session,  he 
succeeded  in  causing  such  action  to  be  taken  relative  to  the  sub- 
ject, as  to  secure  an  amendment  of  a  bill  before  the  senate,  so  as 
to  require  the  laws,  records  and  legislative  proceedings  of  the 
state,  to  be  in  the  English  language.  A  few  days  subsequent, 
leave  of  absence  was  granted  him  during  the  remainder  of  the 
session. 

On  the  third  day  of  December,  1810,  the  commencement  of  the 
third  session  of  the  eleventh  congress,  Mr.  Clay  was  found  in  his 
place  in  the  senate.  A  subject  that  had  been  much  agitated  in 
private  many  months  previous,  and  up  to  that  time,  was  now 
brought  forward  for  public  discussion  —  that  of  re-chartering  the 
United  States  bank.  This  was  the  all  absorbing  topic  of  the  ses- 
sion, and  called  into  exercise  Mr.  Clay's  most  vigorous  powers. 
His  instructions  from  the  legislature  of  Kentucky  required  him  to 
oppose  the  re-charter  of  that  institution,  and  these  were  in  coinci- 
dence with  his  own  views  relative  to  it.  It  had  been  his  design  to 
limit  his  opposition  to  merely  recording  his  vote  against  the  renewal 
of  its  charter,  without  entering  into  the  discussion  which  would 
probably  ensue,  but  the  virulent  and  menacing  character  of  the 
proceedings  of  those  advocating  its  re-charter,  unsealed  his  lips, 
and  caused  him  to  apply  the  lash  of  his  eloquence  to  their  backs 
with  most  tremendous  effect.  These  embraced  the  whole  body  of 
the  federal,  and  many  of  the  democratic  party  —  an  array  of  mem- 
bers and  strength  which  might  have  deterred  any  ordinary  man 
from  confronting.  Against  this,  he  stood  almost  alone,  deserted 
even  by  Mr.  Pope,  his  colleague :  yet  he  stood  firm ;  and,  from 
the  effect  that  followed  his  exertions,  proved  himself  more  deserving 
the  title  of  '  Macedonian  Phalanx,'  than  the  federal  party  to  whom 
he  had  applied  it.  The  attack  was  provoked  by  that  party,  and  it 
was  made  in  the  spirit  of  conscious  might,  which  not  only  meets 
opposition  with  the  utmost  certainty  of  overthrowing,  but  which 
seeks  it.  He  alluded  to  that  deep-seated  prejudice  in  the  public 
mind,  against  the  bank,  and  the  foundation  of  that  prejudice.  It 
did  not  escape  his  notice  that  the  bank  was  created  by  the  federal 
party  —  its  warmest  and  most  devoted  friends,  then  resorting  to 


44  LIFE     OP     HENRY     CLAY. 

every  expedient  and  means  to  prolong  its  existence.  He  was  also 
well  aware  of  the  aid  rendered  that  party,  by  Mr.  Crawford  and 
others,  who  had  in  this  measure  left  the  democratic  ranks  and  gone 
over  to  it.  He  referred,  also,  to  the  astounding  fact,  that  the  insti- 
tution was  in  reality  in  the  hands  of  foreigners,  since  foreign 
capitalists  were  more  deeply  interested  in  its  continuance  than  our 
own,  who  owned  a  moiety  only  of  its  stock ;  neither  did  he  fail  to 
suggest,  that  perhaps  the  violent  struggle  then  going  on  to  keep  it 
in  existence,  was  instigated  and  maintained,  to  no  inconsiderable 
extent,  by  foreign  influence.  In  no  equivocal  manner  he  depicted 
the  absurdity,  to  say  nothing  of  the  danger,  of  permitting  Great 
Britain  to  acquire  such  an  influence  as  she  evidently  could  acquire, 
by  having  her  monetary  interests,  to  so  great  an  extent,  identified 
with  the  United  States  bank  —  an  influence  which  would  place 
facilities  in  her  hands,  that,  in  case  she  felt  disposed,  she  could  use 
to  our  most  serious  detriment.  These  and  many  other  considera- 
tions, he  brought  forward  as  furnishing  good  and  valid  ground  of 
alarm,  and  legitimately  calculated  to  awaken  patriotic  opposition. 
But  his  greatest  fundamental  objection  was  one  which  he  derived 
from  the  constitution  itself,  and  one  which  he  urged  with  a  vehe- 
mence sure  to  prevail.  He  maintained  that  no  specific  provision 
was  found  in  that  instrument,  authorizing  or  permitting  the  charter 
of  the  bank,  neither  could  it  be  so  construed  as  to  imply  the  power 
to  that  effect.  In  opposing,  therefore,  the  renewal  of  its  charter, 
his  remarks  were  principally  confined  to  the  objectionable  feature 
of  its  unconstitutionality ;  and  they  furnish  one  of  the  strongest 
arguments  against  a  national  bank  ever  made,  and  one  that  is  often 
referred  to  as  authority  of  a  high  order.  It  may  be  well  to  insert 
a  portion  of  his  speech,  illustrative  of  their  pertinence  and  beauty. 

1  This  vagrant  power  to  erect  a  bank,  after  having  wandered 
throughout  the  whole  constitution  in  quest  of  some  congenial  spot 
to  fasten  upon,  has  been  at  length  located,  by  the  gentleman  from 
Georgia,  on  that  provision  which  authorized  congress  to  lay  and 
collect  taxes.  In  1791  the  power  is  referred  to  one  part  of  the 
instrument,  and  in  1811  to  another.  Sometimes  it  is  alleged  to  be 
deducible  from  the  power  to  regulate  commerce.  Hard  pressed 
here,  it  disappears,  and  shows  itself  under  the  grant  to  coin  money. 

'  What  is  the  nature  of  the  government  ?  It  is  emphatically 
federal,  vested  with  an  aggregate  of  specific  powers  for  general 
purposes,  conceded  by  existing  sovereignties,  who  have  themselves 
retained  what  is  not  so  conceded.  It  is  said  that  there  are  cases  in 
which  it  must  act  on  implied  powers.  This  is  not  controverted, 
but  the  implication  must  be  necessary,  and  obviously  flow  from 
the  enumerated  power  with  which  it  is  allied.  The  power  to 
charter  companies  is  not  specified  in  the  grant,  and  I  contend  is 
of  a  nature  not  transferable  by  mere  implication.  It  is  one  of  the 
most  exalted  acts  of  sovereignty.     In  the  exercise  of  this  gigantic 


LIFEOFHENRYCLAY.  45 

power  we  have  seen  an  East  India  Company  erected,  which  has 
carried  dismay,  desolation  and  death,  throughout  one  of  the  largest 
portions  of  the  habitable  world  —  a  company  which  is  in  itself  a 
sovereignty,  which  has  subverted  empires,  and  set  up  new  dynas- 
ties, and  has  not  only  made  war,  but  war  against  its  legitimate 
sovereign.  Under  the  influence  of  this  power  we  have  seen  arise 
a  South  Sea  Company,  and  a  Mississippi  Company,  that  distrac- 
ted and  convulsed  all  Europe,  and  menaced  a  total  overthrow  of 
all  credit  and  confidence,  and  universal  bankruptcy.  Is  it  to  be 
imagined  that  a  power  so  vast  would  have  been  left  by  the  consti- 
tution to  doubtful  inference  ?  It  has  been  alleged  that  there  are 
many  instances  in  the  constitution,  where  powers  in  their  nature 
incidental,  and  which  would  necessarily  have  been  vested  along 
with  the  principal,  are  nevertheless  expressly  enumerated,  and  the 
power  to  make  rules  and  regulations  for  the  government  of  the 
land  and  naval  forces,  which  it  is  said  is  incidental  to  the  power  to 
raise  armies  and  provide  a  navy,  is  given  as  an  example.  What 
does  this  prove  ?  How  extremely  cautious  the  convention  were  to 
leave  as  little  as  possible  to  implication.  In  all  cases  where  inci- 
dental powers  are  acted  on,  the  principal  and  incidental  ought  to 
be  congenial  with  each  other,  and  partake  of  a  common  nature. 
The  incidental  power  ought  to  be  strictly  subordinate,  and  limited 
to  the  end  proposed  to  be  attained  by  the  specific  power.  In  other 
words,  under  the  name  of  accomplishing  one  object  which  is  spe- 
cified, the  power  implied  ought  not  to  be  made  to  embrace  other 
objects  which  are  not  specified  in  the  constitution.  If  then,  as  is 
contended,  you  could  establish  a  bank  to  collect  and  distribute  the 
revenue,  it  ought  to  be  expressly  restricted  to  the  purpose  of  such 
collection  and  distribution.  It  is  mockery  worse  than  usurpation, 
to  establish  it  for  a  lawful  object,  and  then  to  extend  it  to  other 
objects  which  are  not  lawful.  In  deducing  the  power  to  create 
corporations,  such  as  I  have  described  it,  from  the  power  to  collect 
taxes,  the  relation  of  principal  and  incident  are  prostrated  and 
destroyed.  The  accessory  is  exalted  above  the  principal.  As  well 
might  it  be  said  that  the  great  luminary  of  day  is  an  accessory,  a 
satellite  to  the  humblest  star  that  twinkles  forth  its  feeble  light  in  the 
firmament  of  heaven. 

1  Suppose  the  constitution  had  been  silent  as  to  an  individual 
department  of  the  government,  could  you,  under  the  power  to  lay 
and  collect  taxes,  establish  a  judiciary?  I  presume  not;  but  if 
you  could  derive  the  power  by  mere  implication,  could  you  vest  it 
with  any  other  authority  than  to  enforce  the  collection  of  the  reve- 
nue? A  bank  is  made  for  the  ostensible  purpose  of  aiding  in  the 
collection  of  the  revenue,  and  whilst  it  is  engaged  in  this,  the  most 
inferior  and  subordinate  of  all  its  functions,  it  is  made  to  diffuse 
itself  throughout  society,  and  to  influence  all  the  great  operations 
of  credit,  circulation,  and  commerce.     Like  the  Virginia  justice, 


46  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY, 

you  tell  the  man  whose  turkey  had  been  stolen,  that  your  books  of 
precedents  furnish  no  form  for  his  case,  but  then  you  will  grant 
him  a  precept  to  search  for  a  cow,  and  when  looking  for  that  lie 
may  possibly  find  his  turkey !  You  say  to  this  corporation,  we 
cannot  authorize  you  to  discount  —  to  emit  paper — to  regulate 
commerce  —  no!  our  book  has  no  precedents  of  that  kind.  But 
then  we  can  authorize  you  to  collect  the  revenue,  and  whilst  occu- 
pied with  that,  you  may  do  whatever  else  you  please. 

'  What  is  a  corporation,  such  as  the  bill  contemplates  ?  It  is  a 
splendid  association  of  favored  individuals,  taken  from  the  mass 
of  society,  and  invested  with  exemptions,  and  surrounded  by  im- 
munities and  privileges.  The  honorable  gendeman  from  Massa- 
chusetts has  said  that  the  original  law  establishing  the  bank  was 
justly  liable  to  the  objection  of  vesting  in  that  institution  an  exclu- 
sive privilege,  —  the  faith  of  the  government  being  pledged  that  no 
other  bank  should  be  authorized  during  its  existence.  This  objec- 
tion, he  supposes,  is  obviated  by  the  bill  under  consideration  ;  but 
all  corporations  enjoy  exclusive  privileges  —  that  is,  the  corporators 
have  privileges  which  no  others  possess ;  if  you  create  fifty  corpo- 
rations instead  of  one,  you  have  only  fifty  privileged  bodies  instead 
of  one.  I  contend  that  the  states  have  the  exclusive  power  to 
regulate  contracts,  to  declare  the  capacities  and  incapacities  to  con- 
tract, and  to  provide  as  to  the  extent  of  the  responsibility  of  debtors 
to  their  creditors.  If  congress  have  the  power  to  create  an  artifi- 
cial body  and  say  it  shall  be  endowed  with  the  attributes  of  an 
individual,  if  you  can  bestow  on  this  object  of  your  own  creation 
the  ability  to  contract,  may  you  not  in  contravention  of  state  rights 
confer  upon  slaves,  infants,  and  femes  covert,  the  ability  to  con- 
tract? And  if  you  have  the  power  to  say  that  an  association  of 
individuals  shall  be  responsible  for  their  debts  only  in  a  certain 
limited  degree,  what  is  to  prevent  an  extension  of  a  similar  exemp- 
tion to  individuals  ?  Where  is  the  limitation  upon  this  power  to 
set  up  corporations  ?  You  establish  one  in  the  heart  of  a  state, 
the  basis  of  whose  capital  is  money.  You  may  erect  others,  whose 
capital  shall  consist  of  land,  slaves,  and  personal  estate,  and  thus 
the  whole  property  within  the  jurisdiction  of  a  state  might  be 
absorbed  by  those  political  bodies.  The  existing  bank  contends 
that  it  is  beyond  the  power  of  a  state  to  tax  it,  and  if  this  preten- 
sion be  well  founded,  it  is  in  the  power  of  congress  by  chartering 
companies  to  dry  up  all  the  sources  of  state  revenue.  This  gov- 
ernment has  the  power  to  lay  taxes,  to  raise  armies,  provide  muni- 
tions, make  war,  regulate  commerce,  coin  money,  etc.,  etc.  It 
would  not  be  difficult  to  show  as  intimate  a  connection  between  a 
corporation  established  for  any  purpose  whatever,  and  some  one  or 
other  of  those  great  powers,  as  there  is  between  the  revenue  and 
the  bank  of  the  United  States.' 

Mr.  Clay  noticed  the  danger  to  which  the  United  States  were 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  47 

exposed  from  the  fact  that  the  capital  of  the  bank  was  principally- 
subject  to  foreign  control,  in  the  following  glowing  language. 

'  The  power  of  a  nation  is  said  to  consist  in  the  sword  and  the 
purse.  Perhaps  at  last  all  power  is  resolvable  into  that  of  the 
purse,  for  with  it  you  may  command  almost  every  thing  else.  The 
specie  circulation  of  the  United  States  is  estimated  by  some  cal- 
culators at  ten  millions  of  dollars;  and  if  it  be  no  more,  one 
moiety  is  in  the  vaults  of  this  bank.  May  not  the  time  arrive 
when  the  concentration  of  such  a  vast  portion  of  the  circulating 
medium  of  the  country  in  the  hands  of  any  corporation  will  be 
dangerous  to  our  liberties?  By  whom  is  this  immense  power 
wielded  ?  By  a  body  who,  in  derogation  of  the  great  principle  of 
all  our  institutions,  responsibility  to  the  people,  is  amenable  only 
to  a  few  stockholders,  and  they  chiefly  foreigners.  Suppose  an 
attempt  to  subvert  this  government  — would  not  the  traitor  first  aim, 
by  force  or  corruption,  to  acquire  the  treasure  of  this  company  ? 
Look  at  it  in  another  aspect.  Seven  tenths  of  its  capital  are  in 
the  hands  of  foreigners,  chiefly  English  subjects.  We  are  possi- 
bly on  the  eve  of  a  rupture  with  that  nation.  Should  such  an 
event  occur,  do  you  apprehend  that  the  English  premier  would 
experience  any  difficulty  in  obtaining  the  entire  control  of  the  insti- 
tution. Republics,  above  all  other  governments,  ought  most  seri- 
ously to  guard  against  foreign  influence.  All  history  proves  that 
the  internal  dissensions  excited  by  foreign  intrigue,  have  produced 
the  downfall  of  almost  every  free  government  that  has  hitherto 
existed ;  and  yet  gentlemen  contend  that  we  are  benefited  by  the 
possession  of  this  foreign  capital ! ' 

His  powerful  arguments  and  convincing  reasoning  prevailed  — 
resulting  in  a  most  signal  victory  over  those  opposed  to  him,  who) 
entered  on  the  discussion  with  sanguine  expectations  of  success.  \ 
The  charter  was  not  then  renewed.    Many  more  subjects  of  interest  / 
came  before  the  senate  during  the  session  of  1810-11,  in  the  consider- 
ation of  which  he  displayed  his  usual  zeal  and  solicitude  in  behalf  of 
the  interests  of  the  commonwealth,  which  were  now  with  favor 
generally  recognized.     Mr.  Clay  had  produced  an  impression  of 
his  eloquent  powers  and  brilliant  talents,  that  was  not  confined  to 
his  associates  and  those  witnessing  their  every  day  exercise,  but  it    _ 
was  as  extensive  as  his  country.     His  reputation  as  a  debater,      S- 
orator,  and  sound  logical  reasoner,  was  now  immovably  established,      y 
The  star  of  his  fame,  which  first  appeared  in  the  political  horizon, 
under  circumstances  of  doubt  and  gloom,  struggling  through  dense 
clouds  of  indigence  and  obscurity,  emitting  what  political  animos- 
ity termed  an  ignis  fatiws  glare  around  the  cabins  of  the  emigrant 
and  the  hunter  in  western  forests,  was  now  in  the  ascendant,  illu- 
minating and  vivifying,  not  only  the  woody  homes,  the  rural  ham- 
lets, and  sylvan  abodes  of  his  own  forest  land,  but  mingling  its 
bright   beams    most   beautifully    with    those   that   streamed   from 


48  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

Liberty's  altar.  Henceforth  it  will  be  our  delightful  duty  to  mark  it 
steadily  careering  its  glorious  way  upwards,  higher  and  higher, 
making  its  blessed  influences  to  be  felt  in  every  nook  and  corner 
of  our  extensive  country,  penetrating  the  kingly  court,  flashing 
amid  the  diadems  of  crowned  heads,  and  introducing  hope  and 
peace  into  the  tenement  of  the  oppressed  on  distant  shores.  It 
requires  no  prophetic  skill  to  predict,  from  present  indications,  that  it 
is  rapidly  approaching  the  zenith,  when  (every  philanthropic  heart 
will  hope)  its  effulgence  shall  illumine  the  globe. 

At  the  close  of  his  second  term  of  service,  which  was  for  two 
years,  he  returned  to  Kentucky,  but  his  fame  had  preceded  him  — 
the  eyes  of  Kentuckians  had  been  fixed  gratefully  on  him  daring 
his  senatorial  services,  and  they  were  prepared  to  return  him  speed- 
ily to  the  halls  of  congress,  to  adorn  which,  he  had  given  such 
abundant  proof  of  his  capability.  According  to  the  proclamation 
of  the  president,  congress  convened  on  the  fourth  day  of  Novem- 
ber, 1811,  and  on  the  first  ballot  for  speaker  to  the  house  of  repre- 
sentatives, Mr.  Clay  was  elected  by  a  majority  of  thirty-one  over 
the  opposing  candidates.  When  it  is  recollected  that  this  was  his 
first  appearance  in  that  body,  it  must  be  regarded  as  a  remarkable 
occurrence,  and  entirely  aside  from  the  ordinary  course  of  events ; 
indeed,  as  an  instance  of  early  and  strong  confidence  reposed  in 
one,  to  which  a  parallel  cannot  be  found  in  the  history  of  any  indi- 
vidual. There  were  many  circumstances,  however,  explanatory  of 
this  hasty,  unreserved  reliance.  He  was  known  to  have  acted  in 
that  capacity  in  the  legislature  of  Kentucky,  and  to  have  discharged 
its  duties  with  singular  ability  and  acceptance ;  also  of  his  con- 
spicuity  in  the  senate  they  were  not  ignorant,  and  perhaps  a  desire 
to  see  Mr.  Randolph,  of  Virginia,  restrained  in  his  gross  violations 
of  order  and  decorum,  for  which  he  was  noted,  whom  it  was 
imagined  Mr.  Clay  could  curb,  induced  several  members  to  vote 
for  him,  who  otherwise  had  not  supported  him  for  the  office. 
That  confidence  so  generously,  spontaneously,  and  by  him  so  unex- 
pectedly yielded,  he  very  appropriately  noticed,  in  a  pertinent  speech 
made  by  him  on  assuming  the  responsible  station,  and  he  proved 
by  his  faithfulness,  zeal,  and  decision,  with  which  he  discharged  its 
onerous  duties,  that  it  was  most  judiciously  confided.  He  showed 
himself  equal  to  the  task  of  curbing  Mr.  John  Randolph,  or  any 
other  turbulent  spirit  in  the  assembly  over  which  he  presided.  He 
was  subsequently  chosen  several  times  to  fill  the  same  important 
post,  and  never  did  he  betray  his  trust,  or  disappoint  the  just  expec- 
tations of  his  friends.  The  manner  in  which  he  exercised  his 
authority  may  be  considered  as  somewhat  stern,  slightly  approxi- 
mating to  arbitrariness,  evincing  great  decision  and  firmness  of 
character,  and  a  disposition  not  to  tolerate  the  slightest  disrespect 
or  indignity  towards  the  house.  During  the  long  period  in  which 
he  discharged  the  functions  of  speaker,  including  many  sessions 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY,  49 

of  great  turbulence  and  strife,  not  one  of  his  decisions  was  ever 
reversed  on  an  appeal  from  the  chair.  This  fact  speaks  volumes 
in  his  praise. 

At  the  time  when  he  was  inducted  into  his  office,  the  affairs  of 
the  republic  were  in  an  exceedingly  critical  condition.  Those 
who  had  been  sustaining  themselves  with  the  cherished  expecta- 
tions that  England  would  repeal  her  orders  in  council,  since  the 
revocation  of  the  edicts  of  France  had  removed  the  causes 
inducing  their  passage,  now  utterly  abandoned  them,  on  beholding 
her,  instead  of  relaxing,  enforcing  them  more  rigorously  than  ever. 
To  every  unbiassed  mind,  the  time  seemed  to  have  arrived  when 
it  was  necessary  to  rise  and  put  a  stop  to  the  long  series  of  unpro- 
voked depredations  and  outrages,  committed  against  our  com- 
merce, by  both  that  and  the  French  nation.  Such  was  the  juncture 
of  affairs  as  to  make  it  obvious  that  if  the  American  nation  would 
preserve  the  semblance  of  freedom  even,  and  command  national 
respect,  she  must  resort  to  more  efficient  measures  than  she  had 
hitherto  employed  ;  that  she  must  retrieve  her  tarnished  honor,  and 
vindicate  boldly  her  rights.  France  manifested  some  disposition 
to  be  influenced  by  the  remonstrances  of  the  United  States-  against 
her  spoliations,  by  rescinding  the  opprobious  Berlin  and  Milan 
decrees  of  Napoleon,  which  she  had  so  construed  as  to  make  them 
sanction  the  seizure  and  confiscation  of  our  property.  Not  so, 
however,  with  Great  Britain ;  she  refused  to  recognize  their  repeal, 
and  even  pretended  to  deny  that  they  had  been  revoked.  She  still 
persisted  in  obstructing  the  commerce  of  America,  declaring  all 
the  ports  of  France  in  a  state  of  blockade,  seizing  our  merchant- 
men bound  to  them,  and  confiscating  their  cargoes,  in  direct  viola- 
tion of  the  law  of  nations,  permitting  any  neutral  power  to  trade 
to  any  foreign  port,  when  the  blockade  is  not  maintained  by  the 
actual  presence  of  an  adequate  force.  But  England,  by  proclama- 
tion, blockaded  every  French  port,  from  the  Elbe  to  Brest,  inter- 
dicting all  vessels  from  entering  them  which  did  not  carry  on  their 
trade  through  her,  and  seized  such  as  made  the  attempt,  while  at 
the  same  time  she  neglected  to  keep  a  naval  force  on  the  coast  of 
France  sufficient  to  legalize  the  blockade.  Her  cruisers  pursued 
our  trading  vessels  to  the  very  mouths  of  our  own  rivers  and  har- 
bors, and  seized,  condemned,  and  confiscated  them  for  violating 
this  pseudo  blockade.  It  seemed,  by  the  number  and  enormity  of 
the  illegalities  practiced  towards  us  by  Great  Britain,  as  though 
she  had  commenced  an  organized,  systematic  crusade  against  our 
commerce,  which  aimed  at  nothing  less  than  its  utter  extinction. 
But  her  barbarous  system  of  impressment  capped  the  climax  of 
her  cruelties.  Under  the  assumed  right  of  searching  our  ships, 
thousands  of  our  seamen  had  been  forced  into  her  service  on 
suspicion  that  they  were  British  subjects.  This  execrable  cus- 
tom  had   carried    steven  thousand  American  freemen  into   cap- 

VOLi  h  7 


50  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

tivity,  as  appeared  from  official  reports  made  during  that  session, 
and  the  number  was  constantly  augmenting ;  scarcely  a  breeze 
came  across  the  Atlantic  without  wafting  to  our  shores  intelligence 
of  some  fresh  enormity.  To  submit  quietly  to  such  unheard  of 
oppression,  would  be  an  anomaly  in  the  history  of  civilized  nations. 
To  expect  redress  by  mild  measures  was  out  of  the  question. 
These  had  long  been  tried  and  found  ineffectual.  Madison,  Pinck- 
ney,  and  Monroe,  in  their  correspondence  with  the  British  govern- 
ment, had  remonstrated  again  and  again,  but  to  no  other  purpose 
than  to  embolden  the  aggressor  in  his  nefarious  proceedings. 
There  seemed,  therefore,  no  alternative  left  the  United  States  but 
to  put  themselves  strongly  on  the  defensive,  and  by  force  of  arms, 
put  a  stop  to  these  accumulating  injuries.  Every  thing  lovely  in 
liberty,  every  thing  sacred  and  hallowed  in  the  memory  of  those 
by  whom  it  was  won,  protested  against  further  forbearance,  and 
forbade  further  delay  in  unsheathing  the  sword  of  retributive 
justice.  In  short,  the  conviction  had  become  deep  and  settled  that 
nothing  short  of  war  could  preserve  an  inch  of  canvass  on  an 
American  vessel,  on  the  face  of  the  ocean. 

Thus  circumstanced,  the  United  States  seemed  to  be  shut  up  to 
forcible  resistance.  The  eyes  of  the  whole  country  were  turned 
towards  congress,  looking  for  measures  of  relief.  It  had  been  con- 
vened earlier  than  usual,  that  the  subject  of  a  declaration  of  war 
might  come  speedily  before  them.  It  is  needless  to  remark  that 
Mr.  Clay's  views  were  favorable  to  war.  An  individual  like  him, 
jealous  of  his  country's  honor  almost  to  a  fault,  who  could  never 
contemplate  oppression  but  with  feelings  of  the  deepest  detestation, 
nor  without  experiencing  the  instantaneous  desire  to  punish  it ; 
would  grasp  the  weapons  of  defence  instinctively,  and  if  neces- 
sary, pour  out  his  blood  like  water,  rather  than  bow  submissively 
beneath  the  galling  yoke.  With  him,  then,  there  was  no  equivoca- 
tion nor  hesitation,  in  advocating  prompt  warlike  action,  although 
he  was  compelled  to  do  it  in  the  face  of  formidable  opposition. 
There  was  a  strong  party  in  the  United  States  at  that  time,  friendly 
to  Great  Britain,  and  disposed,  rather  than  array  themselves  against 
her  in  a  sanguinary  conflict,  to  submit  quietly  to  her  rapacious 
attacks  upon  our  liberties  and  lives.  This  party  was  well  repre- 
sented in  congress.  Many  members  of  talent  and  influence  were 
found  in  its  ranks,  in  both  houses,  and  they  did  not  hesitate  to 
employ  them  detrimentally  to  the  interests  of  their  country.  But 
happily  these  found  in  him  a  giant  champion  —  one  who  Was  well 
able  to  guard  them,  and  willing  to  spend  his  last  energy  in  their 
support.  Lowndes,  Calhoun,  and  other  powerful  coadjutors  also 
stood  with  him,  who  labored  hard  to  inspire  the  same  ardent  flame 
of  patriotism  in  the  breasts  of  others,  that  burned  so  intensely  in 
their  own. 

In  the  message  of  the  president,  the  causes  of  complaint  against 


LIFE     OP     HENRY     CLAY.  51 

Great  Britain  were  stated,  and  also  a  concise  summary  of  the 
abuses  we  had  received,  and  were  then  receiving  at  her  hands.  It 
recommended  the  adoption  of  efficient  and  immediate  measures 
of  redress,  by  providing  the  means  of  prosecuting  vigorously  a  war 
of  defence  and  offence.  This  document  was  referred  to  a  com- 
mittee, which  was  selected  by  him.  He  was  extremely  solicitous 
that  the  subject  of  our  foreign  relations  should  receive  that  consid- 
eration which  their  exceedingly  interesting  character  demanded  ; 
and  to  secure  this,  he  was  careful  to  choose  those  whose  views,  in 
reference  to  them,  coincided  with  his  own.  Peter  B.  Porter,  of  New 
York,  was  the  chairman  of  the  committee.  He  presented  their 
report  to  the  house  on  the  29th  of  November.  It  stated  succinctly 
and  in  a  patriotic  tone,  the  injuries  we  had  received  at  the  hands 
of  both  England  and  France,  denominating  them  as  '  so  daring  in 
character,  and  so  disgraceful  in  execution,  that  it  would  be  impos- 
sible for  the  people  of  the  United  States  to  remain  indifferent. 
We  must  now  tamely  and  quietly  submit,  or  we  must  resist  by 
those  means  which  God  has  placed  within  our  reach.  Your  com- 
mittee would  not  cast  a  slander  over  the  American  name,  by  the 
expression  of  a  doubt  which  branch  of  this  alternative  will  be 
embraced.  The  occasion  is  now  presented  when  the  national 
character,  misrepresented  and  traduced  for  a  time,  by  foreign 
and  domestic  enemies,  should  be  vindicated. 

<  If  we  have  not  rushed  to  the  field  of  battle  like  the  nations 
who  are  led  by  the  mad  ambition  of  a  single  chief,  or  the  avarice 
of  a  corrupted  court,  it  has  not  proceeded  from  a  fear  of  war, 
but  from  our  love  of  justice  and  humanity.  That  proud  spirit 
of  liberty  and  independence,  which  sustained  our  fathers  in  the 
successful  assertion  of  their  rights  against  foreign  aggression, 
is  not  yet  sunk.  The  patriotic  fire  of  the  revolution  still  burns  in 
the  American  breast,  with  a  holy  and  inextinguishable  flame,  and 
will  conduct  this  nation  to  those  high  destinies  which  are  not  less 
the  reward  of  dignified  moderation  than  of  exalted  virtue. 

1  But  we  have  borne  with  injury  until  forbearance  has  ceased  to 
be  a  virtue.  The  sovereignty  and  independence  of  these  states,  pur- 
chased and  sanctified  by  the  blood  of  our  fathers,  from  whom  we 
received  them,  not  for  ourselves  only,  but  as  the  inheritance  of  our 
posterity,  are  deliberately  and  systematically  violated.  And  the 
period  has  arrived,  when,  in  the  opinion  of  your  committee,  it  is 
the  sacred  duty  of  congress  to  call  forth  the  patriotism  and  resour- 
ces of  the  country.  By  the  aid  of  these,  and  with  the  blessing  of 
God,  we  confidently  trust  we  shall  be  enabled  to  procure  that 
redress  which  has  been  sought  for  by  justice,  by  remonstrance  and 
forbearance,  in  vain.' 

They  introduced  into  the  report  suitable  resolutions  for  accom- 
plishing the  object  which  it  proposed,  which  received  the  deliberate 
and  careful  consideration  of  the  house. 


52  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

Mr.  Clay,  being  in  the  chair,  had  little  opportunity  to  engage  in 
the  stirring  debate  that  followed,  yet  he  seemed  to  infuse  a  portion 
of  his  own  glowing  spirit  into  the  friends  of  the  measure,  which 
caused  others  to  approach  it  in  the  most  determined  resolution  of 
sustaining  any  feasible  and  just  course  calculated  to  sustain  the 
dignity  and  honor  of  the  nation.  The  doctrines  of  the  report  were 
soon  known  throughout  the  country,  and  were  hailed  by  the  great 
mass  of  the  people  with  every  demonstration  of  approbation,  and 
the  echoes  of  their  loud  rejoicings  rang  back  through  the  halls  of 
congress  like  the  tones  of  the  '  storm  stirred  deep,'  with  most 
thrilling  effect  on  the  hearts  of  their  representatives.  The  whole 
nation  was  kindled  into  a  blaze  by  that  document;  it  was  what  the 
people  had  been  expecting,  and  impatiently  waiting  for.  This 
applied  the  last  bundle  of  fagots  to  the  flame  of  patriotism  that 
burned  in  the  hearts  of  millions  remote  from  the  neighborhood  of 
the  outrages  complained  of,  the  extent  and  enormity  of  which, 
vague  rumor  only  had  conveyed  to  them.  But  this  instrument 
made  them  acquainted,  not  only  with  their  number,  but  also  with 
their  turpitude  and  murderous  design.  It  showed  them,  on  the  one 
hand,  the  haughty,  menacing  attitude  of  England,  and  on  the  other, 
our  own  crouching,  succumbing  posture  at  her  feet.  It  placed  in 
bold  relief  before  them,  the  babaric  depredations  of  the  former  on 
the  ocean,  her  inhuman  treatment  of  our  seamen,  and  the  huge 
paw  of  her  lion  tearing  and  lacerating  our  commercial  interests 
whenever  it  could  be  placed  upon  them.  The  exhibition  was 
viewed  with  feelings  of  surprise  and  indignation,  causing  them 
to  stand  aghast,  and  with  difficulty  to  credit  the  evidence  of  their 
senses  —  to  believe  the  picture  accurately  drawn.  But  the  period 
of  their  stupified  amazement  was  brief,  and  then  the  loud  yell  of 
vengeance  which  succeeded,  was  such  as  freemen  only  can  send  up 
when  the  iron  heel  of  oppression  is  on  their  necks,  and  their 
precious  heritage  in  his  ravenous  jaws.  Like  the  earthquake,  it  shook 
the  whole  land,  and  its  burden,  repeated  from  every  hill-top  and 
valley,  was  war,  vindictive  war.  For  this  there  was  great  una- 
nimity among  the  populace,  who  could  not  rest,  now  that  the 
knowledge  of  the  long-inflicted  wrongs  was  brought  to  their 
dwellings;  but  there  was  not  a  corresponding  unanimity  in  congress. 
It  was  painful  to  Mr.  Clay  to  witness,  in  some  members,  a  mani- 
festation of  awe  and  reverence  even  towards  Great  Britain,  and  in 
others,  feelings  of  favor.  By  the  revelations  that  had  been  made, 
his  soul  was  wrought  up  to  the  highest  point  of  manly  and  bold 
resistance,  and  he  could  not  conceive  it  possible,  that  free  legisla- 
tors, similarly  circumstanced  with  himself,  could  be  affected 
otherwise.  In  many  he  witnessed  a  disposition  to  believe  that  the 
country  was  not  in  a  suitable  condition  to  commence  and  carry 
successfully  on  a  war  with  so  formidable  a  power  as  England.  Our 
small   and  badly  equipped  army,    our   depressed  navy,  exhaust- 


LIFE     OP     HENRY     CLAY.  53 

ed  treasury,  heavy  indebtedness,  and  general  lack  of  the  requisite 
means,  were  pleaded  by  those  opposed  to  the  rupture.  But 
Mr.  Clay,  in  the  towering  majesty  and  strength  of  an  intellectual 
giant,  took  all  the  obstacles  and  objections  which  their  combined 
force  could  bring  forward,  in  his  powerful  grasp,  and  compressed 
them  into  a  nut-shell,  entirely  divested  of  their  intimidating  power. 
Among  those  opposed  to  war  was  Mr.  Randolph.  '  Mr.  Ran- 
dolph's intellect  was  then  in  its  vigor,  and  the  effort  which  he 
made  in  opposition  to  the  report  of  the  committee  was  perhaps 
the  greatest  in  his  whole  congressional  life.  The  extensive 
resources  of  his  mind,  the  stately  march  of  his  eloquent  periods,  the 
sfartling  flashes  of  his  indignation,  and  the  sneering  devil  that 
lurked  in  his  tone  and  look,  rendered  him  an  opponent  at  that 
day,  whom  it  was  by  no  means  safe  to  encounter.  Mr.  Clay  was 
the  only  man  in  the  house,  who  could  dash  aside,  with  unerring 
certainty,  the  weapons  of  this  Ishmael.' 

On  the  sixth  of  December  the  house  resolved  itself  into  a  com- 
mittee of  the  whole,  and  took  up  the  report.  After  a  brief  speech 
from  Mr.  Porter,  elucidating  and  maintaining  its  positions  and  reso- 
lutions, it  was  adopted.  It  furnished  ground  of  discussion  in  the 
house  for  several  days,  warmly  and  vigorously  sustained  by  its 
friends,  and  violently  opposed  by  its  enemies.  Among  the  latter, 
Mr.  Randolph  rendered  himself  the  most  conspicuous,  both  by  his 
anti-republican  and  eccentric  views,  and  the  hostility  evinced  by 
him  towards  all  who  dissented  from  them,  whom  he  visited 
with  the  most  bitter  personal  invective.  His  fertile  imagination 
conjured  up  a  host  of  reasons,  to  deter  us  from  embarking  in  the 
offensive  war,  which  the  report  recommended.  He  threatened  the 
advocates  of  it  with  the  total  loss  of  their  political  power,  and 
magnified  the  might  of  England  to  an  overwhelming  extent; 
suggesting  that  it  would  be  far  more  appropriate  to  approach  her 
in  a  suppliant  position,  with  downcast  looks  and  folded  arms, 
than  to  rush  with  shield  and  buckler  and  rashly  dare  her  to  the 
conflict.  He  seemed  to  sympathize  with  Great  Britain,  deprecating 
that  censure  heaped  upon  her  as  unjust,  and  advocated  the 
policy  of  farther  negotiations  with  her.  His  arguments,  and 
those  of  his  friends,  were,  however,  unavailing,  and  when  the 
debate  ceased,  the  resolutions  were  separately  adopted  by  large 
majorities. 

On  the  thirty-first  of  December,  the  house  again  resolved  itself 
into  a  committee  of  the  whole  on  a  bill  from  the  senate  providing 
for  the  raising  of  twenty-five  thousand  troops.  Mr.  Breckenridge 
being  in  the  chair,  an  opportunity  was  furnished  Mr.  Clay  to 
express  his  views  in  relation  to  it,  which  he  embraced.  Among 
those  in  favor  of  war  in  the  house,  much  diversity  of  opinion 
prevailed  in  regard  to  the  number  of  men  it  was  desirable  to  raise. 
Many  were   in  favor   of  fifteen  thousand  only  —  a  force   in   his 


54  LIFEOFHENRYCLAY. 

estimation  by  far  too  small  to  meet  the  exigences  which  had  then 
arisen,  and  would  be  likely  to  arise.  The  secretary  of  war,  in  his 
report,  had  stated  that  at  least  twelve  thousand  troops  would  be 
wanted  for  the  sole  purpose  of  garrisoning  the  fortresses  on  the 
sea-board.  During  the  progress  of  the  proposed  war,  it  might  be 
deemed  important  to  attack  and  subjugate  Quebec  in  Canada,  in 
which  case  it  would  be  necessary,  he  contended,  to  post  in  the 
various  military  stations  of  strength  on  the  route,  a  considerable 
number  of  men,  to  retain  their  possession.  Allowances  he 
thought  should  be  made  for  the  various  contingences  probable  to 
occur,  always  incident  to  the  operations  of  an  army,  and  calcula- 
ted to  diminish  their  number.  Even  if  the  projected  invasion  of 
the  British  Provinces  should  be  abandoned,  Mr.  Clay  contended 
that  the  single  circumstance  of  the  immense  extent  of  frontier  to 
be  guarded,  rendered  it  obvious  that  twenty-five  thousand  men 
would  constitute  a  force  by  no  means  too  large.  Inasmuch  as  it 
was  the  painful  but  imperative  duty  of  America  to  strike  the  blow, 
he  was  in  favor  of  so  concentrating  her  energies,  that  when  it  fell, 
there  would  remain  no  necessity  for  its  repetition.  Subsequent 
events  have  proved  his  policy  both  wise  and  sagacious. 

Mr.  Randolph  mingled  his  erratic  and  visionary  views  in  the 
discussion,  and  exerted  himself  to  the  utmost,  to  foment  prejudice 
against  a  regular  army ;  the  effect  of  which  would  be  worse  than 
that  of  the  locusts  of  Egypt,  famishing,  impoverishing,  and  de- 
luging the  country  with  blood,  and  erect  a  throne  to  some  idol 
conqueror.  Said  Mr.  Clay  in  reply,  '  I  am  not  the  advocate  of 
standing  armies:  but  the  standing  armies  which  excite  most 
my  fears,  are  those  which  are  kept  up  in  time  of  peace.  I  confess 
I  do  not  perceive  any  real  source  of  danger  in  a  military  force  of 
twenty-five  thousand  men  in  the  United  States,  provided  only  for 
a  state  of  war,  even  supposing  it  to  be  corrupted,  and  its  arms 
turned  by  the  ambition  of  its  leaders  against  the  freedom  of  the 
country.  I  see  abundant  security  against  any  such  treasonable 
attempt.  The  diffusion  of  information  among  the  great  body  of 
the  people,  constitutes  a  powerful  safeguard.  The  American  char- 
acter has  been  much  abused  by  Europeans,  whose  tourists,  whether 
on  horse  or  foot,  in  verse  and  prose  have  united  in  depreciating  it. 
It  is  true  we  do  not  exhibit  as  many  signal  instances  of  scientific 
acquirement  in  this  country,  as  are  furnished  in  the  old  world,  but 
it  is  undeniable  that  the  great  mass  of  the  people  possess  more 
intelligence  than  any  other  people  on  the  globe.  Such  a  people, 
consisting  of  upwards  of  seven  millions,  affording  a  physical 
power  of  about  a  million  of  men  capable  of  bearing  arms,  and 
ardently  devoted  to  liberty,  cannot  be  subdued  by  an  army  of 
twenty-five  thousand  men.  The  wide  extent  of  country  over 
which  we  are  spread,  is  another  security.  In  other  countries, 
France  and  England  for  example,  the  fall  of  Paris  or  London  is 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  55 

the  fall  of  the  nation.  Here  are  no  such  dangerous  aggregations 
of  people.  New  York,  and  Philadelphia,  and  Boston,  and  every 
city  on  the  Atlantic,  may  be  subdued  by  a  usurper,  and  he  will 
have  made  but  a  small  advance  in  the  accomplishment  of  his  pur- 
pose. Even  let  the  whole  country  east  of  the  Alleghany,  submit 
to  the  ambition  of  some  daring  chief,  and  the  liberty  of  the  Union 
will  be  still  unconquered.  It  will  find  successful  support  from 
the  west.  A  great  portion  of  the  militia,  nearly  the  whole,  I 
understand,  of  Massachusetts,  have  arms  in  their  hands,  and  I 
trust  in  God  that  this  great  object  will  be  persevered  in,  till  every 
man  in  the  nation  can  proudly  shoulder  the  musket,  which  is  to 
defend  his  country  and  himself.  A  people  having,  besides  the 
benefit  of  one  general  government,  other  local  governments  in  full 
operation,  capable  of  exerting  and  commanding  great  portions  of 
the  physical  power,  all  of  which  must  be  prostated  before  our  con- 
stitution is  subverted  —  such  a  people  have  nothing  to  fear  from  a 
petty  contemptible  force  of  twenty-five  thousand  regulars.' 

Many  of  the  opposition  affected  to  believe  that  the  interests  of 
the  country  would  not  be  subserved,  whether  the  war  eventuated 
in  her  favor,  or  that  of  her  enemy ;  they  could  see  nothing  to  be 
gained  by  it ;  to  which  Mr.  Clay  said,  '  I  will  ask  what  are  we  not 
to  lose  by  peace  ?  —  commerce,  character,  a  nation's  best  treasure 
and  honor  !  If  pecuniary  considerations  alone  are  to  govern,  there 
are  sufficient  motives  for  the  war.  Our  revenue  is  reduced  by  the 
operation  of  the  belligerent  edicts,  to  about  six  millions  of  dollars. 
The  year  preceding  the  embargo,  it  was  sixteen.  Take  away  the 
orders  in  council,  it  will  again  mount  up  to  sixteen  millions.  By 
continuing,  therefore,  in  peace  —  if  the  mongrel  situation  in  which 
we  are  deserves  that  denomination  —  we  lose  annually,  in  revenue 
alone,  ten  millions  of  dollars.  Gentlemen  will  say,  repeal  the  law 
of  non-importation.  If  the  United  States  were  capable  of  that 
perfidy,  the  revenue  would  not  be  restored  to  its  former  state,  the 
orders  in  council  continuing.  Without  an  export  trade,  which  these 
orders  prevent,  inevitable  ruin  will  ensue  if  we  import  as  freely  as 
we  did  prior  to  the  embargo.  A  nation  that  carries  on  an  import 
trade  without  an  export  trade  to  support  it,  must  in  the  end  be  as 
certainly  bankrupt,  as  the  individual  would  be  who  incurred  an 
annual  expenditure  without  an  income.' 

Mr.  Clay  contended  that  England,  in  assigning  the  cause  of  her 
aggressions  to  be  the  punishment  of  France,  with  whom  she  was 
at  war,  was  practicing  a  deceptive  part ;  that  this  was  her  ostensi- 
ble and  not  real  course.  It  was  her  inordinate  desire  of  supremacy 
on  the  seas,  which  could  not  brook  any  appearance  of  rivalry,  that 
prompted  her  hostilities.  She  saw  in  your  numberless  ships, 
which  whitened  every  sea,  in  your  hundred  and  twenty  thousand 
gallant  tars,  the  seeds  of  a  naval  force,  which,  in  thirty  years,  would 
rival  her  on  her  own  element.     She  therefore  commenced  the  odious 


56  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

system  of  impressment,  of  which  no  language  can  paint  my  execra- 
tion! She  dared  to  attempt  the  subversion  of  the  personal  freedom 
of  your  mariners  ! ' 

He  closed  by  expressing  his  decided  conviction  of  the  justice  of 
the  undertaking,  and  hoping  that  unless  redress  was  obtained  by 
peaceable  means  speedily,  war  would  be  resorted  to  before  the 
close  of  the  session. 

On  the  fourth  of  January  following,  the  bill  passed  the  house, 
after  several  ineffectual  attempts  to  introduce  amendments,  by  a 
vote  of  ninety-four  to  thirty-four,  several  voting  for,  who  at  the 
commencement  of  the  discussion  were  bitterly  opposed  to  it. 
This  was  the  initiatory  step  taken  by  the  government  in  relation 
to  the  war. 

On  the  twenty-second  of  the  same  month,  the  committee  to 
whom  that  portion  of  the  president's  message  was  referred  that 
contemplated  a  naval  establishment,  reported  a  bill  in  favor  of  its 
increase.  To  this  also  Mr.  Clay  gave  his  most  vigorous  support, 
advocating  the  construction  of  several  warlike  vessels,  combating 
the  many  specious  objections  of  those  opposed  to  its  increase,  and 
showed  clearly  their  fallacy.  He  described  three  degrees  of  naval 
power.  The  first  was  one  of  sufficient  magnitude  and  strength  as 
would  enable  us  to  go  forth  and  successfully  cope  with  that  of  any 
belligerent  nation  on  the  globe.  But  such  a  force,  he  contended, 
it  was  out  of  the  power  of  the  American  nation  to  raise,  neither 
under  her  present  circumstances  was  it  particularly  desirable. 

The  second,  was  one  by  which  we  should  be  able  to  beat  off 
any  naval  force  or  armament  which  Great  Britain,  or  any  other 
nation,  might  be  able  to  send  to  and  permanently  station  on  our 
coasts.  The  force  requisite  would  be  about  one  third  of  that 
despatched  by  the  foreign  nation,  according  to  nautical  experience. 
He  estimated  that  twelve  line-of-battle  ships  and  fifteen  or  twenty 
frigates  would  be  sufficient  to  keep  at  bay  the  most  formidable 
fleet  England  could  send  against  us  and  maintain  in  American 
waters,  during  her  conflict  with  European  powers.  A  naval  force 
like  that,  however,  he  admitted  could  not  be  raised  then,  but  he 
urged  congress  to  take  such  measures  as  should  secure  its  con- 
struction as  soon  as  possible,  and  estimated  that  its  completion 
might  be  confidently  expected  in  a  few  years.  To  him  there  was 
nothing  in  the  vast  extent  of  Great  Britain's  naval  resources  intim- 
idating. He  maintained  that  her  great  distance  from  us,  the 
perils  which  would  environ  a  squadron  on  a  foreign  shore,  and  the 
ease  with  which,  from  the  extent  of  our  sea-coast,  we  could  harass 
or  escape  an  enemy,  furnished  proof  sufficient  to  convince  any 
unprejudiced  mind,  that  we  should  be  able  very  soon  to  assemble 
a  navy  capable  of  maintaining  all  our  maritime  rights  and  interests. 
The  correctness  of  Mr.  Clay's  views  has  since  been  amply  veri- 
fied, and  the  accuracy  with  which  he  foresaw  and  foretold  future 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  57 

events  shows  him  to  have  been  gifted  with  no  ordinary  degree  of 
prescience. 

The  third  degree  of  naval  force,  Mr.  Clay  regarded  as  entirely 
in  the  power  of  the  nation  to  raise  and  sustain.  It  was  a  force 
competent  to  prevent  any  single  vessel,  however  large,  from  inter- 
rupting our  coasting  trade,  from  entering  our  harbors,  and  levying 
contributions  from  our  large  cities.  This  he  argued  and  proved 
wras  within  the  immediate  means  of  the  nation,  although  vigor- 
ously opposed  by  those  hostile  to  the  war.  He  triumphed,  how- 
ever, singularly  over  them,  reprobating  with  severity  the  policy 
that  refused  to  provide  a'gainst  any  dangers  because  it  could  not 
guard  against  all.  'If,'  said  he,  'we  are  not  able  to  meet  the 
gathered  wolves  of  the  forest,  shall  we  put  up  with  the  barking 
impudence  of  every  petty  cur  that  trips  across  our  way  ? ' 

It  was  Mr.  Clay's  ardent  desire  to  provide  a  navy  whose  power 
should  be  commensurate  with  the  interest  it  was  designed  to  pro- 
tect. This,  our  limited  means  in  actual  possession,  the  unavaila- 
bility of  those  in  our  immediate  vicinity,  but  above  all,  the  depress- 
ing tendency  on  our  financial  department  of  those  measures 
of  inhuman  cruelty  towards  our  mariners  on  the  one  hand,  and 
of  arbitrary  commercial  exactions  on  the  other  by  transatlantic 
powers,  forbade  us  to  expect.  His  remarks  at  that  time  in  rela- 
tion to  this  branch  of  our  national  defence,  are  worthy  of  the  most 
attentive  perusal.  They  abound  with  lucid  argument,  beautiful 
illustration,  and  convincing  demonstration,  with  which  it  would 
be  difficult  to  find  a  speech  of  similar  length  more  replete. 

It  was  an  invariable  rule  with  Mr.  Clay,  from  which  we  find  no 
instance  of  his  deviation,  whenever  he  investigated  a  measure  of  a 
public  nature,  to  determine  first  accurately  its  bearing  upon  the 
whole  community ;  how  the  happiness  and  prosperity  of  the  nation 
would  be  affected  by  its  introduction ;  and  in  the  second  place  to 
graduate  his  efforts  accordingly.  Although  rich  in  mental  resources, 
possessing  an  inexhaustible  intellectual  mine,  and  an  unfailing 
fountain  of  eloquence,  he  never  drew  largely  on  these  when  a 
subject  of  chimerical  sectional  importance  came  before  him.  It 
was  only  when  one  involving  the  public  honor  or  dishonor  arose 
—  one  on  which  the  destinies  of  the  republic  were  suspended  — 
one  which  aimed  at  subverting  or  upholding  the  liberties  of  the 
people  —  that  he  made  great  drafts  on  them.  He  never  wandered 
through  the  interminable  wilds  of  diffuse  debate,  undetermined 
and  undirected.  As  a  skilful  physician  ascertains  the  state  of  his 
patient  before  prescribing  for  him,  so  Mr.  Clay,  previous  to  legisla- 
tion, carefully  scanned  the  social,  civil,  and  political  condition  of 
the  whole  region  for  which  he  was  to  legislate,  and  then,  without 
any  meandering  or  circumlocution,  procured  and  applied  the  appro- 
priate remedy.  Though  often  found  amid  the  dust  of  debate,  it 
was  not  of  his  own  raising.  The  caballers  of  faction,  the  more 
vol.  i.  8 


58  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

easily  to  accomplish  their  base  designs,  often  darkened  the  political 
atmosphere,  which  one  blast  of  his  eloquence  seldom  failed  to 
purify.  Perhaps  at  no  previous  period  in  our  political  history 
were  demagogues,  both  in  and  out  of  congress,  more  busily  or 
violently  engaged  than  at  this.  Disclosures  of  the  most  astound- 
ing character  had  been  made,  and  were  making,  by  which  it  ap- 
peared that  there  were  those  who  waited  only  for  a  suitable  occa- 
sion to  barter  away  their  country's  freedom  for  foreign  gold.  The 
arguments  of  those  who  opposed  an  increase  of  our  navy  were  of 
such  a  nature  as  to  cause  their  patriotism  to  be  questioned.  No* 
withstanding  it  was  a  fact  which  could  not  be  concealed,  that  our 
sea-coast  was  entirely  defenceless  and  exposed  to  the  ravages  of  a 
hostile  nation,  and  our  commerce  crippled,  many  contended  that 
nothing  beneficial  could  be  realized  from  such  increase,  and  even 
went  so  far  as  to  say  that  our  foreign  commerce  was  not  worth 
protecting.  Mr.  Clay  was  convinced  that  it  was  the  most  provi- 
dent measure  that  could  under  the  then  existing  circumstances  be 
adopted,  and  advocated  it  with  a  zeal  and  energy  that  knew  no 
bounds.  He  demonstrated  its  necessity,  not  only  to  the  Atlantic 
states,  but  to  the  vast  west.  *  If, '  said  he,  '  there  be  a  point  more 
than  any  other  in  the  United  States  demanding  the  aid  of  naval 
protection,  that  point  is  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  The  popu- 
lation of  the  whole  western  country  are  dependent  on  this  single 
outlet  for  their  surplus  productions.  These  productions  can  be 
transported  in  no  other  way.  Close  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi, 
and  their  export  trade  is  annihilated.  Abandon  all  idea  of  pro- 
tecting by  maratime  force  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  and  we  shall 
hold  the  inestimable  right  of  the  navigation  of  that  river  by  the 
most  precarious  tenure.  The  whole  commerce  of  the  Mississippi, 
a  commerce  that  is  destined  to  be  the  richest  that  was  ever 
borne  by  a  single  stream,  is  placed  at  the  mercy  of  a  single 
ship  lying  off  the  Balize !  Can  gentlemen,  particularly  from 
the  western  country,  contemplate  such  possible,  nay  probable 
events,  without  desiring  to  see  at  least  the  commencement  of 
such  a  naval  establishment  as  will  effectually  protect  the  Missis- 
sippi ? '  He  showed  the  intimate  connection  of  commerce  with  a 
navy,  by  saying  that  'a  marine  is  the  natural,  the  appropriate 
guardian  of  foreign  commerce.  The  shepherd  and  his  faithful 
dog  are  not  more  necessary  to  guard  the  flocks  that  browse  and 
gambol  on  the  neighboring  mountain.  Neglect  to  provide  the  one, 
and  you  must  abandon  the  other.  Suppose  the  expected  war  with 
Great  Britain  is  commenced  —  you  enter  and  subjugate  Canada, 
and  she  still  refuses  to  do  you  justice  —  what  other  possible  mode 
will  remain  to  operate  on  the  enemy,  but  upon  that  element  where 
alone  you  can  come  in  contact  with  her?  And  if  you  do  not 
prepare  to  protect  there  your  own  commerce  and  to  assail  his, 
will  he  not  sweep  from  the  ocean  every  vessel  bearing  your  flag, 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  59 

and  destroy  even  the  coasting  trade  ? '  To  the  argument  that 
foreign  trade  was  not  worth  protecting,  he  asked,  '  What  is  this 
foreign  commerce  that  has  suddenly  become  so  inconsiderable  ?  It 
has  with  very  trifling  aid  from  other  sources,  defrayed  the  expen- 
ses of  the  government  ever  since  the  adoption  of  the  present  con- 
stitution, maintained  an  expensive  and  successful  war  with  the 
Indians,  a  war  with  the  Barbary  powers,  a  quasi  war  with 
France,  sustained  the  charges  of  suppressing  two  insurrections, 
and  extinguishing  upwards  of  forty-six  millions  of  the  public  debt. 
In  revenue,  it  has  since  the  year  1789  yielded  one  hundred  and 
ninety-one  millions  of  dollars.'  Alluding  to  the  eminent  danger 
of  our  commercial  metropolis,  he  remarked,  <  Is  there  a  reflecting 
man  in  the  nation  who  would  not  charge  congress  with  a  culpable 
neglect  of  its  duty,  if  for  the  want  of  such  a  force  a  single  ship 
were  to  bombard  one  of  our  cities  ?  Would  not  every  honorable 
member  of  the  committee  inflict  on  himself  the  bitterest  reproaches, 
if  by  failing  to  make  an  inconsiderable  addition  to  our  gallant 
little  navy,  a  single  British  vessel  should  place  New  York  under 
contribution  ? ' 

Mr.  Clay's  arguments  went  home  to  the  hearts  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  house  with  most  convincing  energy,  dispelling  the 
dense  cloud  of  prejudice  which  interested  faction,  strongly  con- 
trolled by  foreign  influence,  had  succeeded  in  raising,  driving  hisv 
opponents  from  their  strong  holds  of  open  opposition,  and  drag- 
ging from  their  hiding  places  those  who  were  dealing  their  blows 
in  secret.  He  succeeded  in  causing  the  congressional  pulsations 
to  be  in  unison  with  his  own  —  to  pass  the  bill  by  a  handsome 
majority.  Thus  an  appropriation  was  secured  for  repairing  and 
enlarging  the  shield  of  our  protection,  that  it  might  be  able  to 
meet  and  ward  off  the  blow  that  seemed  about  to  descend  upon 
us,  secured  mainly  by  the  indefatigable  exertions  of  Mr.  Clay. 
The  result  was  in  complete  accordance  with  his  far-seeing  sagac- 
ity. Augmented  and  equipped  according  to  the  provisions  of  the 
bill,  our  navy  was  sent  forth  to  battle  and  to  victory.  WTith  the 
cry  of  our  impressed  and  suffering  seamen,  mingled  soon  the 
joyful  notes  of  triumph ;  release  speedily  succeeded ;  aggression 
ceased,  and  beneath  the  '  star  spangled  banner,'  respected  and 
honored,  our  merchantmen  pursued  their  way  to  traffic  where 
they  pleased  unmolested. 

Most  of  the  state  legislatures  signified  their  approval  of  the 
measures  adopted  by  congress  in  relation  to  the  war  by  corres- 
ponding resolutions.  Kentucky  early  regarded  with  just  indigna- 
tion the  tyrannical  treatment  of  Great  Britain,  and  evinced  a 
disposition  to  resort  immediately  to  coercive  measures  for  redress, 
and  guarantied  her  support  to  the  extent  of  her  ability  to  any 
course  the  general  government  might  think  proper  to  pursue.  She 
declared  that  '  should  we  tamely  submit,  the  world  ought  to  despise 


60  LIFEOFHENRYCLAY. 

us  —  we  should  despise  ourselves  —  England  herself  would 
despise  us.'  In  view  of  the  prospect  of  immediate  rupture,  she 
resolved  that '  the  state  of  Kentucky,  to  the  last  mite  of  her  strength 
and  resources,  will  contribute  them  to  maintain  the  contest  and  sup- 
port the  right  of  their  country  against  such  lawless  violations,  and  that 
the  citizens  of  Kentucky  are  prepared  to  take  the  field  when  called  on.' 

After  the  passage  of  the  navy  bill,  which  was  on-  the  29th  of 
January,  1812,  congress  was  employed  with  matters  pertaining  to 
our  relations  with  Great  Britain,  in  all  of  which  Mr.  Clay  exhib- 
ited untiring  energy  and  unflagging  zeal.  In  the  language  of 
another,  '  in  all  of  them  Mr.  Clay  was  the  champion  and  the  guide 
of  the  democratic  party.  No  difficulties  could  weary  .or  withstand 
his  energies.  lie, moved  in  majesty,  for  he  moved  in  strength. 
Like  the  Carthaginian  chief  in  the  passage  of  the  Alps,  he  kept 
his  place  in  front  of  his  comrades,  putting  aside  with  a  giant 
effort  every  obstacle  that  opposed  his  progress,  applauding  the 
foremost  of  his  followers,  and  rousing  those  who  lingered  by  words 
of  encouragement  or  reproach,  until  he  succeeded  in  posting  them 
upon  a  moral  eminence  from  which  they  could  look  down  upon 
the  region  where  their  prowess  was  to  meet  its  long  expected 
reward.' 

On  the  first  day  of  April  ensuing,  the  following  document 
was  transmitted  by  the  president  to  congress  : 

*  Considering  it  as  expedient  under  existing  circumstances  and 
prospects,  that  a  general  embargo  be  laid  on  all  vessels  now  in 
port,  or  hereafter  arriving,  for  the  period  of  sixty  days,  I  recom- 
mend the  immediate  passage  of  a  law  to  that  effect.' 

Mr.  Porter,  the  chairman  of  the  committee  on  foreign  relations, 
to  whom  the  message  was  referred,  reported  a  bill,  and  the  house 
went  into  a  committee  of  the  whole  to  consider  it.  A  warm  and 
protracted  discussion  ensued,  and  Mr.  Clay  was  among  the  first  to 
come  forward  and  express  his  hearty  concurrence  with  the  opinion 
of  Mr.  Madison  relative  to  the  embargo.  '  I  approve  of  it,'  said 
he,  'because  it  is  to  be  viewed  as  a  direct  precursor  to  war.  As 
an  American  and  a  member  of  that  house,  he  felt  proud  that  the 
executive  had  recommended  the  measure.' 

As  a  matter  in  course,  those  who  opposed  war  opposed  the 
embargo,  which  was  obviously  intended  as  a  step  preparatory  to  it, 
to  give  sufficient  time  to  place  our  commercial  interests  in  a  secure 
condition,  so  that  when  hostilities  should  actually  commence,  our 
trading  vessels  should  not  be  in  a  situation  to  become  an  easy 
prey  to  British  cruisers.  Among  the  most  rabid  was  Mr.  Ran- 
dolph, who  denounced  the  embargo,  and  in  opposition  to  Mr. 
Clay,  declared  it  a  subterfuge  —  a  retreat  frpm  battle  —  and  not  a 
step  preparatory  to  war.  »  Sir,'  said  he,  •  we  are  now  in  secret 
conclave.  The  eyes  of  the  world  are  not  upon  us,  but  the  eyes  of  God 
behold  our  doings.     He  knows  the  spirit  of  our  minds.  *   Shall  we 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  61 

deliberate  on  this  subject  in  the  spirit  of  sobriety  and  candor,  or 
with  that  spirit  which  has  too  often  characterized  our  discussions 
like  the  present  ?  We  ought  to  realize  that  we  are  in  the  presence 
of  that  God  who  knows  our  thoughts  and  motives,  and  to  whom 
we  must  render  an  account  for  the  deeds  done  in  the  body.  What 
new  cause  of  war  or  of  an  embargo  has  arisen  within  the  last 
twelve  months  ?  The  affair  of  the  Chesapeake  is  settled  ;  no  new 
principles  of  blockade  have  been  interpolated  in  the  laws  of  na- 
tions. Every  man  of  candor  would  ask  why  we  did  not  then  go 
to  war  twelve  months  ago.'  He  said  that  the  honorable  speaker 
was  laboring  under  a  mistake  by  declaring  that  the  message  was 
for  war ;  that  he  (Mr.  Randolph)  had  'too  much  reliance  on  the 
wisdom  and  virtue  of  the  president  to  believe  that  he  would  be 
guilty  of  such  gross  and  unparalleled  treason.' 

Mr.  Clay  replied  in  a  becoming  manner,  in  language  that  fell 
upon  the  house  burning  with  the  fire  of  his  patriotic  eloquence. 
1  The  gentleman  from  Virginia  need  not  have  reminded  them  in 
the  manner  he  had  of  that  Being  who  watched  over  and  surroun- 
ded them.  From  this  sentiment  we  should  draw  very  different 
conclusions  from  those  which  occurred  to  him.  It  ought  to  influ- 
ence them  to  that  patriotism  and  to  a  display  of  those  high  quali- 
fications, so  much  more  honorable  to  the  human  character.  The 
gentleman  asks  what  new  cause  of  war  has  been  avowed  ?  The 
affair  of  the  Chesapeake  is  settled,  to  be  sure  ;  but  only  to  paralyse 
the  spirit  of  the  country.  Has  Great  Britain  abstained  from  im- 
pressing our  seamen  —  from  depredating  upon  our  property? 
We  have  complete  proof  in  her  capture  of  our  ships,  in  her  excit- 
ing our  frontier  Indians  to  hostility,  and  in  her  sending  an  emis- 
sary to  our  cities  to  excite  civil  war,  that  she  will  do  every  thing  to 
destroy  us.  Our  resolution  and  spirit  are  our  only  dependence. 
Although  I  feel  warm  upon  this  subject,  I  pride  myself  upon 
those  feelings,  and  should  despise  myself  if  I  were  destitute  of 
them.' 

Mr.  Randolph  still  persisted  in  his  Intemperate  opposition,  aver- 
ring that  public  sentiment  was  not  in  favor  of  either  the  embargo 
or  war,  and  said  that  he  had  '  known  gentlemen  not  inferior  in 
gallantry,  in  wisdom,  in  experience,  in  the  talents  of  a  statesman, 
to  any  upon  the  floor,  consigned  to  oblivion  for  advocating  a  war 
upon  the  public  sentiment.'  That  the  public  mind  was  averse  to 
these  measures,  Mr.  Clay  proved  to  be  not  true,  by  citing  the  great 
unanimity  in  the  southern  and  western  states,  among  both  federal- 
ists and  republicans,  and  the  unequivocal  resolutions  of  fourteen 
state  legislatures  in  favor  of  both.  If  possible,  Mr.  Randolph  was 
exceeded  in  the  fierceness  of  his  opposition  by  Mr.  Josiah  Quincy 
of  Massachusetts  ;  at  least  by  the  low  and  scurrilous  language  in 
which  he  expressed  it.  He  condemned  the  embargo  as  treason- 
able to  the  interests  of  the  nation,    as  absurd   and  contrary   to 


62  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

common  sense.  He  boasted  of  having  sent,  in  connection  with 
his  colleagues,  expresses  to  the  eastern  cities,  in  the  expectation 
that  an  embargo  would  be  laid,  that  information  to  that  effect 
might  be  given  to  merchants,  so  that  they  could  obtain  clearances 
for  their  vessels  before  it  should  take  effect.  Said  he,  '  we  did  it 
to  escape  into  the  jaws  of  the  British  lion  and  of  the  French  tiger, 
which  are  places  of  repose,  of  joy  and  delight,  when  compared 
with  the  grasp  and  fang  of  this  hyena  embargo.  Look  now  upon 
the  river  below  Alexandria,  and  you  will  see  the  sailors  towing 
down  their  vessels  as  from  a  pestilence,  against  wind  and  tide, 
anxious  to  escape  from  a  country  which  would  destroy  instead  of 
preserving  them.  I  object  to  it  because  it  is  no  efficient  prepara- 
tion, because  it  is  not  a  progress  towards  honorable  war,  but  a 
subterfuge  from  the  question.  If  we  must  perish,  let  us  perish  by 
any  hand  except  our  own ;  any  fate  is  better  than  self-slaughter.' 

In  meeting  the  storm  of  opposition  which  raged  like  a  tempest 
around  him,  Mr.  Clay  is  represented  to  have  been  '  a  flame  of  fire.' 
He  had  now  brought  congress  to  the  verge  of  what  he  conceived 
to  be  a  war  for  liberty  and  honor,  and  his  voice,  inspired  by  the 
occasion,  ran  through  the  capitol  like  a  trumpet-tone  sounding  for 
the  onset.  On  the  subject  of  the  policy  of  the  embargo,  his  elo- 
quence, like  a  Roman  phalanx,  bore  down  all  opposition,  and  he 
put  to  shame  those  of  his  opponents  who  flouted  the  government 
as  being  unprepared  for  war.  '  Why  is  it,'  he  exclaimed,  indig- 
nantly, '  that  we  are  no  better  prepared  ?  Because  the  gentlemen 
themselves  have  thrown  every  possible  obstacle  in  our  way! 
They  have  opposed  the  raising  of  an  army  —  the  fitting  out  of  a 
naval  armament  —  the  fortification  of  our  frontiers  —  and  now 
talk  of  the  madness  of  engaging  in  a  war  for  which  we  are  not 
prepared  !  It  is  asked  what  new  cause  of  war  ?  In  reply  I  will 
ask  what  old  cause  of  war  is  avenged  ?  Has  Great  Britain 
abstained  from  impressing  our  seamen  ?  I  have  no  doubt  but 
that  the  late  Indian  hostilities  on  the  Wabash  were  excited  by 
the  British.     Is  not  this  cause  of  war  ?' 

There  was  no  withstanding  his  eloquent  and  patriotic  appeals. 
They  made  every  heart  in  the  house  vibrate  and  glow  with  intense 
desire  to  arouse  and  avenge  the  aggravated  abuse  heaped  upon  us 
by  our  foreign  foe. 

After  an  ineffectual  attempt  to  procure  an  amendment  to  the  bill 
by  extending  the  embargo  to  ninety  days,  it  passed  by  a  vote  of 
seventy  to  forty-one.  It  was  then  sent  to  the  senate,  which  introduced 
the  amendment  proposed  in  the  house,  which  was  adopted  by  it,  and 
after  receiving  the  signature  of  the  president,  it  became  the  law  of 
the  land  on  the  fourth  day  of  April 

Now  war  had  become  the  settled  policy  of  the  nation  ;  indeed 
the  first  initiatory  step  was  taken.  The  Rubicon  had  been  approached, 
and  not  to  cross  it  would  entail  disgrace.       Congress,  therefore, 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  63 

set  vigorously  about  preparing  for  war.  The  tardy  procedure 
of  government  in  bringing  the  subject  to  a  crisis,  it  was 
thought  would  operate  prejudicially  in  its  prosecution,  by  allow- 
ing the  eagerness  and  zeal  then  so  prevalent  for  the  conflict  to 
subside.  A  result  of  the  correspondence  then  going  on  between 
America  and  England,  and  which  was  continued  after  the  embargo 
had  taken  effect,  was,  to  render  undecided  a  large  and  patriotic 
portion  of  the  people,  who  were  earnest  in  demanding  redress, 
but  as  long  as  there  was  the  slightest  prospect  of  obtaining  it  by 
negotiation,  chose  to  delay  rather  than  meet  the  expenses  and 
horrors  of  war.  Hopes  were  entertained,  from  time  to  time,  by  the 
tone  of  the  British  minister's  communications,  that  all  differences 
between  the  two  nations  would  be  pacifically  arranged.  But  it 
soon  appeared  obvious,  that  nothing  satisfactory  would  be  pro- 
posed by  him,  that  Great  Britain  had  an  ulterior  object  in  view,  in 
causing  such  expectations  to  be  created,  and  that  it  would  be 
better  to  abandon  at  once,  and  forever,  all  reliance  upon  this  mode 
of  procedure,  resorted  to  from  motives  of  the  most  amicable 
nature,  on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  and  pursued  so  long  and 
faithfully,  yet  ineffectully.  Hope  finally  fled,  though  reluctantly 
and  with  a  heavy  heart,  casting  many  '  a  lingering  look  behind/ 
and  '  grim  visaged  war '  assumed  her  place.  The  most  amicably 
disposed  threw  down  the  olive  branch,  and  seized  the  sword. 
Remonstrance,  entreaty,  argument,  and  forbearance  had  been 
exhausted,  and  the  nation,  conscious  of  the  righteousness  of  her 
cause,  arose,  buckled  on  her  armor,  and  appealed  to  the  God  of 
battles  for  the  maintenance  of  her  rights. 

Mr.  Clay  was  one  of  a  deputation  appointed  to  wait  upon  Mr. 
Madison,  to  urge  upon  him  the  pressing  necessity  of  making 
speedy  and  efficient  preparation  for  the  event  which  would  inevi- 
tably occur.  The  views  of  congress,  and  of  the  country  generally, 
relative  to  the  subject  of  war,  he  spread  before  the  president, 
argued  that  it  was  impolitic  to  waste  any  more  time  in  fruitless 
negotiation,  and  expressed  his  sincere  conviction,  that,  with  their 
present  resources,  and  those  of  which  they  could  avail  themselves, 
judiciously  employed,  as  they  would  be  by  patriotic  and  indignant 
freemen,  no  alarming  apprehensions  need  be  entertained  respecting 
the  nature  of  the  result.  The  muscular  and  mental  energies  of  a 
free  and  united  yeomanry  of  an  independent  and  enlightened 
nation,  arrayed  in  defence  of  home  and  every  thing  that  made 
it  happy,  he  believed  constituted  a  force  invincible  —  one  that  could 
not  be  crushed  by  the  hireling  soldiery  of  the  combined  powers  of 
Europe. 

The  president,  though  inclined  to  advance  with  extreme  caution, 
whose  trepidation  was  increased  by  several  members  of  his  cabinet 
opposed  to  warlike  movements,  was  nerved  with  fresh  courage  and 
fired  with  fresh   patriotism,  by  the  energetic  remarks  of  Mr.  Clay, 


64  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

and  induced  to  hasten  the  blow  from  the  axe  of  executive  power, 
which  alone  could  burst  the  bands  which  bound  and  restrained  the 
thunderbolt  of  war. 

About  this  time,  while  in  the  exercise  of  his  official  prerogative, 
Mr.  Clay  became  entangled  in  a  disagreeable  controversy  with  Mr. 
Randolph.  This  gentleman,  though  possessing  talenls  and  elo- 
quence of  a  high  order,  employed  them  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  make  himself  distinguished  for  the  most  extravagant  eccentrici- 
ties and  wild  vagaries.  There  had  existed  not  the  most  cordial 
understanding  between  him  and  Mr.  Clay,  during  several  months 
previous.  Their  intercourse  was  not  very  uniform  ;  sometimes  it 
would  be  suspended  for  weeks,  when  not  a  word  would  be  spoken 
by  either  to  the  other.  The  great  difficulty  of  living  on  terms  of 
intimacy  or  common  civility  even,  with  Mr.  Randolph,  caused  Mr. 
Clay  to  adopt  this  course.  He  did  not  desire  to  o fiend  the  capri- 
cious gentleman,  nor  to  place  himself  in  a  situation  to  receive 
offence  from  him.  Occasionally,  when  the  milk  of  human  kind- 
ness was  superabundant  in  his  heart,  Mr.  Randolph  would  approach, 
and  in  the  most  honied  accents  and  blandest  manner,  salute  Mr. 
Clay  and  inquire  after  his  health,  with  every  demonstration  of 
regard. 

One  of  Mr.  Randolph's  peculiarities  was  exceeding  uneasiness 
under  restriction ;  indeed,  he  seldom  quietly  submitted  to  any  par- 
liamentary restraint,  however  necessary  and  salutary.  He  regarded 
the  rules  of  the  house  as  trammels  and  shackles,  more  honored  by 
the  breach  than  observance,  and  struggled  violently  against  their 
enforcement  in  his  case.  During  the  day  previous  to  that  when 
the  controversy  mentioned  occurred,  Mr.  Clay,  in  conversing  with 
a  friend  of  Mr.  Randolph,  remarked  that  the  president  would  prob- 
ably transmit  a  message  to  congress,  recommending  a  declaration 
of  war,  on  the  following  Monday.  This  information  was  commu- 
nicated to  Mr.  Randolph,  who  the  next  morning  appeared  in  his 
seat,  and  commenced  one  of  his  usual  windy  harangues,  without 
submitting  any  motion  to  the  house.  After  discussing  some  time 
the  subject  of  our  foreign  relations,  although  he  well  knew  that 
such  discussion  was  designed  to  be  strictly  private,  manifesting 
more  than  his  accustomed  hostility  to  declaring  war  with  Great 
Britain,  and  zeal  in  justifying  her  cruelties  towards  the  United 
States,  he  was  called  to  order,  on  the  ground  that  there  was  no 
resolution  before  the  house.  Mr.  Bibb,  being  in  the  chair,  suffered 
him  to  proceed.  Soon  after,  Mr.  Clay  resumed  his  seat,  when  he 
was  again  called  to  order,  and  required  to  submit  his  motion  in 
writing  to  the  chair.  Mr.  Clay  observed  that  a  standing  rule  of  the 
house  rendered  it  incumbent  on  any  member  who  attempted  to 
address  it,  after  a  few  pertinent  prefatory  remarks,  to  submit  his 
proposition  in  due  form  to  the  house,  and  then  confine  his  remarks 
to  it.     '  My  proposition,'  said  Mr.  Randolph, '  is  that  it  is  not  expe- 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  65 

dient  at  this  time,  to  resort  to  a  war  with  Great  Britain.'  He 
expressed  great  surprise  when  it  was  decided  by  the  speaker  that 
he  could  not  proceed  to  discuss  his  proposition  unless  it  was  sec- 
onded and  reduced  to  writing.  <  Then  I  appeal  from  that  decision.' 
The  speaker  briefly  stated  his  reasons  for  his  decision,  which  was 
sustained  by  a  vote  of  sixty-seven  to  forty-two.  *  Then,  sir,  under 
the  compulsion  to  submit  my  motion  in  writing,  I  offer  it,'  said 
Mr.  Randolph.  The  speaker  replied,  '  there  is  no  compulsion  in 
the  case,  because  the  gentleman  may  or  may  not  offer  it,  at  his 
option.'  The  motion  was  read  from  the  chair,  and  the  speaker 
observed  that  the  house  must  first  agree  to  consider  it,  before  it 
could  be  in  order  to  debate  it.  From  this  decision  Mr.  Randolph 
appealed,  but  at  the  suggestion  of  a  friend,  withdrew  his  appeal. 
Mr.  Clay  made  a  brief  speech,  justifying  his  decision,  and  then 
put  the  question  whether  the  house  would  consider  Mr.  Randolph's 
resolution.    It  was  rejected  by  a  vote  of  seventy-two  to  thirty-seven. 

Mr.  Randolph,  thus  compelled  to  take  his  seat,  was  greatly  cha- 
grined. On  the  following  day  he  published  a  vindictive  address 
to  his  constituents,  in  which  he  inveighed  in  the  most  bitter  terms 
against  Mr.  Madison's  administration,  declaring  that  the  move- 
ments that  had  been  made  in  reference  to  war,  were  not  made  with 
the  intention  of  promoting  the  welfare  of  the  country,  and  desired 
those  whom  he  represented  not  to  sanction  the  proposed  declara- 
tion. Freedom  of  speech  he  declared  had  been  invaded ;  that  for 
the  first  time  in  the  person  of  their  representative  had  it  been  de- 
cided, that  silence  must  be  maintained  upon  the  most  important 
subject  that  could  be  brought  forward  for  legislative  action.  He 
characterized  this  as  *  usurpation,  more  flagitious  than  any  which 
had  ever  been  practiced  under  the  reign  of  terror  by  the  father  of 
the  sedition  laws,  and  the  people  must  interfere  and  apply  a  remedy 
or  bid  adieu  to  a  free  government  forever.' 

Mr.  Clay  noticed  this  singular  paper  in  a  communication  over 
his  own  name,  which  was  published  in  the  National  Intelligencer, 
reviewing  briefly  the  controversy,  stating  the  grounds  of  his  action 
in  relation  to  it,  and  established  the  two  following  principles : '  that  the 
house  had  a  right  to  know  through  its  organ,  the  specific  motion 
which  a  member  intends  making  before  he  undertakes  to  argue  it  at 
large,  and  that  it  reserves  to  itself  the  exercise  of  the  power  of  deter- 
mining whether  it  will  consider  it  at  the  particular  time  when 
offered,  prior  to  his  thus  proceeding  to  argue  it.'  These  principles 
have  subsequently  formed  the  rule  in  the  house  in  similar  cases,  the 
operation  of  which  has  tended,  in  no  small  degree,  to  promote  the 
interests  of  the  country,  by  restraining  within  proper  bounds  the 
freedom  of  debate. 

On  the  first  of  June,  the  president  despatched  to  the  house  a  mes- 
sage, containing  a  summary  statement  of  our  grievances  demand- 
ing reparation,  narrating  the  various  pacific  and  often  repeated 
vol.  i.  9 


66  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

attempts  of  the  United  States  to  adjust  all  existing  difficulties  with 
Great  Britain,  remarking  the  cold  indifference  or  haughty  repulse 
with  which  the  latter  had  invariably  met  the  amicable  advances  of 
the  former,  and  recommending  to  the  early  consideration  of  con- 
gress the  question  whether  the  United  States  should  'continue 
passive  under  these  progressive  usurpations  and  these  accumulating 
wrongs,  or  opposing  force  to  force  in  defence  of  their  natural 
rights,  should  commit  a  just  cause  into  the  hands  of  the  almighty 
disposer  of  events.'  An  'immediate  appeal  to  arms1  was  recom- 
mended in  a  report  of  the  committee  on  foreign  relations,  to  whom 
the  message  was  referred,  on  the  eighteenth,  and  the  act  declaring  war 
passed  both  houses  of  congress  the  same  day,  and  on  the  nineteenth 
Mr.  Madison  issued  his  proclamation,  declaring  hostilities  as  ac- 
tually commenced.  On  the  sixth  of  July  congress  adjourned,  to 
assemble  on  the  first  Monday  in  November. 

The  crisis  towards  which  so  many  eyes  had  long  been  directed, 
had  at  last  come  —  a  crisis  which,  though  sought  by  government, 
was  sought  reluctantly.  Any  measure  that  would  have  obviated  its 
necessity,  had  been  embraced  with  eager  joy.  Every  expedient 
was  resorted  to,  in  order  to  prevent  the  waste  of  treasures  and 
effusion  of  blood,  with  which  it  would  be  attended.  The  great 
master  spirits,  Messrs.  Clay,  Lowndes,  Cheves  and  Calhoun,  the 
bold  pioneers  in  paving  the  way  to  and  hastening  on  this  crisis, 
did  not  attempt  to  shrink  from  their  duty,  nor  to  shake  off  the 
solemn  responsibility  which  they  assumed  to  their  country  in 
undertaking  to  conduct  the  ark  of  her  liberties,  now  when  they  had 
guided  it  into  the  roaring  vortex  of  war.  They  did  not  prove  recreant 
to  the  precious  trusts  committed  to  their  care,  by  traitorously  de- 
serting their  posts.  Though  the  billows  of  fierce  conflict  dashed 
against  its  sides,  they  did  not  withdraw  the  hand  that  had  hitherto 
supported  it.  There  was  no  looking  back,  no  cowardly  avoiding 
of  danger,  but  shoulder  to  shoulder  manfully  they  breasted  the 
dark  surges  of  belligerent  strife,  until  in  safety  the  harbor  of  suc- 
cess was  finally  attained. 

With  the  view  of  shortening  the  conflict  and  ameliorating  the 
condition  of  those  engaged  in  it  as  much  as  possible,  previous  and 
subsequent  to  the  declaration  of  war,  they  sought  to  place  the 
financial  department  of  the  nation  in  a  situation  to  meet  the  de- 
mands that  would  be  made  upon  it  in  case  of  that  event.  In 
pursuance  of  this  view,  the  secretary  of  the  treasury,  Mr.  Gallatin, 
whose  reputation  for  financiering  stood  high,  was  selected  to  devise 
and  report  a  system  that  should  accomplish  the  desired  object. 
The  public  disappointment  was  excessive  when  his  report  ap- 
peared, which,  instead  of  exhibiting  any  new  feature  infinance  — 
instead  of  deriving  revenue  from  the  vast,  existing  and  appropriate 
national  sources  —  proposed  to  obtain  it  in  the  old  obnoxious  ways 
from  excise,  stamp  duties,  &c.     Although  deeply  regretting  that  a 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  67 

more  efficient  plan  was  not  provided,  still,  with  a  spirit  that  seemed 
resolved  to  turn  to  the  best  possible  account  the  propositions  of 
the  secretary,  they  commenced  levying  taxes  according  to  his  plan. 
To  this  end  Mr.  Cheves,  chairman  of  the  committee  of  ways  and 
means,  diligently  employed  himself  in  preparing  bills,  whose  object 
was  the  raising  of  revenue.  After  their  completion  and  presenta- 
tion, a  discovery  was  made  that  well  nigh  proved  fatal  to  this.  It 
was  ascertained  through  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Smiley,  an  intimate 
friend  of  the  secretary  of  the  treasury,  that  both  he  and  the  presi- 
dent were  opposed  to  levying  taxes  at  the  time  of  the  declaration 
of  war,  declaring  '  that  the  people  would  not  take  both  war  and 
taxes  together.' 

The  non-concurrence  of  the  executive  in  their  financial  scheme, 
was  a  source  of  bitter  though  unavailing  regret  to  Mr.  Clay  and 
his  coadjutors.  It  was,  to  be  sure,  defective,  but  had  not  this 
insuperable  obstacle  been  interposed  in  the  way  of  its  being  carried 
out,  the  treasury  would  have  been  to  a  considerable  extent  replen- 
ished with  funds ;  the  early  want  of  which  was  a  serious  detriment 
felt  during  the  whole  war.  To  the  influence  of  Mr.  Gallatin,  in  a 
great  measure,  doubtless,  the  opposition  of  Mr.  Madison  to  the 
conjunction  of  the  two  measures  was  owing.  He  was  very  sus- 
ceptible of  influence,  especially  from  those  in  whom  he  reposed 
confidence,  such  as  he  did  in  the  secretary.  The  same  kind  of 
influence,  inducing  him  to  procrastinate  a  declaration  of  war,  Mr. 
Clay  found  him  laboring  under,  when,  as  one  of  a  deputation,  he 
was  sent  to  wait  on  and  urge  him  to  delay  no  longer,  telling  him 
that  farther  argument  was  useless,  that  the  ultima  thule  of  talking 
had  been  reached,  and  that  the  time  for  prompt  and  vigorous  action 
had  arrived.  To  illustrate  the  difference  between  speaking  and 
writing,  and  acting,  he  repeated  to  Mr.  Madison  an  anecdote  of 
two  Kentucky  judges.  '  One  talked  incessantly  from  the  bench. 
He  reasoned  every  body  to  death.  He  would  deliver  an  opinion, 
and  first  try  to  convince  the  party  that  agreed  with  him,  and  then 
the  opposite  party.  The  consequence  was  that  business  lagged, 
the  docket  accumulated,  litigants  complained,  and  the  community 
were  dissatisfied.  He  was  succeeded  by  a  judge  who  never  gave 
any  reasons  for  his  opinion,  but  decided  the  case  simply  for  the 
plaintiff  or  defendant.  His  decisions  were  rarely  reversed  by  the 
appellate  court,  the  docket  melted  away,  litigants  were  no  longer 
exposed  to  ruinous  delay,  and  the  community  were  contented.' 
This  humorous  sally  of  Mr.  Clay  occasioned  the  president  much 
mirth,  who  replied  by  relating  an  anecdote  which  occurred  to  him, 
of  a  French  judge,  who,  said  he,  after  hearing  the  arguments  of 
the  parties,  put  their  papers  in  opposite  scales,  and  decided  the 
case  according  to  the  preponderance  of  weight. 

Attempts  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  to  prevent  hostilities, 
did  not  cease  until  war  had  been  declared,  and  even  then  a  dispo- 


68  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

sition  was  manifested  to  put  a  speedy  termination  to  them,  for  in 
one  week  after  this  event,  Mr.  Jonathan  Russell,  our  charge  d }  affaires 
at  the  court  of  St.  James,  received  instructions  to  agree  to  an 
armistice  as  a  preliminary  to  a  treaty,  provided  the  British  gov- 
ernment should  repeal  her  orders  in  council,  and  discontinue  the 
impressment  of  our  seamen,  and  afterwards  without  insisting  upon 
any  particular  agreement.  All  our  pacific  efforts,  however,  were 
fruitless,  our  proposals  refused  with  disdain,  and  accompanied 
with  language  of  reproach  and  insult,  even  conveying  the  idea 
that  the  conduct  of  the  United  States  was  pusillanimous.  She 
refused  to  treat  with  us  at  all,  unless  as  preliminary  we  would 
recall  our  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal,  and  cease  all  hostile  acts 
towards  British  property  and  British  subjects.  Such  degrading 
conditions  could  never  be  submitted  to  by  the  United  States, 
although  the  federal  party  were  willing  and  even  clamorous  to 
comply  with  them.  The  virtue  and  patriotism  of  the  people,  how- 
ever, preponderated  over  all  the  vile  attempts  at  causing  the  nation 
to  accept  the  disgraceful  terms  dictated  by  her  haughty  foe,  to  pro- 
cure the  repose  she  desired.  The  middle  of  September  found  us 
still  endeavoring  to  procure  an  adjustment  of  our  difficulties 
amicably.  The  proposals  of  Mr.  Russell,  though  of  the  most  liberal 
nature,  were  treated  contemptuously,  and  at  an  interview  on  the 
seventeenth  of  September,  lord  Castlereagh  expressed  great  astonish- 
ment that  American  commissioners  should  still  continue  to  indulge 
the  expectation  that  the  right  of  impressment  should  ever  be  relin- 
quished, and  even  had  the  arrogance  to  say  that  '  our  friends  in 
congress  had  been  so  confident  in  that  mistake,  that  they  had 
ascribed  the  failure  of  such  an  arrangement  solely  to  the  miscon- 
duct of  the  American  government.'  The  demands  of  the  British 
in  insolence  seemed  to  have  no  limits ;  asking  if  the  '  United 
States  would  deliver  up  the  native  British  seamen  who  might  be 
naturalized  in  America.'  '  If,'  said  lord  Castlereagh,  '  the  Ameri- 
can government  was  so  anxious  to  get  rid  of  the  war,  it  would 
have  an  opportunity  of  doing  so,  on  learning  the  revocation  of  the 
orders  in  council.' 

It  was  sufficiently  obvious  now  that  nothing  remained  but  to 
prosecute  the  war  as  vigorously  as  possible.  Our  arms,  in  several 
cases,  had  been  unsuccessful.  The  circumstances  of  the  delivery 
of  Detroit  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy  by  general  Hull,  were  such 
as  to  render  it  certain  that  freason  had  some  agency  in  it.  These 
disasters  tended  to  dampen  the  ardor  of  some,  and  to  render  more 
confident  and  blustering  demagogues  and  federalists,  who  went 
about  croaking  like  birds  of  ill  omen,  doing  all  in  their  power  to 
infuse  a  spirit  inimical  to  the  course  then  pursuing,  and  bring 
opprobrium  on  the  administration  party.  They  continually  referred 
to  those  partial  failures  as  the  sure  prognostics  that  the  whole  coun- 
try would  fall  an  easy  prey  to  the  enemy.    But  these  reverses  were 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CI,AY.  69 

subsequently  in  a  measure  repaired,  by  the  successful  and  gallant 
achievements  of  a  body  of  western  volunteers,  led  on  by  general 
Harrison,  over  the  British  and  their  allies,  the  barbarous  savages. 
Our  brilliant  victories  on  the  sea  were  such  as  to  kindle  up  the 
expiring  energies  in  the  hearts  of  the  despairing,  and  to  nerve  to 
nobler  deeds  the  intrepid.  They  evinced  what  could  be  accom- 
plished by  determination  and  valor  combined.  The  British  frigate 
Guerriere  had  been  captured  by  captain  Hull,  commander  of  the 
frigate  Constitution ;  commodore  Rodgers  had  rendered  most 
signal  service  to  our  commercial  interests;  all  which  tended  to 
impart  a  fresh  impulse  to  our  army  and  navy. 

During  the  interval  between  the  adjournment  and  re-assembling 
of  congress,  Mr.  Clay  watched  the  progress  of  the  war  with  the 
most  intense  interest.  This  was  the  all-absorbing  subject  of  his 
soul,  engaging  its  every  faculty  and  principle  ;  and  the  efforts  which 
he  made  to  secure  its  successful  termination  were  as  strenuous  as 
they  were  unremitted.  In  public  assemblies,  in  private  circles,  it 
was  the  theme  on  which  he  dwelt  continually,  and  around  which 
he  twined  the  richest  wreaths  of  his  oratorical  and  colloquial 
skill.  He  always  had  a  weapon  ready  to  prostrate  the  opposition 
of  the  federalist  and  demagogue,  however  speciously  presented. 
The  grounds  of  encouragement  to  proceed,  and  the  prospect  of 
ultimate  success,  were  so  clearly  elucidated  by  him,  that  the  timid 
gathered  confidence,  and  the  bold  redoubled  their  energies.  Hope 
and  courage  were  his  constant  companions,  from  which  fear  and 
cowardice  fled  away.  These  spread  their  animating  influences 
far  and  wide,  and  like  a  beacon  light  lit  up  the  whole  land.  Had 
Mr.  Clay  been  engaged  in  a  personal  enterprize  in  which  he  had 
embarked  his  all,  where  fortune,  fame,  reputation,  and  life  itself 
were  at  issue,  he  could  not  have  manifested  greater  solicitude  for 
the  result,  or  put  forth  more  gigantic  efforts  to  render  it  favorable, 
than  he  did  in  relation  to  the  war  of  the  nation.  If  patriotism, 
undoubted  and  unadulterated,  be  not  deducible  from  his  agency 
in  originating,  prosecuting  and  consummating  the  war,  on  what 
page  of  the  world's  annals  is  it  chronicled  ?  The  history  of  the 
Grecian  and  Roman  republics  furnish  many  instances  of  exalted, 
self-sacrificing  patriotism  —  of  those  who  under  its  influence  met 
death  as  joyfully  as  they  would  have  met  a  friend.  Inspired  by 
this  principle  we  hear  one  of  their  bards  exclaim, 

1  Bulce  est  pro  patria  mori.' 
It  is  sweet  to  die  for  one's  country. 

But  the  lofty  action  of  Mr.  Clay  in  connection  with  this  his 
country's  crisis,  his  prompt  response  to  her  cry  for  aid,  his  unwa- 
vering attachment  to  her  cause,  and  his  ardent  devotion  to  her 
interests,  present  an  example  of  patriotic  love  and  zeal,  which 
may  be  placed  by  the  side  of  similar  ones  on  the  records  of  those 


70  t  LIFE     OF     HENftY     CLAY. 

nations,  without  the  slightest  fear  of  disparagement, —  indeed  as 
justifying  the  belief  that  if  she  had  required  a  similar  sacrifice, 
the  victim  would  not  have  been  wanting. 

Mr.  Clay  advocated  war,  not  as  an  experimental  measure, 
not  for  the  purpose  of  furnishing  him  an  opportunity  of  gratifying 
his  ambitious  private  projects,  as  his  enemies  desired  it  to  be  be- 
lieved, but  as  the  dernier  resort,  as  that  only  which  could  raise 
from  her  prostrate  condition  his  country,  and  restore  her  to  that 
rank  to  which  she  was  entitled  as  an  independent  nation.  The 
result  proved  the  correctness  of  his  prediction,  while  it  exposed  the 
falsity  of  that  pronouncing  the  measure  as  certain  to  eventuate  in 
her  ruin. 

When  he  first  approached  the  subject,  he  found  it  surrounded  by 
a  cloud  of  gloom,  rendered  dense  and  dark  by  the  adverse  circum- 
stances of  his  country,  and  which  was  made  every  day  more  murky 
by  the  unpatriotic  attitude  of  the  disaffected,  and  the  insidious  efforts 
of  the  openly  hostile.  To  dispel  this,  all  his  energies  were  directed, 
and  on  the  re-assembling  of  congress,  pursuant  to  adjournment, 
he  was  gratified  to  behold  some  few  glimmerings  of  light  through 
the  sombre  mass.  This  cheering  indication,  added  to  the  reviving 
influence  imparted  to  him  by  his  recent  immediate  contact  with 
the  people,  fired  his  soul  with  an  irrepressible  fervency,  and  caused 
the  flame  of  his  patriotic  ardor  to  burn  so  intensely  as  to  consume 
all  opposing  materials.  For  this  flame,  plenty  of  fuel  was  fur- 
nished by  those,  who  evinced,  by  their  deadly  hostility,  a  desire  to 
see  the  unequal  struggle  then  going  on  between  England  and 
the  United  States,  terminate  in  favor  of  the  former.  In  some,  this 
hostility,  breaking  over  all  bounds  of  decency,  vented  itself  in  the 
grossest  lampoon.  Their  endeavors  appeared  more  like  the  spas- 
modic efforts  of  a  drowning  man,  than  the  skilfully  directed 
attempts  of  enlightened  opposers,  as  though  they  were  determined, 
if  possible,  to  accomplish  the  fulfilment  of  their  predictions,  which 
now,  from  the  recent  victorious  feats  of  our  arms,  seemed  quite 
dubious.  Soon  after  the  commencement  of  the  session,  the  first 
subject  of  importance  that  came  before  the  representatives  of  the 
people,  was  that  of  increasing  the  army.  Mr.  Clay,  and  those 
whose  views  were  coincident  with  his,  desired  to  concentrate  the 
nation's  energies  in  prosecuting  the  war  to  a  glorious  completion  ; 
to  do  which,  fresh  and  gratifying  evidence  had  been  given.  To 
secure  this,  it  was  proposed  to  augment  the  army  by  a  recruit  of 
twenty  thousand  men.  The  committee  on  military  affairs  in  the 
house  reported  a  bill  for  the  purpose,  which  was  considered  in 
committee  of  the  whole,  and  debated  at  length.  From  the  oppo- 
sition, this  proposition  met  the  most  violent  assault,  and  also  those 
who  supported  it.  The  warmest  opposers  were  found  in  the 
persons  of  Messrs  Randolph,  Pitkin  and  Quincy.  The  speech  of 
the  latter  gentleman  is  said  to  have  '  produced  disgust  on  all  sides 


LIFE     OF      HENRY     CLAY.  71 

of  the  house,'  and  for  violence  and  abuse  stands  unrivalled. 
Its  most  scurrilous  expressions  have  been  expunged;  enough, 
however,  remains  to  determine  its  original  character.  Speaking  of 
the  war,  he  observed,  '  there  is  nothing  in  history  like  this  war 
since  the  invasion  of  the  bucaneers.  The  disgrace  of  our  armies 
is  celestial  glory  compared  to  the  disgrace  reflected  on  our  country 
by  this  invasion ; '  (the  proposed  invasion  of  Canada ;)  '  yet  it  is 
called  a  war  for  glory !  Glory  ?  Yes,  such  glory  as  that  of  the 
tiger  when  he  tears  the  bowels  from  the  lamb,  filling  the  wilderness 
with  its  savage  roars  ;  the  glory  of  Zenghis  Khan,  without  his 
greatness  ;  the  glory  of  Bonaparte.  Far  from  me  and  mine,  and  far 
from  my  country  be  such  glory  ! '  He  stigmatized  those  in  favor 
of  the  war  as  *  household  troops,  who  lounge  for  what  they  can 
pick  up  about  the  government  house ;  who  come  here,  and  with 
their  families  live  and  suck  upon  the  breast  of  the  treasury ;  toad- 
eaters,  who  live  on  eleemosynary,  ill-purchased  courtesy,  upon  the 
palace,  swallow  great  men's  spittle,  and  get  judgeships,  and  wonder 
at  the  fine  sights,  and  fine  rooms,  and  fine  company,  and  most  of 
all,  wonder  how  they  themselves  got  there.'  The  state  of  public 
feeling  in  Massachusetts  respecting  the  invasion,  he  stated  by 
saying,  that  '  he  had  conversed  upon  the  question  with  men  of  all 
ranks  and  conditions  in  Massachusetts,  with  men  hanging  over  the 
plough  and  on  the  spade,  judicious,  honest,  patriotic,  sober  men, 
who,  if  it  were  requisite,  and  their  sense  of  moral  duty  went  along 
with  the  war,  would  fly  to  the  standard  of  their  country  at  the 
winding  of  a  horn,  but  who  now  hear  yours  with  the  same  indif- 
ference they  would  have  heard  a  jews-harp  or  a  banjo.'  He  was 
particularly  severe  on  those  in  the  house  who  advised  the  rigid 
prosecution  of  the  war,  by  calling  them  '  young  politicians,  with 
the  pin-feathers  yet  unshed,  the  shell  still  sticking  upon  them; 
perfectly  unfledged,  though  they  fluttered  and  cackled  on  the 
floor ;  who  favored  such  extravagant  and  ignorant  opinions  of  a 
very  proud  nation.'  He  said,  'it  would  ill  become  a  man  whose 
family  had  been  two  centuries  settled  in  the  state,  and  whose 
interests,  connections  and  affections  were  exclusively  American,  to 
shrink  from  his  duty  for  the  yelping  of  those  blood-hound  mon- 
grels who  were  kept  in  pay  to  hunt  down  all  who  opposed  the 
court ;  a  pack  of  mangy  hounds  of  recent  importation  ;  their  backs 
still  sore  with  the  stripes  of  European  castigation,  and  their  necks 
marked  with  the  check  collar.' 

Mr.  Clay  replied  to  him  in  a  speech  of  most  pointed  yet  merited 
rebuke,  and  couched  in  language  that  stung  like  a  scorpion. 
During  the  course  of  his  remarks,  Mr.  Quincy  <pok  occasion  to 
travel  out  of  his  way  to  attack  the  character  of  Mr.  Jefferson.  This 
uncalled  for  and  unexpected  abuse  of  an  aged  ex-president,  a 
p;  triot  living  in  retirement,  Mr.  Clay  thus  notices. 

'  Neither  his  retirement  from  public  office,  his  eminent  services, 


72  LIFE     OF      HENRY     CLAY, 

nor  his  advanced  age.  can  exempt  this  patriot  from  the  coarse 
assaults  of  party  malevolence,  in  1801,  he  snatched  from  the 
rude  hand  of  usurpation  the  violated  constitution  of  his  country, 
and  that  is  his  crime.  He  preserved  that  instrument,  in  form,  and 
substance,  and  spirit,  a  precious  inheritance  for  generations  to 
come,  and  for  this,  he  can  never  be  forgiven.  How  vain  and 
impotent  is  party  rage  directed  against  such  a  man !  He  is  nol 
more  elevated  by  his  lofty  residence  on  the  summit  of  his  own 
favorite  mountain,  than  he  is  lifted  by  the  serenity  of  his  mind, 
and  the  consciousness  of  a  well-spent  life,  above  the  malignant 
passions  and  bitter  feelings  of  the  day.  No  !  his  own  beloved 
Monticello  is  not  less  moved  by  the  storms  that  beat  against  its 
sides,  than  is  this  illustrious  man  by  the  howlings  of  the  whole 
British  pack  set  loose  from  the  Essex  kennel.' 

Speaking  of  the  notoriety  Mr.  Quincy  had  gained  by  attempting  to 
impeach  Mr.  Jefferson  a  few  years  previous,  he  said,  '  the  final  vote 
stood  one  for,  and  one  hundred  and  seventeen  against  the  propo- 
sition ! '  (of  impeachment.)  '  The  same  historic  page  that  transmitted 
to  posterity  the  virtue  and  the  glory  of  Henry  the  Great  of  France, 
for  their  admiration  and  example,  has  preserved  the  infamous 
name  of  the  frantic  assassin  of  that  excellent  monarch.'  Mr.  Clay 
vindicated  most  ably  the  character  of  that  exalted  patriot,  from  the 
foul  aspersions  thus  attempted  to  be  cast  upon  it ;  after  which,  he 
alluded  to  the  vacillating  course  pursued  by  those  opposed  to  the 
administration  party,  in  the  following  language.  '  The  course  of 
that  opposition  by  which  the  administration  of  the  government 
has  been  unremittingly  impeded  for  the  last  twelve  years,  is 
singular,  and  I  believe  unexampled  in  the  history  of  any  country. 
The  administration  has  not  been  forgetful  of  its  solemn  obliga- 
tions. No  art  has  been  left  unessayed,  no  experiment  promis- 
ing a  favorable  result  left  untried,  to  maintain  the  peaceful  relations 
of  the  country.  When  some  six  or  seven  years  ago,  the  affairs  of 
the  nation  assumed  a  threatening  aspect,  a  partial  non-importation 
was  adopted.  As  they  grew  more  alarming  an  embargo  was 
imposed.  It  would  have  accomplished  its  purport,  but  it  was 
sacrificed  on  the  altar  of  conciliation.  Vain  and  fruitless  attempt 
to  propitiate  !  Then  came  along  the  non-intercourse,  and  a  general 
non-importation  followed  in  the  train.  In  the  mean  time,  any 
indications  of  a  return  to  the  public  law  and  the  path  of  justice  on 
the  part  of  either  belligerent,  are  seized  upon  with  avidity  by  the 
administration.  The  arrangement  with  Mr.  Erskine  is  concluded. 
It  is  first  applauded,  and  then  censured  by  the  opposition.  No 
matter  with  what  unfeigned  sincerity,  with  what  real  effort  the 
administration  cultivates  peace,  the  opposition  insist  that  it  alone 
is  culpable  for  every  breach  that  is  made  between  the  two  countries. 
Restriction  after  restriction  has  been  tried.  Negotiation  has  been 
resorted  to  until  further  negotiation  would  have  been  disgraceful. 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  73 

Whilst  these  peaceful  experiments  are  undergoing  a  trial,  what 
is  the  conduct  of  the  opposition  ?  They  are  the  champions  of 
war  —  the  proud,  the  spirited,  the  sole  repository  of  the  nation's 
honor  —  the  men  of  exclusive  vigor  and  energy.  The  adminis- 
tration, on  the  contrary,  is  weak,  feeble,  and  pusillanimous  —  inca- 
pable of  being  kicked  into  a  war.  The  maxim,  '  not  a  cent  for 
tribute,  millions  for  defence,'  is  loudly  proclaimed.  The  opposi- 
tion is  tired,  sick,  disgusted  with  negotiation.  They  want  to 
draw  the  sword  and  avenge  the  nation's  wrongs.  When,  however, 
foreign  nations,  perhaps  emboldened  by  the  very  opposition  here 
made,  refuse  to  listen  to  the  amicable  appeals,  which  have  been 
repeated  and  reiterated  by  the  administration,  to  their  justice  and 
their  interests  —  when,  in  fact,  war  with  one  of  them  has  become 
identified  with  our  existence  and  our  sovereignty,  and  to  abstain 
from  it  was  no  longer  possible,  behold  the  opposition  veering 
round  and  becoming  the  friends  of  peace  and  commerce.  They 
tell  you  of  the  calamities  of  war  —  its  tragical  events  —  the  squan- 
dering away  of  your  resources  —  the  waste  of  the  public  treasure, 
and  the  spilling  of  innocent  blood.  Now  we  see  them  exhibiting 
the  terrific  forms  of  the  roaring  king  of  the  forest.  Now  the 
meekness  and  humility  of  the  lamb.  They  are  for  war  and  no 
restriction  when  the  administration  is  for  peace.  They  are  for 
peace  and  restrictions  when  the  administration  is  for  war.  You 
find  them  tacking  with  every  gale,  displaying  the  colors  of  every 
party  and  of  all  nations,  steady  only  in  one  unalterable  purpose, 
to  steer  if  possible  into  the  haven  of  power.' 

Mr.  Clay's  sentiments  in  relation  to  the  British  system  of  im- 
pressment were  of  the  most  affecting  description,  drawing  tears 
from  the  eyes  of  almost  every  individual  present,  and  concluded 
by  saying,  that '  My  plan  would  be  to  call  out  the  ample  resources 
of  the  country,  give  them  a  judicious  direction,  prosecute  the  war 
with  the  utmost  vigor,  strike  wherever  we  can  reach  the  enemy  at 
sea  or  on  land,  and  negotiate  the  terms  of  a  peace  at  Quebec  or 
Halifax.  We  are  told  that  England  is  a  proud  and  lofty  nation, 
which,  disdaining  to  wait  for  danger,  meets  it  half  way.  Haughty 
as  she  is,  we  once  triumphed  over  her,  and  if  we  do  not  listen  to 
the  counsels  of  timidity  and  despair,  we  shall  again  prevail.  In 
such  a  cause,  with  the  aid  of  Providence,  we  must  come  out  crowned 
with  success  ;  but  if  we  fail,  let  us  fail  like  men  — lash  ourselves  to 
our  gallant  tars,  and  expire  together  in  one  common  struggle, 
fighting  for  free  trade  and  seamen's  rights.' 

A  correct  idea  of  the  effect  produced  it  is  impossible  to  gather 
from  his  reported  speech,  though  in  general  accurately  given. 
Look,  tone,  gesture,  and  manner  contributed  largely  to  its  great- 
ness, —  perhaps  as  much  as  the  '  thoughts  that  breathe  and  words 
that  burn,'  which  in  one  continuous  stream  fell  from  his  eloquent 
lips,  causing  the  hearts  of   his  hearers  to  thrill  alternately  with 

vol.  i.  10 


74  LIFE    -OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

pleasure  and  pain.  It  is  represented  as  having  been  an  exquisite 
specimen  of  grand  eloquence  —  a  felicitous  blending  of  the  beau- 
tiful, pathetic  and  sublime.  He  seemed  to  wave  the  enchanted 
wand  of  the  fabled  magician,  now  spreading  peace  and  quiet,  and 
now  causing  the  most  stormy  emotions  to  swell  the  hearts  of 
those  who  listened  to  him.  The  editor  of  the  National  Intelli- 
gencer says  that  the  pathetic  effect  produced  by  the  appeal  admits 
not  of  description.  Although  the  day  was  extremely  cold,  so  cold 
that  Mr.  Clay,  for  the  only  time  in  his  life,  was  unable  to  keep  him- 
self warm  by  the  exercise  of  speaking,  there  were  few  individuals 
in  the  house  who  did  not  bear  witness  by  their  streaming  eyes  to 
the  orator's  control  over  their  sensibilities.  Members  of  both 
political  parties  — men  whose  patriotic  souls  had  been  sustained  by 
his  eloquence,  and  those  who  had  been  writhing  and  agonizing 
under  his  indignation,  forgot  their  antipathies  and  wept  together. 

Mr.  Clay  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  the  bill,  as  advocated  by 
him,  pass  the  house,  on  the  fourteenth  of  January,  1S13,  by  a  vote 
of  seventy-seven  to  forty-two.  On  the  sixteenth  ( having  passed 
the  senate,)  it  received  the  signature  of  the  president ;  and  thus 
was  taken  another  and  very  important  step  in  carrying  out  that 
system  of  manly  and  bold  resistance  devised  and  introduced  by 
him,  and  which  was  destined  to  redress  all  our  grievances  and 
restore  our  violated  rights. 

On  the  eighteenth  of  February,  congress  proceeded  to  ascertain 
the  result  of  an  election  for  president  and  vice  president,  which 
was  as  follows.  For  president,  James  Madison,  one  hundred  and 
twenty-eight,  De  Witt  Clinton,  eighty-nine.  For  vice  president, 
Elbridge  Gerry,  one  hundred  and  thirty-one,  Jared  Ingersoll, 
eighty-six.  Thus  the  re-election  of  Mr.  Madison  furnished  un- 
doubted evidence  that  the  people,  from  whom  there  is  no  appeal, 
sustained  the  measures  of  war. 

On  the  twenty-fourth  of  May,.  Mr.  Clay  was  elected  speaker  to 
the  house  again,  over  Mr.  Pitkin,  by  a  majority  of  thirty-five,  and 
whenever  an  opportunity  was  afforded  him,  he  mingled  in  the 
discussions  that  were  almost  constantly  agitating  the  house,  in 
reference  to  prosecuting  the  war.  At  the  commencement  of  this, 
the  first  session  of  the  thirteenth  congress,  he  called  the  attention 
of  the  house  to  that  portion  of  the  president's  message  which 
describes  the  manner  in  which  the  British  had  been  waging  war  : 
which  characterized  it  as  '  adding  to  the  savage  fury  of  it  on  one 
frontier,  a  system  of  plunder  and  conflagration  on  ihe  other,  equally 
forbidden  by  respect  for  national  character,  and  by  the  established 
rules  of  civilized  warfare.'  In  a  few  pertinent  remarks,  he  adverted 
to  this  description  embodied  by  the  message,  censuring  somewhat 
severely  the  nation  guilty  of  such  enormities,  and  said,  <  if  they 
should  be  found  to  be  as  public  report  had  stated  them,  they  called 
for  the  indignation  of  all  Christendom,  and  ought  to  be  embodied 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  75 

in  an  authentic  document  which  might  perpetuate  them  on  the 
page  of  history.'  An  investigation  instituted  on  a  motion  of  Mr. 
Clay,  in  reference  to  these,  developed  the  astounding  fact  that  the 
most  barbaric  outrages  were  committed  repeatedly,  on  American 
prisoners,  by  the  savage  allies  of  the  British,  with  their  approval. 
The  indignation  of  the  house  was  aroused  to  a  high  pitch,  on 
learning  the  truth  of  the  report,  which  took  immediate  measures 
for  causing  to  be  laid  before  it  every  instance  of  such  flagrant 
violation  of  the  rules  of  warfare  recognized  by  all  civilized  nations. 

War  had  now  become  the  settled  policy  and  regular  business  of 
the  nation  ;  a  business  which  though  at  first  she  performed  rather 
bunglingly,  was  now  despatched  in  a  more  workmanlike  manner. 
The  plough,  the  spade,  and  the  various  implements  of  husbandry 
and  mechanism,  had  become  partially  forgotten,  by  the  familiarity 
which  had  been  effected  with  the  musket  and  the  sword,  so  that 
greater  skill  was  manifested  in  the  use  of  the  latter,  which  resulted 
in  greater  success  than  accompanied  the  first  attempts  at  their  use. 
York,  the  capital  of  Upper  Canada,  had  fallen  into  our  hands,  and 
five  naval  victories  had  been  achieved.  Indecision  and  timidity 
had  to  a  great  extent  disappeared,  and  a  spirit  of  indomitable  deter- 
mination had  been  made  to  take  their  place,  mainly  through  the 
irresistible  influence  of  Mr.  Clay's  eloquent  appeals.  These  were 
all-powerful,  agitating  the  whole  nation,  paralyzing  opposition,  and 
organizing  and  arraying  the  talent,  influence,  and  means  of  all 
classes,  to  do  battle  to  death,  if  necessary,  in  defence  of  our  pre- 
cious liberties.  A  noble  and  enthusiastic  feeling  was  diffused 
throughout  the  country.  Public  opinion  was  far  and  wide  aroused  in 
favor  of  the  war,  and  its  majestic  roar  shook  down  the  unconsecra- 
ted  temples  of  treason,  and  bared  their  secrets  to  the  light  of  heaven. 
Patriot  answered  aloud  to  patriot  —  the  sentinels  of  freedom  caught 
up  the  watchword  —  from  town  to  town  the  signal  fires  flashed  free, 
and  all  things  proclaimed  that  the  spirit  of  the  country  was  up  for 
glory. 

Both  the  friends  and  foes  of  Mr.  Clay  agree  that  at  this  period 
the  control  he  had  acquired  was  almost  unlimited.  In  the  house 
it  was  probably  equal  to  that  which  he  had  acquired  a  few  years 
previous  in  the  legislature  of  Kentucky.  This  was  always  exer- 
cised in  the  spirit  of  the  greatest  liberality,  and  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  promote  the  public  interests.  Towards  the  close  of  1813, 
negotiations  for  peace  commenced,  at  the  suggestion  of  Alexander, 
the  emperor  of  Russia,  who  proffered  his  mediation  between  the 
two  belligerent  nations.  On  the  part  of  the  United  States,  his 
proffer  was  favorably  received,  and  a  willingness  manifested  to 
accede  to  it,  accompanied  with  expressions  of  regret  that  the  com- 
mercial interests  of  Russia  should  be  infringed  or  endangered  in 
any  way  by  her  collision  with  Great  Britain.  This  was  first  for- 
mally made  at  Washington,  by  the  Russian  minister,  M.  Dasch- 


76  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

koff,  as  early  as  March  of  the  same  year,  and  eagerly  embraced  by 
the  president.  It  had,  however,  several  months  previous,  been 
hinted  to  Mr.  Adams,  our  minister  at  St.  Petersburgh,  by  the 
emperor  himself,  who  manifested  great  desire  that  hostilities  should 
cease.  On  the  part  of  Great  Britain  his  pacific  proposition  was 
rejected,  who  alleged  that  the  peculiar  nature  of  her  domestic  and 
naval  regulations  rendered  incompatible  its  acceptance,  but  declared 
her  perfect  willingness  to  treat  with  the  American  envoys,  either  at 
London,  or  Paris,  or  indeed  at  any  convenient  place  selected  by 
the  two  powers.  This  proposal  was  accepted,  and  the  preliminary 
steps  taken  to  accomplish  the  object  proposed.  Messrs.  Albert 
Gallatin  and  James  A.  Bayard  were  selected  as  two  of  the  com- 
missioners for  the  United  States,  and  directed  to  repair  without 
delay  and  join  Mr.  J.  Q.  Adams,  at  St.  Petersburgh,  there  to  await 
the  further  action  of  government. 

A  short  time  after,  a  proposal  from  the  English  ministry  to  nego- 
tiate with  us  at  Gottingen  was  accepted,  and  Messrs.  Clay  and 
Jonathan  Russell  were  selected  commissioners,  who,  in  connection 
with  the  three  in  Russia,  were  invested  with  full  power  to  treat 
with  lord  Gambier,  Henry  Goulborne,  and  William  Adamos, 
commissioners  on  the  part  of  the  British  government. 

Although  Gottingen  had  been  first  agreed  upon  as  the  city 
where  to  conduct  the  negotiation,  subsequently  it  was  determined 
that  Ghent  should  be  the  place.  The  sixth  of  August,  1814,  found 
the  plenipotentiaries  of  both  nations  (except  Mr.  Gallatin,  who 
joined  them  soon  after,)  at  the  latter  city,  ready  to  proceed  with 
their  legitimate  business.  They  commenced  by  a  mutual  inter- 
change of  kind  feeling,  evincing  a  disposition  to  approach  the 
subject  in  the  true  spirit  of  conciliation,  and  to  frame  their  stipula- 
tions so  as  to  subserve  the  interests  of  the  powers  they  represented. 
In  consequence  of  the  proximity  of  the  British  ministers  to  their 
government,  they  enjoyed  a  superior  advantage  over  the  American 
commissioners,  of  which  they  availed  themselves  freely,  for  when- 
ever they  received  from  the  latter  a  note  of  any  importance,  it  was 
directly  sent  to  London,  where  its  contents  were  carefully  scruti- 
nized by  the  English  ministry,  who  prepared  and  sent  back  an 
answer  containing  instructions,  w^hich  were  to  govern  their  actions 
ill  relation  to  it.  This  mode  of  procedure  adopted  by  them,  greatly 
retarded  the  negotiation,  while  the  remoteness  of  the  American 
negotiators  from  their  government,  made  it  impossible  for  them  to 
resort  to  a  similar  method.  The  plan  which  they  adopted  on 
receiving  a  communication  from  the  former,  was  to  consider  its 
contents  deliberately,  and  with  great  circumspection ;  after  which 
it  was  committed  to  the  care  of  one  of  their  number  deputed  to 
prepare  an  answer.  This  underwent  a  rigid  examination,  when 
each  member  considered  it  in  private,  making  such  alterations  as 
he  deemed  proper.     Afterwards  they  all  assembled  and  subjected 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  77 

them  to  a  thorough  scrutiny,  which  terminated  in  their  adoption  or 
rejection.  Their  proceedings  in  detail  were  never  reported,  so  that 
it  is  impossible  to  state  to  what  extent  they  were  influenced  by 
each  member  of  the  diplomacy,  but  it  is  matter  of  general  credence 
that  Mr.  Clay,  in  their  joint  colloquial  meetings,  bore  a  prominent 
part  and  exercised  a  controlling  power  over  the  character  of  the 
stipulations.  It  is  understood  that  Mr.  Gallatin  drew  up  more 
official  communications  than  any  one  of  his  associates,  that  Mr. 
Adams  ranked  next,  and  Mr.  Clay  next.  The  various  papers  pre- 
pared by  these  gentlemen  during  the  period  of  their  negotiation, 
which  continued  about  five  months,  furnish  some  of  the  finest 
specimens  of  English  composition.  For  purity  of  diction,  terse- 
ness of  style,  happy  illustration,  and  logical  construction,  they  will 
not  suffer  in  comparison  with  the  best  political  disquisitions  in  the 
English  language. 

The  favorable  indications  which  appeared  at  the  commencement 
of  the  negotiation,  soon  gave  place  to  those  of  a  different  charac- 
ter. The  tone  of  the  British  commissioners,  in  laying  the  founda- 
tion of  the  treaty,  soon  became  so  dictatorial  as  almost  to  preclude 
the  possibility  of  proceeding  with  it.  In  enumerating  the  various 
subjects  which  they  designed  to  review  and  determine,  besides  the 
seizure  of  mariners  from  merchantmen  on  the  high  seas,  boundary 
line,  and  the  privileges  heretofore  enjoyed  by  the  United  States  in 
carrying  on  their  fisheries  within  the  limits  of  British  jurisdiction, 
they  declared  as  a  sine  qua  non  to  the  completion  of  the  treaty, 
that  it  must  embrace  provisions  for  rendering  pacific  the  various 
Indian  tribes  within  our  borders,  for  settling  their  boundaries  by 
a  specific  treaty  with  Great  Britain,  and  that  the  right  to  purchase 
their  lands  without  her  consent  must  be  unconditionally  ceded. 
On  such  grounds  the  American  commissioners  unhesitatingly  and 
unanimously  refused  to  advance.  The  overbearing  and  haughty 
pretensions  and  arbitrary  demands  thus  set  up  and  insisted  on 
at  the  very  outset,  seemed  to  interpose  an  insurmountable  barrier 
towards  effecting  an  amicable  and  honorable  arrangement  with 
our  foe.  Not  only  did  she  by  prescription  unadvised  with  us, 
exhibit  an  intention  to  have  it  all  in  her  own  way,  but  she  avowed 
her  design  to  obtain  the  control  of  certain  islands  in  Passama- 
quoddy  Bay,  over  which  our  right  of  jurisdiction  had  not  been 
questioned  up  to  that  time,  and  to  cause  us  to  agree  not  to  keep 
any  naval  force  on  the  lakes,  nor  garrison  soldiers  on  their  eastern 
shores.  The  thought  of  submitting  for  a  moment  to  such  obnox- 
ious exactions  and  requisitions  could  not  be  tolerated,  and  the 
American  commissioners  peremptorily  informed  them  that  nego- 
tiation under  such  circumstances  was  entirely  out  of  the  question, 
and  that  an  unqualified  abandonment  of  the  objectionable  portion 
of  their  demands  must  be  complied  with,  before  their  consent  to 
proceed  another  step  in  the  business  could  be  obtained.     They 


78  LIFEOFHENRYCLAY. 

saw  it  was  requisite  to  be  thus  decided,  in  order  to  put  an  early 
and  effectual  stop  to  such  unwarrantable  assumptions  and  encroach- 
ments, which,  if  quietly  submitted  to,  they  clearly  foresaw  (  by  their 
maintaining  a  right  to  '  vary  and  regulate  their  demands,' )  would 
be  indefinitely  extended.  In  their  first  despatches  to  Washington, 
therefore,  instead  of  holding  out  any  encouragement  of  success, 
they  stated  that  there  was  no  '  hope  of  peace.'  Immediately  alter 
their  arrival,  they  were  spread  before  the  people  by  the  public  jour- 
nalists, whose  indignation  was  greatly  augmented,  on  becoming 
acquainted  with  treatment  ostensibly  given  for  the  purpose  of 
consummating  a  treaty  of  peace  on  grounds  of  mutual  reciprocity, 
but  which  in  reality  recognized  the  nation  with  whom  it  was  to  be 
effected,  as  enslaved  rather  than  free.  The  demands  of  England 
were  characterized  as  '  arrogant,  insulting  to  the  United  States, 
meriting  instantaneous  rejection,  and  demanding  the  united  exer- 
tions of  every  citizen  of  these  states,  in  the  vigorous  prosecution 
of  the  war  until  it  shall  be  terminated  in  a  just  and  honorable 
peace.' 

The  publication  of  their  despatches  was  not  anticipated  by  our 
commissioners,  and  great  was  their  astonishment  on  perusing  them 
in  the  newspapers  at  Ghent.  Their  fears  were  excited  lest  it 
should  have  an  unfavorable  bearing  on  the  negotiations,  if  it  did 
not  put  an  abrupt  period  to  them.  The  English  negotiators 
maintained  a  guarded  silence  on  the  subject.  Mr.  Clay  being 
solicitous  to  ascertain  their  opinions  in  relation  thereto,  addressed 
them,  beginning  with  lord  Gambier,  whom  he  accosted  by  saying, 
'you  perceive,  my  lord,  that  our  government  has  published  our 
despatches,  and  that  now  the  whole  world  knows  what  we  are 
doing  here.'  l  Yes,'  said  he,  '  I  have  seen  it  with  infinite  surprise, 
and  the  proceeding  is  without  example  in  the  civilized  world.' 
1  Why,  my  lord,'  said  Mr.  Clay,  mildly,  '  you  must  recollect  that  at 
the  time  of  the  publication  of  those  despatches,  our  government 
had  every  reason  to  suppose,  from  the  nature  of  the  pretensions 
and  demands  which  yours  brought  forward,  that  our  negotiation 
would  not  terminate  successfully,  and  that  the  publication  would 
not  find  us  here  together.  I  am  quite  sure  that  if  our  government 
had  anticipated  the  present  favorable  aspect  of  our  deliberations, 
the  publication  of  the  despatches  would  not  have  been  ordered. 
Then  your  lordship  must  also  recollect,  that  if,  as  you  truly 
asserted,  the  publication  of  despatches  pending  a  negotiation  is  not 
according  to  the  custom  of  European  diplomacy,  our  govern- 
ment is  organized  on  principles  totally  different  from  those  on  which 
European  governments  are  constituted.  With  us,  the  business  in 
which  we  are  here  engaged  is  the  people's  business.  We  are 
their  servants,  and  they  have  a  right  to  know  how  their  business  is 
going  on.  The  publication,  therefore,  was  to  give  the  people 
information  of  what  ultimately  affected  them ' 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  79 

Although  unable  to  controvert  this  explanation  by  Mr.  Clay,  of 
the  reasons  for  publishing  the  official  papers  relative  to  the  nego- 
tiation, he  expressed  himself  not  perfectly  satisfied  with  it,  and  his 
opinion  was  concurred  in  by  his  colleagues.  However,  the 
injurious  consequences  apprehended  from  their  publication  were 
not  experienced,  and  the  business  of  the  treaty  proceeded  as  if  it 
had  not  been  made. 

Mr.  Clay  reciprocated  an  act  of  kindness  of  Mr.  Goulborne, 
who  had  sent  him  a  British  periodical  containing  an  account  of 
the  taking  of  Washington  by  the  arms  of  his  nation,  by  sending 
to  him  some  American  papers  which  he  had  recently  received, 
describing  a  splendid  victory  won  on  lake  Champlain  or  lake 
Erie,  by  the  navy  of  his  country  over  that  of  the  British. 

After  the  receipt  of  such  unpleasant  intelligence  from  Ghent, 
it.  was  resolved  that  redoubled  energy  should  be  put  forth  in  push- 
ing forward  the  war,  which  caused  the  noble  feats  of  our  gallant 
navy  and  army  to  be  greatly  multiplied.  At  Plattsburgh, 
Chippewa,  and  many  other  places,  victory  perched  upon  our 
banner.  The  hearts  of  our  hardy  sailors  gathered  fresh  strength, 
whose  .successful  attempts  in  annoying  the  enemy  by  capturing 
his  trading  vessels,  caused  the  most  bitter  lamentations  throughout 
his  realm,  and  underwriters  to  advance  their  rates  of  insurance 
between  England  and  Ireland  from  three-fourths  of  one  to  five 
per  cent.  The  determined  spirit  thus  evinced  by  us,  Great  Britain 
correctly  attributed  to  the  arbitrarily  assumptive  course  which  she 
attempted  to  pursue  in  conducting  the  negotiations  at  Ghent ;  a 
spirit  which  she  had  the  sagacity  to  discover  would  never  brook 
the  slightest  shade  of  vassalage,  or  permit  the  acceptance  of 
dishonorable  terms,  and  also  the  wisdom  to  avert  the  destructive 
consequences  which  her  varied  and  wide-spread  interests  would 
certainly  sustain  from  the  aggressions  of  those  actuated  by  it,  in 
speedily  removing  the  causes  by  which  it  was  aroused.  A  recession 
was  immediately  made,  not  only  by  the  British  ministers,  who 
reduced  their  sine  qua  non  so  as  to  require  only  the  effection  of 
Indian  pacification,  but  by  the  public  journalists  in  both  England 
and  her  provinces.  They  spoke  in  more  respectful  terms  of  the 
United  States,  and  abated  to  a  good  extent  their  domineering 
attempts.  Still  some  of  the  objectionable  terms  proposed  at  first 
as  the  basis  of  an  arrangement,  were  adhered  to.  The  cession  of 
such  a  portion  of  our  territory  as  should  secure  a  permanent  and 
safe  communication  to  England  between  Quebec  and  Halifax,  was 
required  pertinaciously.  The  American  commissioners  assumed 
the  responsibility,  at  the  risk  of  breaking  off  the  negotiation, 
of  rejecting  such  terms,  and  indeed  all  that  did  not  come  within 
the  limit  of  their  instructions,  by  informing  the  English  commis- 
sioners, that  it  was  perfectly  fruitless,  besides  a  waste  of  time,  to 
bring  forward   and  attempt  to   connect  with  the  treaty,  subjects 


80  LIFE     OF     HENRY      CLAY. 

respecting  which  they  were  not  empowered  to  negotiate ;  subjects 
which  were  many  of  them  foreign  to  their  purpose,  had  no  natural 
relation  to  it,  and  which  if  desirable  might  be  definitely  settled  by 
subsequent  negotiation,  without  being  made  a  party  to  their 
present  proposed  arrangement.  They  affirmed  that  they  had  ?  no 
relation  to  the  subsisting  differences  between  the  two  countries  ; 
they  are  inconsistent  with  acknowledged  principles  of  public 
law ;  they  are  founded  neither  on  reciprocity  nor  on  any  of  the 
usual  bases  of  negotiation,  neither  on  that  of  the  uti  possidetis  or 
of  status  ante  bellum ;  they  would  inflict  the  most  vital  injury  on 
the  United  States  by  dismembering  their  territory,  by  arresting 
their  natural  growth  and  increase  of  population,  and  by  leaving 
their  northern  and  western  frontiers  equally  exposed  to  British 
invasion  and  Indian  aggression  ;  they  are  above  all  dishonorable 
to  the  United  States,  in  demanding  from  them  to  abandon  territory 
and  a  portion  of  their  citizens,  to  admit  a  foreign  interference  in 
their  domestic  concerns,  and  to  cease  to  exercise  their  natural 
rights  on  their  own  shores  and  in  their  own  waters.  A  treaty 
concluded  on  such  terms  would  be  but  an  armistice.  It  cannot 
be  supposed  that  America  would  long  submit  to  conditions  so 
injurious  and  degrading.  It  is  impossible,  in  the  natural  course  of 
events,  that  she  should  not,  at  the  first  favorable  opportunity,  recur 
to  arms  for  the  recovery  of  her  territory,  of  her  rights,  and  her 
honor.  Instead  of  settling  existing  difficulties,  such  a  peace  would 
only  create  new  causes  of  war,  sow  the  seeds  of  permanent 
hatred,  and  lay  the  foundation  of  hostilities  for  an  indefinite  period. 
It  is  not  necessary  to  refer  such  demands  to  the  American  govern- 
ment for  its  instruction.  They  will  be  only  a  fit  subject  of 
deliberation  when  it  becomes  necessary  to  decide  upon  the  expe- 
diency of  an  absolute  surrender  of  national  independence.' 

There  was  no  mistaking  the  meaning  of  such  language,  respect- 
ful but  pungent,  expressing  perspicuously  the  true  principles  of 
diplomatic  action.  Although  it  was  self-evident  that  the  spirit 
which  dictated  such  sentiments  as  that  communication  contained, 
would  not  allow  any  truckling  or  swerving,  still  the  British  nego- 
tiators appeared  determined  to  persevere  until  they  accomplished 
what  from  the  very  commencement  seemed  to  be  to  them  a 
favorite  feature  in  the  treaty,  viz :  the  exposure  of  our  whole  north- 
ern frontier  to  the  mercy  of  their  nation.  She  found  that  the 
Indian  hordes  could  be  advantageously  employed  by  her,  indeed 
she  had  already  employed  them  to  such  an  extent  as  to  give,  so  far 
as  she  was  concerned,  a  most  truculent  aspect  to  the  war ;  hence 
the  invincible  determination  manifested  by  her  legalized  commis- 
sioners, to  have  the  treaty  so  framed  as  to  secure  to  her  their  abso- 
lute control.  This  disposition  was  regarded  by  the  American 
commissioners  with  feelings  not  only  of  regret,  but  of  horror,  who 
protested  against  '  the  employment  of  savages,  whose  known  rule 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  81 

of  warfare  is  the  indiscriminate  torture  and  butchery  of  women, 
children,  and  prisoners,'  as  constituting  '  a  departure  from  the 
principles  of  humanity  observed  between  all  civilized  and  chris- 
tian nations  even  in  war.'  They  stated  that  instead  of  endeavoring 
to  effect  that  control,  it  would  be  much  more  comportable  with  the 
dignity  and  grandeur  of  the  British  nation  to  abandon  forever  the 
barbarous  practice,  and  to  stipulate  with  America  to  that  purpose 
in  case  of  waging  any  future  war  with  her.  They  would  not 
recede  an  inch  from  the  ground  which  they  had  taken,  in  relation 
to  the  Indians  and  northern  frontier.  After  directing  their  com- 
bined diplomatic  artillery  against  them  for  the  space  of  several 
weeks  incessantly,  to  drive  them  from  it,  but  without  the  slightest 
success,  the  British  diplomatists  finally  abandoned  it.  Soon  after, 
the  American  commissioners  proposed  to  guaranty  the  pacification 
of  the  Indians  when  the  treaty  should  be  ratified,  and  expressed 
their  unaltered  determination  to  treat  upon  no  subjects  respecting 
which  they  had  received  no  instructions.  To  this  their  opponents 
acceded,  and  the  negotiation  proceeded,  the  American  commis- 
sioners dictating  nearly  all  the  terms,  and  finally  issued  in  the  pro- 
duction of  a  treaty,  on  the  twenty-fourth  of  December,  1814. 

Throughout  the  negotiation  the  utmost  unanimity  prevailed 
among  our  ministers,  and  never  was  there  a  difference  of  opinion, 
except  in  one  instance.  This  related  to  certain  fishery  privileges, 
and  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  river. 

In  a  treaty  of  peace  concluded  in  1783,  between  Great  Britain 
and  the  United  States,  it  was  stipulated  that  the  latter  should  enjoy 
the  liberty  of  taking  fish  of  every  kind  on  all  the  banks  of  New- 
foundland, Grand  Bank,  gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  and  in  all  other 
places  where  the  inhabitants  of  both  countries  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  fish  —  that  the  same  should  be  enjoyed  on  all  the  coasts, 
bays  and  creeks  of  his  Britannic  majesty's  dominions  in  America ; 
that  she  should  have  full  permission  to  dry  and  cure  fish  in  the 
unsettled  bays,  &c.  of  Nova  Scotia,  Magdalen  Islands,  and  Lab- 
rador, so  long  as  they  should  remain  unsettled,  but  that  after  they 
were  settled,  such  permission  must  be  sanctioned  by  their  occu- 
pants ;  and  also  that  the  Mississippi  river  should  be  open  forever  to 
the  navigation  of  both  nations,  from  its  mouth  to  its  source.  The 
latter  stipulation  was  included  in  a  treaty  negotiated  by  Mr.  Jay, 
in  1794. 

The  United  States,  anticipating  that,  the  subjects  of  the  fisheries 
and  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  would  be  brought  forward  by 
the  British  government,  had  directed  the  secretary  of  state,  Mr. 
Monroe,  to  give  her  commissioners  special  instructions  relative  to 
them.  He  accordingly  authorized  them,  in  case  she  should  require 
the  United  States  to  relinquish  her  fishing  privileges,  to  treat  the 
requisition  as  it  deserved.  They  were  given  to  understand  that 
these  privileges  must  not  be  brought  into  the  discussion,  and  that, 

VOL.  I.         i  11 


82  LIFE     OF     HENBY     CLAY. 

if  insisted  on,  their  negotiations  must  terminate.  He  instructed 
them  not  to  grant  to  Great  Britain  the  right  to  navigate  any  river 
within  the  exclusive  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States. 

At  an  early  stage  of  the  negotiation,  it  had  been  intimated  to 
the  American  commissioners  by  the  British,  that  the  privilege  in 
question  would  not  be  renewed,  unless  the  United  States  offered 
something  to  Great  Britain  which  should  be  deemed  an  ample 
equivalent.  The  subject  of  this  equivalent  caused  the  difference 
of  opinions  to  which  allusion  has  been  made.  Mr.  Adams 
contended  that  no  equivalent  could  or  ought  to  be  demanded  for 
the  right  of  fishing  stipulated  in  the  treaty  of  1783.  He  did  not 
believe  with  his  colleagues,  that  the  article  in  that  treaty,  relating 
to  this  right,  expired  at  the  commencement  of  the  war,  but 
contended  that  it  had  survived  the  war,  and  that  therefore  it  was 
absurd  to  treat  concerning  the  renewal  of  a  right,  of  which  they 
were  then  in  the  legitimate  possession.  The  great  importance  of 
preserving  this  right  unabridged  was  felt  by  all.  Mr.  Gallatin 
went  so  far  as  to  propose  to  permit  Great  Britain  to  exercise  the 
right  of  navigating  the  Mississippi  as  an  equivalent  for  that  of 
fishing  in  the  waters  within  her  jurisdiction.  After  a  warm 
debate,  Messrs.  Adams,  Gallatin  and  Bayard  declared  themselves 
in  favor  of  doing  so,  and  Messrs.  Clay  and  Russell  opposed.  Mr. 
Clay  then  affirmed,  that  his  signature  should  not  be  appended  to 
a  treaty  including  such  a  proposition,  who  was  joined  soon  after 
by  Mr.  Bayard,  and  consequently  it  was  not  included.  A  most 
animated  discussion  ensued,  in  which  Mr.  Clay  demonstrated  the 
impolicy  of  extending  such  a  privilege  to  Great  Britain,  contended 
that  America  ought  to  come  out  of  the  war  in  the  uinimpaired 
possession  of  all  the  rights  and  privileges  which  she  enjoyed 
prior  to  its  commencement,  and  that  the  right  of  discussing  the 
question  of  the  fisheries  did  not  come  within  the  purview  of  their 
instructions.  In  regard  to  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi,  a 
mere  glance  at  its  unlimited  connections  and  dependencies,  the 
vast  advantage  which  an  easy  access  to  them  would  confer, 
rendered  no  deliberation  requisite  in  deciding  upon  granting  a 
right  to  it  to  Great  Britain.  It  would  be  almost  tantamount  to 
placing  in  her  hands  a  tube  communicating  with  the  very  vitals 
of  the  republic,  through  which  she  could  suck  its  life  blood;  it 
would  give  her  unbounded  facilities  for  employing  against  us  the 
numerous  tribes  of  Indians  at  the  north  west,  of  which  she 
would  doubtless  with  avidity  avail  herself,  and  greatly  to  our 
detriment,  and  thus  jeopard  the  great  and  growing  interests  of 
the  whole  west.  As  it  respected  the  right  which  she  imagined 
she  possessed  in  virtue  of  the  treaties  of  1783  and  1794,  Mr.  Clay 
contended  that  the  grounds  upon  which  it  was  based  were  suppo- 
sititious, and  that  therefore  it  could  not  be  valid  ;  that  at  the  dates 
of  those  treaties,  it  was  supposed  that  the  law  of  nations  would 


LIFE    OF     HENRY     CLAY,  83 

entitle  her  to  the  right,  inasmuch  as  it  was  believed  that  her 
dominions  bordered  on  the  Upper  Mississippi,  and  that  this 
supposed  bordering  of  her  territory  on  the  river,  was  the  principal 
reason  adduced  in  stipulating  for  the  right  of  its  navigation  ;  that 
now  since  it  was  certainly  determined  and  known,  that  such  was 
not  the  fact,  she  possessed  no  natural  grounds  on  which  to  found 
the  right :  that  Spain  at  the  date  of  those  treaties  owned  the  entire 
western  bank  of  the  river  from  its  mouth  to  its  source,  and  conse- 
quently possessed  an  equal  interest  with  the  United  States  in  its  navi- 
gation, who  could  not,  therefore,  convey  to  a  third  party  that  interest, 
or  any  portion  of  it,  unsanctioned  by  the  former ;  that  in  1803, 
by  purchase,  the  United  States  became  possessed  of  the  entire 
Spanish  interest,  which  placed  her  upon  different  grounds  from 
those  on  which  she  stood  in  1783  and  1794.  Besides,  Mr.  Clay 
argued,  what  connection  is  there  between  the  fishing  privilege,  and 
the  right  of  navigating  the  Mississippi?  The  treaties  showed 
none,  their  nature  none.  "Why  select  as  the  equivalent  for  the 
privilege,  the  Mississippi  ?  Why  not  barter  the  Potomac,  or  the 
Hudson  for  it?  There  was  something  calculated  to  excite 
suspicion  in  this  attempt  of  our  powerful  enemy  to  introduce  her 
invincible  navy  to  the  '  father  of  rivers.'  It  looked  like  feeling  for 
the  purse-strings  of  the  nation.  He  would  as  soon  yield  a  portion 
of  her  blood-bought  territory,  as  this  noblest  of  her  streams,  to 
become  the  resort  of  the  British  lion,  where  he  might  make  his 
permanent  lair,  and  eventually  place  his  huge  paw  upon  the  crest 
of  her  eagle.  Though  as  anxious  as  his  colleagues  possibly 
could  be  for  the  preservation  of  their  fishing  privileges,  he  could 
not  consent  to  effect  it  by  a  purchase  so  expensive  as  that 
proposed.  Thus  Mr.  Clay  remained  immovably  determined  to 
act  in  accordance  with  his  convictions  of  duty  in  consulting 
the  interests  of  that  nation  which  he  represented.  The  value  of 
those  interests,  undoubtedly  secured  by  the  decided  position  which 
he  assumed  and  maintained,  is  of  such  magnitude  as  to  be 
inappreciable ;  they  constitute  a  corner  stone  of  the  temple  of 
liberty,  destined  to  abide  as  long  as  she  shall  make  it  her  abode. 

Subsequently  to  the  British  ministers'  becoming  acquainted  with 
the  conclusion  of  the  American  commissioners,  respecting  the 
exchange,  they,  in  a  counter  project  of  a  treaty,  submitted  to  the 
latter,  proposed  among  other  articles  one  to  renew  the  right  of  nav- 
igation in  question,  without  any  equivalent.  After  much  delibera- 
tion this  was  rejected.  Finally,  it  was  mutually  agreed  by  both 
parties  to  refrain  from  inserting  any  article  in  the  treaty,  relating 
either  to  the  fisheries  or  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi.  Thus 
the  pride  of  the  west  and  the  glory  of  America  was  suffered  to 
roll  his  majestic  tide  in  beauty  and  grandeur  to  the  ocean,  unbur- 
thened  by  foreign  vessels  and  unfettered  by  regal  sway. 

Several  years  afterwards,  Mr.  Clay  became  involved  in  an  un- 


84  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

pleasant  controversy  between  Messrs.  Russell  and  Adams,  which 
originated  from  something  connected  with  their  negotiations  at 
Ghent.  On  the  day  next  subsequent  to  the  signing  of  the  treaty, 
the  commissioners  drew  up  a  sketch  of  their  discussions  in  relation 
to  the  difference  of  opinion  among  them,  concerning  complying 
with  the  demands  of  the  British  commissioners,  which  represented 
the  offer  of  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  as  made  by  a  major- 
ity of  the  American  plenipotentiaries.  At  the  same  time,  Mr. 
Russell  communicated  to  Mr.  Monroe  the  fact  of  his  being  in  the 
minority  in  that  offer,  and  declared  his  intention  of  submitting  his 
reasons  for  disagreeing  with  his  associates,  at  a  future  convenient 
period,  which  he  subsequently  carried  into  effect.  These  papers 
were  deposited  among  the  documents  of  the  nation,  where  they 
remained  till  1822,  when  they  were  placed  before  the  house  of 
representatives,  at  its  request,  by  the  president,  together  with  a  pri- 
vate communication  from  Mr.  Russell,  purporting  to  be  a  duplicate 
of  one  found  among  the  private  papers  of  the  president.  A  state- 
ment was  made  by  each  of  these  letters,  between  which  there  was 
a  discrepancy,  which  caused  Mr.  Adams  to  reprimand  Mr.  Russell 
severely,  through  the  medium  of  the  press.  Mr.  Clay  addressed  a 
letter  to  Mr.  Russell  designed  to  be  private,  in  which  he  signified 
his  acquiescence  in  the  reprimand,  and  also  gave  a  concise  state- 
ment of  their  debates  connected  with  their  disagreement.  It 
appeared  that  Mr.  Adams  was  laboring  under  the  impression  that 
Mr.  Clay  coincided  with  him  in  construing  the  treaties  of  1783 
and  1794,  or  that  part  of  them  referring  to  the  fisheries  and  Missis- 
sippi, from  the  fact  of  his  signature  being  attached  to  the  commu- 
nication of  the  American  to  the  British  commissioners,  embodying 
the  views  of  the  former  in  relation  to  them.  Mr.  Clay  corrected 
that  impression  by  declaring  that  he  had  not  concurred  with  him. 
He  stated  that  his  object  in  advising  the  insertion  of  the  words  i  a 
majority]  in  the  despatch  to  the  secretary  of  state,  was  to  announce 
to  his  government  the  fact  of  a  division  among  them,  and  with  the 
view  of  concealing  it  from  the  power  with  whom  they  were  treat- 
ing, he  appended  his  signature  to  the  communication.  The  dispute 
was  maintained  some  time  between  Messrs.  Russell  and  Mr. 
Adams,  and  with  great  acrimony,  but  no  impeachment  of  Mr. 
Clay's  conduct  or  motives  was  attempted  by  either.  Both  awarded 
to  him  the  honor  of  having  acted  well  his  part,  in  bringing  to  so 
felicitous  a  consummation  the  treaty  of  peace. 

Immediately  after  the  close  of  the  negotiation,  Mr.  Clay  repaired 
to  Paris,  having  resolved  not  to  visit  England  until  he  learned  the 
ratification  of  the  treaty.  At  the  request  of  Mr.  Crawford,  our 
minister  at  Paris,  he  took  lodgings  in  his  hotel,  where  he  found  an 
invitation  to  a  ball,  given  by  Mr.  Hottinguor,  the  American  banker, 
in  honor  of  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty.  There  he  was  introduced 
to  the  celebrated  madame  de  Stael,  and  had  a  pleasant  interview 
with  her. 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY,  85 

She  informed  him  that  she  had  recently  visited  England,  and 
had  openly  espoused  the  cause  of  the  United  States  there, 
remarking  that  the  British  were  greatly  exasperated  against  them, 
and  entertained  serious  intentions  of  despatching  the  duke  of 
Wellington  at  the  head  of  their  armies,  for  the  purpose  of  inflicting 
proper,  and  as  they  thought  well  merited  chastisement  upon  them. 
He  politely  thanked  her  for  the  interest  she  had  manifested  in 
behalf  o?  his  country,  at  the  same  time  expressing  his  regret  that 
England  had  not  carried  out  her  intentions.  '  Why  ? '  said  she. 
1  Because,  madame,  if  he  had  beaten  us,  we  should  only  have 
been  in  the  condition  of  Europe,  without  disgrace.  But  if  we 
had  been  so  fortunate  as  to  defeat  him,  we  should  have  greatly 
added  to  the  renown  of  our  arms.' 

He  afterwards  met  her  at  a  select  coterie  at  her  own  dwelling, 
where  he  found  the  marshals  of  France,  duke  of  Wellington,  and 
many  other  persons  of  rank.  On  introducing  Mr.  Clay  to  the 
duke,  madame  de  Stael  repeated  the  above  anecdote.  He  replied 
promptly  and  gracefully,  that  had  he  been  so  fortunate  in  the 
execution  of  such  a  commission  as  to  triumph  over  a  foe  evincing 
as  much  bravery  as  the  Americans  had,  he  should  regard  it  as  a 
greater  honor  than  the  most  brilliant  victory  he  had  ever  achieved. 

Mr.  Clay  tarried  at  the  French  metropolis  two  months,  during 
which  time  news  of  the  glorious  victory  at  New  Orleans  was 
communicated  to  him,  whereupon  he  was  heard  to  remark,  '  now 
I  can  go  to  England  without  mortification.'  He  expressed,  how- 
ever, much  chagrin  at  the  reported  flight  of  a  body  of  Kentucky 
militia  from  the  field  of  battle  on  that  occasion,  but  declared  his 
belief,  from  a  personal  acquaintance  with  their  bravery,  that  it 
must  be  false. 

Soon  after,  he  went  to  England,  where  the  treaty  had  been 
ratified  formally,  a  few  days  previous  to  his  leaving  Paris.  In 
England  he  received  the  most  marked  attention,  and  formed  many 
valuable  acquaintances,  which  subsequently  proved  a  source  of 
pleasure  and  profit  to  him.  He  won  the  esteem  of  lord  Castle- 
reagh,  who  treated  him  with  particular  politeness,  offering  to 
present  him  to  the  prince  regent,  which  Mr.  Clay  civilly  declined, 
in  consequence  of  his  unwillingness  to  submit  to  the  courtly 
formalities  of  such  an  introduction. 

Several  days  had  elapsed,  when  he  was  informed  by  his  host 
that  an  individual  desired  to  speak  with  him.  Mr.  Clay  requested 
that  he  might  be  admitted,  who  accordingly  was,  who  proved  to 
be  a  person  splendidly  dressed,  and,  refusing  to  be  seated  at  Mr. 
Clay's  request,  announced  himself  as  the  first  waiter  of  my  lord 
Castlereag-h  !  i  Indeed  ! '  replied  Mr.  Clay,  '  what  is  your  pleasure 
with  me  ?  '  '  Why,  if  your  excellency  pleases,'  said  the  man,  '  it 
is  usual  for  a  foreign  minister  when  he  is  presented  to  lord 
Castlereagh  to  make  to  his  first  waiter  a  present,  or  pay  the  custom- 


86  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

ary  stipend ; '  at  the  same  time  presenting  him  with  a  catalogue  of 
names  of  foreign  ministers,  with  the  amount  that  each  had  paid 
him  placed  opposite  his  name. 

Mr.  Clay,  believing  it  a  vile  attempt  to  extort  money  from  him, 
endeavored  to  get  rid  of  him  in  the  easiest  way  possible,  by 
saying  that  he  was  not  the  minister  to  England ;  that  Air.  Adams, 
who  was,  would  probably  soon  arrive  from  Paris,  who  would 
doubtless  comply  with  the  custom  of  the  country  in  that  respect. 
The  servant,  not  being  inclined  to  release  him  so  easily,  quickly 
replied,  that  it  was  immaterial  whether  he  was  a  resident  or  special 
minister.  Mr.  Clay  thought  finally  that  the  most  effectual  way 
to  release  himself,  was  to  comply  with  his  demand,  and  presented 
him  a  small  sum. 

While  he  was  at  London  the  battle  of  Waterloo  was  fought, 
and  he  witnessed  the  public  rejoicings  on  account  of  its  favorable 
termination  to  the  British.  He  was  one  day  dining  at  lord 
Castlereagh's  house  in  company  with  many  of  the  nobility,  when 
the  conversation  turned  on  the  late  victory,  and  the  whereabouts  of 
Napoleon,  as  it  was  not  known  where  he  had  gone.  Some 
intimated  that  he  had  sailed  for  America.  '  If  he  goes  there,' 
said  lord  Liverpool  to  Mr.  Clay,  'will  he  not  give  you  much 
trouble  ? '  *  None  whatever,'  instantly  replied  Mr.  Clay,  l  we  shall 
be  glad  to  receive  such  a  distinguished,  though  unfortunate  exile, 
and  we  shall  soon  make  a  good  democrat  of  him.' 

During  his  residence  in  England,  Mr.  Clay  passed  his  time 
very  agreeably,  and  laid  the  foundation  for  many  grateful  reminis- 
cences. By  the  late  sir  James  Mackintosh  he  was  delightfully 
entertained.  He  embraced  the  opportunity  of  renewing  his 
intimacy  with  lord  Gambier,  whose  amiable  qualities  and  piety 
had  secured  Mr.  Clay's  strong  attachment.  With  him  he  spent  a 
week,  visiting  with  him  during  that  time  several  places  of  interest, 
one  of  which  was  the  residence  of  a  descendant  of  William  Penn. 

In  September,  1815,  he  embarked  for  New  York,  where,  on  his 
arrival,  he  and  Mr.  Gallatin  were  complimented  with  a  public 
dinner. 

In  every  transaction  of  a  public  nature  in  which  Mr.  Clay  has 
had  any  agency,  he  has  always  rendered  himself  conspicuous  ; 
but  in  no  one  did  he  gather  greener  laurels,  or  make  a  longer 
stride  towards  immortal  fame,  than  in  that  of  the  negotiation  at 
Ghent.  Rumor  had  preceded  him,  trumpeting  his  honors  —  the 
faithful  and  scrupulously  jealous  manner  in  which  he  had  almost 
sleeplessly  watched  over  the  interests  of  his  country,  and  crushed 
with  the  strength  of  a  giant  the  incipient  risings  of  a  disposition 
to  destroy  or  abridge  her  natural  or  conventional  rights  ;  and  when 
he  approached  her  shores,  she  opened  wide  her  arms  to  receive 
him.  In  Kentucky,  warm,  noble-hearted  Kentucky,  his  reception 
was  like  that  of  a  dutiful  and  affectionate  son  in  the  long  and 


LIFEOFHENRYCLAY.  S7 

passionate  embrace  of  a  beloved  mother.  She  welcomed  him 
with  a  tenderness  that  would  hardly  allow  the  winds  of  heaven  to 
visit  him  with  gentle  rudeness.  Enthusiastic  rejoicings  were 
enkindled,  and  spontaneous  outpourings  of  grateful  feeling  were 
lavished  upon  him  like  rain.  He  had  even  been  re-elected  to 
congress  while  he  was  still  in  Europe,  and  unanimously.  A  doubt 
having  arisen  touching  the  legality  of  this  election,  a  new  one  was 
commenced,  which  resulted  as  at  first. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  next  session,  the  house  again  called 
him  to  preside  over  its  deliberations,  where  he  soon  became  engaged 
in  directing  successfully  the  affairs  of  the  nation.  As  a  matter  in 
course,  the  new  treaty  was  brought  forward  at  an  early  stage,  out 
of  which  the  federalists,  and  the  opposers  of  the  war  in  general, 
endeavored  to  obtain  food  for  their  carping,  fault-finding  appetites. 
Passing  indifferently  and  silently  by  the  great  advantages  which 
it  secured  to  the  United  States,  they  sought,  with  an  eagerness 
worthy  of  a  better  cause,  to  find  some  defective  or  weak  point. 
If  in  this  they  were  successful,  although  it  might  be  so  diminutive 
as  to  escape  the  detection  of  any  except  their  microscopic  vision 
when  thus  employed,  it  was  ridiculously  amusing  to  listen  to  their 
barkings,  and  howlings,  and  wranglings  over  it,  often  for  hours ; 
and  the  multitude  and  variety  of  hard  names  and  scurrilous 
epithets  which  they  would  bandy  about  on  such  occasions, 
rendered  it  necessary  for  one  to  go  beyond  the  English  vocabulary 
if  he  desired  to  satisfy  his  curiosity  respecting  their  location. 
But  Mr.  Clay  soon  brought  to  bear  upon  them  the  tremendous 
battery  of  his  eloquence,  which  sent  the  whole  yelping  pack  to 
their  kennels,  both  in  and  out  of  congress.  This  he  did  on  the 
twenty-ninth  of  January,  1816. 

Said  he,  on  that  occasion,  '  I  gave  a  vote  for  the  declaration  of 
war.  I  exerted  all  the  little  influence  and  talents  I  could  com- 
mand to  make  the  war.  The  war  was  made.  It  is  terminated  ; 
and  I  declare  with  perfect  sincerity,  if  it  had  been  permitted  to  me 
to  lift  the  veil  of  futurity,  and  to  have  foreseen  the  precise  series  of 
events  which  has  occurred,  my  vote  would  have  been  unchanged. 
We  had  been  insulted,  and  outraged,  and  spoliated  upon  by  nearly 
all  Europe  ;  by  Great  Britain,  by  France,  Spain,  Denmark,  Naples, 
and,  to  cap  the  climax,  by  the  little  contemptible  power  of  Algiers. 
We  had  submitted  too  long  and  too  much.  We  had  become  the 
scorn  of  foreign  powers,  and  the  derision  of  our  own  citizens.' 

These  opposers  laid  no  small  emphasis  upon  the  fact  that  no 
stipulation  was  contained  in  the  treaty  respecting  the  impressment 
of  our  seamen.  He  met  this  in  a  strain  of  lofty  argument,  whose 
pungency  sank  into  their  hearts  like  a  spear.  Said  he,  '  one  of 
the  great  causes  of  the  war  and  of  its  continuance  was  the  practice 
of  impressment  exercised  by  Great  Britain  ;  and  if  this  claim  had 
been  admitted  by  necessary  implication  or  express  stipulation,  the 


88  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

rights  of  our  seamen  would  have  been  abandoned !  It  is  with 
utter  astonishment  that  I  hear  it  has  been  contended  in  this 
country,  that  because  our  right  of  exemption  from  the  practice  had 
not  been  expressly  secured  in  the  treaty,  it  was  therefore  given  up ! 
It  is  impossible  that  such  an  argument  can  be  advanced  on  this 
floor.  No  member  who  regarded  his  reputation  would  venture  to 
advance  such  a  doctrine.' 

He  concluded  by  stating  the  position  in  which  the  country 
ought  to  be  speedily  placed;  advised  the  preservation  of  her 
present  naval  and  military  force ;  to  make  provision  for  the 
increase  of  the  navy  ;  to  fortify  her  most  defenceless  points ;  to 
multiply  military  roads  and  canals  ;  and  to  commence  in  earnest 
the  great  work  of  internal  improvement.  '  I  would  see  a  chain 
of  turnpike  roads  and  canals  from  Passamaquoddy  to  New 
Orleans,  and  other  similar  roads  intersecting  the  mountains,  to 
facilitate  intercourse  between  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  to  bind 
and  to  connect  us  together.  /  would  also  effectually  protect  our 
manufactories.  I  would  afford  them  protection  not  so  much 
for  the  sake  of  the  manufacturers  themselves  as  for  the  general 
interest.' 

Mr.  Clay  resumed  his  duties  in  the  house  by  evincing  the  same 
far  reaching  anxiety  for  the  welfare  of  his  whole  country,  that  he 
manifested  when  he  resigned  his  station  for  a  foreign  mission.  To 
his  influence,  in  a  great  measure,  the  origin  of  the  war  was  owing, 
its  bold  prosecution,  and  satisfactory  termination.  But  besides 
the  advantages  which  we  reaped  as  the  fruits  of  it,  we  realized 
many  detrimental  consequences  incidental  to  it.  An  immense 
debt  had  been  contracted ;  our  commercial,  manufacturing,  and 
agricultural  interests  had  been  partially  suspended,  if  not  totally 
neglected;  we  found  ourselves  greatly  in  want  of  articles,  the 
product  of  mechanical  ingenuity,  to  supply  which  it  was  necessary 
to  resort  to  foreign  work-shops ;  this  of  course  caused  large  expor- 
tations  of  specie,  which  seldom  returned;  the  bank  issues 
amounted  to  upwards  of  one  hundred  millions  of  dollars,  while 
at  the  same  time  there  was  only  about  fifteen  millions  of  specie 
in  the  country.  These  institutions  had  of  course  been  obliged  to 
suspend  specie  payment;  distress  and  pressure  every  where 
abounded,  and  the  well  disposed  and  patriotic  began  seriously  to 
look  about  them  for  measures  of  relief,  and  restoration  to  the 
country.  The  most  judicious  and  reflecting  in  the  nation,  believed 
that  the  greatest  source  of  distress  was  to  be  found  in  the  deranged 
state  of  the  currency.  Indeed  it  was  completely  vitiated.  The 
government  paper,  bearing  interest  at  six  per  cent.,  the  redemption 
of  which  it  had  guarantied  by  pledging  the  faith  of  the  nation, 
was  depreciated  some  twenty  per  cent.,  and  doubt  and  distrust  in 
money  matters  were  prominent  features  of  the  condition  of  the 
country.     Something  must  be  done,  it  was    obvious,  to  remove 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  89 

that  doubt,  and  restore  confidence,  or  general  stagnation  would 
invade  every  industrial  department  throughout  the  nation.  At  this 
period,  the  individual  states  presented  the  singular  appearance  of 
being  engaged  in  doing  what  the  constitution  evidently  intended 
should  be  performed  by  the  general  government,  namely,  in  reality 
regulating  the  currency,  through  the  banking  institutions  operating 
under  their  sanction.  This  they  were  executing  in  a  most  unfi- 
nancial-like  manner,  in  many  instances  making  their  paper  a  legal 
tender,  thus  compelling  the  creditor  to  accept  it  or  yield  his  claim. 
In  this  state  of  things,  it  was  imperiously  demanded  of  congress 
to  interpose  the  power  vested  in  it  by  the  constitution,  and  recover 
that  control  over  the  currency  which  it  had  suffered  to  be  usurped 
by  the  states.  The  articles  in  that  instrument  granting  congress 
the  exclusive  power  of  coining  money,  and  prohibiting  the  states 
from  doing  it,  and  also  from  issuing  bills  of  credit,  rendered  it 
apparent  that  the  power  of  regulating  the  general  currency  was 
lodged  with  that  body.  This  was  the  belief  of  the  most  able 
financiers  of  that  time,  and  adopted  by  those  of  the  present. 
Acting  under  the  influence  of  this  belief,  Mr.  Madison  had  at  the 
opening  of  the  session  of  1815  - 16,  recommended  f  the  establish- 
ment of  a  national  bank,'  which  '  he  regarded  as  the  best  and 
perhaps  the  only  adequate  resource  to  relieve  the  country  and  the 
government  from  the  present  embarrassment.  Authorized  to  issue 
notes  which  will  be  received  in  all  payments  to  the  United  States, 
the  circulation  of  its  issues  will  be  coextensive  with  the  union, 
and  there  will  exist  a  constant  demand,  leaving  a  just  proportion 
to  the  annual  amount  of  the  duties  and  taxes  to  be  collected, 
independent  of  the  general  circulation  for  commercial  and  social 
purposes.  A  national  bank  will  therefore  possess  the  means  and 
the  opportunity  of  supplying  a  circulating  medium  of  equal  use 
and  value  in  every  state  and  in  every  district  of  every  state.  Estab- 
lished by  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  accredited  by  the 
government  to  the  whole  amount  of  its  notes  in  circulation,  and 
intrusted  as  the  depository  of  the  government  with  all  the  accumu- 
lations of  the  public  treasure,  the  national  bank,  independent  of 
its  immediate  capital,  will  enjoy  every  recommendation  wThich 
can  merit  and  secure  the  confidence  of  the  public.  Organized 
upon  principles  of  responsibility,  but  of  independence,  the  national 
bank  will  be  retained  within  its  legitimate  sphere  of  action  without 
just  apprehensions  from  the  misconduct  of  its  directors,  or  from 
the  encroachments  of  the  government.  Eminent  in  its  resources, 
and  in  its  example,  the  national  bank  will  conciliate  and  lead  the 
state  banks  in  all  that  is  necessary  for  the  restoration  of  credit, 
public  and  private.  And  acting  upon  a  compound  capital,  partly 
of  stock,  and  partly  of  gold  and  silver,  the  national  bank  will  be 
the  ready  instrument  to  enhance  the  value  of  the  public  securities, 
and  to  restore  the  currency  of  the  national  coin.' 

VOL.  I.  12 


90 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY 


Such  were  Mr.  Madison's  views  in  relation  to  a  national  bank, 
which  were  immediately  referred  to  the  committee  on  the  national 
currency ;  and  on  the  eighth  of  January,  1816,  the  chairman  of 
that  committee,  Mr.  John  C.  Calhoun,  of  South  Carolina, 
presented  an  able  and  elaborate  report  in  relation  thereto,  advo- 
cating the  immediate  chartering  of  such  a  bank  as  the  president 
had  recommended,  and  detailed  its  prominent  features.  When 
the  bill  was  brought  forward  for  the  action  of  the  house,  Mr.  Clay 
unequivocally  declared  himself  in  favor  of  its  provisions  in  a 
speech  of  great  ability  and  argumentative  force,  although  well 
knowing  that  he  would  thereby  subject  himself  to  the  charge  of 
inconsistency.  He  was  charged  with  it  by  his  political  enemies, 
who  magnified  his  departure  from  the  position  taken  by  him  in 
1811  in  relation  to  the  same  bank,  into  a  monstrous  blemish  in  his 
political  character  ;  which,  if  correctly  considered,  is  seen  to  consti- 
tute an  ornament,  instead.  A  careful  contrast  of  the  grounds  on 
which,  and  the  circumstances  under  which  he  then  opposed  that 
institution,  with  those  on  and  under  which  he  now  advocated  it, 
will,  to  any  unprejudiced  mind,  forever  exempt  him  from  that 
charge.  Such  a  contrast  will  clearly  show,  that  the  total  change 
of  circumstances  which  had  taken  place  during  the  five  years 
that  had  elapsed  since  he  first  examined  the  merits  of  that  bank,  and 
that  wrought  in  the  policy  of  the  general  government  in  that  time,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  experience  received  in  prosecuting  the  war,  of 
the  utility  of  and  necessity  for  such  an  establishment,  not  only  dis- 
armed and  rendered  invalid  now,  objections  which  then  were  both 
valid  and  weighty  when  directed  against  it,  but  absolutely  con- 
verted them  into  arguments  in  its  favor.  At  the  time  when  it  was 
proposed  to  renew  the  charter  of  the  old  United  States  bank,  Mr. 
Clay  did  not  think  it  so  essential  in  accomplishing  any  of  the 
objects  definitely  specified  in  the  constitution,  as  to  justify  its 
establishment,  on  grounds  purely  constructive.  It  was  supported, 
too,  principally  by  the  federal  party,  and  on  the  ground  that  its 
agency  was  requisite  in  executing  the  financial  concerns  of 
government ;  which  ground  then  was  falsely  assumed,  inasmuch 
as  the  local  banks  of  the  several  states  had,  in  certain  cases,  been 
employed  to  perform  that  office,  which  they  were  successfully 
executing.  They,  therefore,  being  known  to  compass  the  specific 
object  for  which  it  was  stated  the  charter  of  the  bank  was  to  be 
renewed,  it  was  justly  regarded  by  Mr.  Clay  as  a  matter  of  super- 
erogation to  renew  it,  and  accordingly  he  opposed  its  renewal. 
In  1816,  Mr.  Clay  supported  the  bank  mainly  on  the  ground  of  its 
necessity,  to  enable  congress  to  exercise  that  ample  and  salutary 
supervision  over  the  commercial  and  monetary  interests  of  the 
country,  which  the  constitution  expressly  gave  it;  and  that,  there- 
fore, out  of  this  very  necessity,  was  fairly  deducible  its  constitution- 
ality, since  it  was  absurd  to  suppose  that  the  constitution  would 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  91 

grant  to  congress  a  specified  right,  and  at  the  same  time  withhold 
the  only  means  by  which  it  could  exercise  that  right.  A  stormy 
and  protracted  discussion  arose  respecting  the  bank  charter,  during 
which  Mr.  Clay  came  again  into  collision  with  Mr.  Randolph, 
causing  unusual  sensation  in  the  house,  and  giving  rise  to  appre- 
hensions that  something  serious  might  grow  out  of  it.  Mr. 
Randolph  animadverted  somewhat  harshly  upon  Mr.  Clay's 
custom  of  maintaining  a  uniform  silence  in  his  private  intercourse 
respecting  his  change  of  opinion  in  regard  to  the  expediency  and 
constitutionality  of  a  United  States  bank,  using  language  that 
might  admit  of  very  offensive  construction.  When  he  ceased,  Mr. 
Clay,  with  his  usual  self-possession  and  deliberation,  rose,  and  in  a 
few  words  declared  that  the  offensive  language  needed  explanation  ; 
that  he  should  refrain  from  saying  what  he  conceived  himself 
bound  to  say,  until  Mr.  Randolph  should  make  it.  Mr.  Randolph 
rose,  and  made  the  explanation,  which  Mr.  Clay  pronounced 
unsatisfactory  ;  and  Mr.  Randolph  again  explained,  disavowing  all 
intention  to  offer  offence.  During  the  altercation,  an  almost 
breathless  stillness  had  been  preserved  in  the  house ;  a  pin  might 
be  heard  to  fall  in  any  part  of  it. 

The  bank  bill  passed  the  house  by  a  vote  of  eighty  to  seventy- 
one,  and  the  senate  by  a  vote  of  twenty-two  to  twelve.  On 
the  tenth  of  April  it  became  a  law,  went  into  operation  in  the 
early  part  of  1817,  and  more  than  justified  the  expectations  of  its 
friends,  in  regard  to  its  influence  for  good  upon  the  varied  interests 
of  the  country.  • 

During  this  session,  Mr.  Clay  gave  his  support  to  a  bill  propos-v 
ing  a  reduction  of  the  direct  tax  laid  upon  the  United  States.     HeV 
expressed  himself  in  favor  of  a  moderate  land  tax,  and  regarded  I 
the  existing  one  as  too  high  for  a  state  of  peace.     He   maintained 
that  '  in  time  of  peace  we  should  look  to  foreign  importations  as 
the  chief  source  of  revenue,  and  in  war  when  they  are  cut  off,  that 
it  was  time  enough  to  draw  deeply  on  our  internal  resources.'    His 
plan  was  to  make  up  for  a  still  further  decrease  of  the  land  tax,  by 
an  increase  of  the  duties  on  imports. 

It  was  deemed  desirable  to  increase  the  pay  of  members  of  con- 
gress, which  led  to  the  framing  and  passage  of  the  celebrated 
compensation  bill.  It  was  generally  agreed  among  the  members 
that  their  compensation  ( six  dollars  per  day,)  was  not  sufficient  for 
their  maintenance  at  Washington,  and  allow  them  to  enjoy  the 
society  of  their  families.  The  principal  question  that  arose  res- 
pected the  mode  by  which  it  should  be  increased.  Some  were  in 
favor  of  a  stipulated  salary,  and  others  of  an  increase  of  the  per 
diem  pay.  On  the  sixth  of  March,  colonel  Richard  M.  Johnson, 
one  of  the  committee  to  whom  the  business  had  been  referred, 
reported  a  bill  regulating  the  pay  of  members,  by  a  salary  of  fifteen 
hundred  dollars  per  session,  for  each  member  in   congress,  which 


92  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

passed  both  houses.  Mr.  Clay  voted  for  this  bill,  but  at  the  same 
time  declaring  his  preference  for  the  per  diem  rate.  The  passage 
of  this  bill  proved  particularly  obnoxious  to  the  demagogues, 
throughout  the  country,  who  exerted  themselves  incessantly  to 
excite  the  passions  of  the  people,  evidently  for  the  purpose  of 
accumulating  political  capital.  In  no  section  of  the  union  did  the 
excitement  rage  to  such  an  extent  as  in  Kentucky.  It  seemed  a3 
though  scarcely  an  individual  in  the  whole  state  was  friendly  to  it. 
The  ambitious  and  designing  demagogues  and  ultra  federalists 
united  in  Kentucky  their  furious  forces,  with  exultations  of 
delight  at  what  appeared  to  them  the  certain  prospect  of  accom- 
plishing the  total  overthrow  of  Mr.  Clay.  They  had  succeeded  to 
such  a  degree  in  kindling  a  flame  of  indignation  against  the  meas- 
ure, that  there  were  at  least  some  grounds  of  danger.  They  had 
long  been  impotently  watching  for  this  opportunity,  and  now  from 
their  various  places  of  concealment  they  rushed  forth,  bent  upon 
accomplishing  their  purpose.  After  some  consultation  as  to  the 
mode  they  should  adopt,  it  was  finally  determined  that  Mr.  John 
Pope,  an  eloquent  and  influential  gentleman,  should  take  the  field 
in  opposition  to  Mr.  Clay.  Accordingly,  he  immediately  com- 
menced political  operations  in  the  approved  style  of  the  country, 
by  riding  about  among  the  inhabitants,  addressing  them  often,  set- 
ting forth  his  own  merits  and  claims,  and  decrying  those  of  his 
rival.  It  was  not  until  after  being  repeatedly  importuned  by  his 
friends,  that  Mr.  Clay  would  consent  to  take  the  field  in  person 
against  Mr.  Pope.  He  finally  went  forth  for  the  first  time  in  his 
life,  to  vindicate  in  person  to  his  constituents,  his  public  political 
acts. 

It  has  been  said  that  Mr.  Clay  was  the  first  Kentuckian  who 
preserved  dignity  and  independence  of  character  on  an  election- 
eering tour.  It  was  customary  at  that  day  in  Kentucky,  for  any 
one  who  solicited  an  office  in  the  gift  of  the  people,  to  clothe  him- 
self in  tattered  garments,  and  in  the  attitude  and  with  the  tone  of  a 
menial,  to  go  around  among  them  and  thus  ask  it  at  their  hands. 
Mr.  Clay's  exalted  sense  of  dignity  and  honor  would  not  permit 
him  to  conform  to  this  degrading  custom,  and  he  visited  his  con- 
stituents attired  just  as  he  would  go  to  his  seat  in  congress.  He 
appealed  to  the  people,  expressing  his  entire  willingness  to  be  gov- 
erned by  their  will,  as  he  was  in  duty  bound,  and  that  he  would 
vote  for  the  repeal  of  the  offensive  law,  if  they  instructed  him  to 
do  so.  He  corrected  their  erroneous  impressions,  and  occasionally 
made  those  happy  and  effective  appeals  to  their  hearts,  which  he 
knew  so  well  how  to  direct,  and  he  soon  found  himself  almost 
entirely  reinstated  in  their  affections.  Mr.  Pope,  perceiving  that  he 
was  fast  losing  ground,  made  a  desperate  effort  at  regaining  it,  by 
challenging  his  rival  to  meet  him  on  a  designated  day  and  discuss 
their  respective  claims  to  the  suffrage  of  the  people.    It  was  unhes- 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY,  93 

itatingly  accepted.  They  met  according  to  appointment,  and  in 
the  presence  of  an  immense  assemblage,  fought  their  battle  of 
argument,  which  resulted  in  the  signal  defeat  of  Mr.  Pope.  Mr. 
Clay  was  re-elected  by  a  large  majority.  The  compensation  bill 
was  among  the  first  subjects  considered  by  congress  after  it  con- 
vened again,  which  was  repealed.  The  per  diem  allowance  was 
finally  increased  to  eight  dollars  per  day. 

During  the  canvass,  Mr.  Clay  met  an  old  hunter  who  had  pre- 
viously been  his  devoted  friend,  but  now  opposed  him  on  the 
ground  of  the  compensation  bill.  '  Have  you  a  good  rifle,  my 
friend  ? '  asked  Mr.  Clay.  '  Yes.'  '  Does  it  ever  flash  ? '  '  Once 
only.'  '  What  did  you  do  with  it,  throw  it  away?'  '  No,  I  picked 
the  flint,  tried  it  again,  and  brought  down  the  game.'  '  Have  I 
ever  flashed  but  on  the  compensation  bill?'  'No.'  'Will  you 
throw  me  away?'  'No!  no!'  quickly  replied  the  hunter,  nearly 
overwhelmed  by  his  enthusiastic  feelings,  '/  will  pick  the  flint  and 
try  you  asrain  ! '  Ever  afterwards  he  was  the  unwavering  friend 
of  Mr.  Clay. 

An  Irish  barber  residing  at  Lexington,  had  always  given  Mr. 
Clay  his  vote,  and  on  all  occasions  when  he  was  a  candidate  for 
office,  electioneered  warmly  for  him.  His  ardent  temperament 
and  unrestrained  passions  frequently  involved  him  in  scrapes  and 
difficulties,  out  of  which  Mr.  Clay  had  generally  succeeded  in 
extricating  him.  While  the  canvass  was  progressing,  after  the 
compensation  bill,  the  barber  did  not  evince  his  usual  zeal  and 
animation,  on  the  contrary  seemed  to  be  indifferent  as  to  the  result 
of  the  election.  To  all  inquiries  for  whom  he  designed  to  vote  he 
answered  evasively.  He  was  accosted  a  few  days  previous  to  the 
election,  by  a  gentleman  for  whom  he  entertained  the  most  pro- 
found regard,  with  the  question,  '  for  whom,  Jerry,  do  you  mean 
to  vote?'  Regarding  his  interrogator  with  an  earnest,  shrewd  look, 
he  replied,  '  Faix,  an'  sure,  docthur,  I  mane  to  vote  for  the  man 
who  can't  put  more  nor  one  hand  into  the  threasury?  Mr.  Pope, 
the  opponent  of  Mr.  Clay,  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  an  arm  in 
early  life,  and  this  circumstance,  while  it  gave  pertinence  to  the 
Irishman's  reply,  indicated  for  whom  he  intended  to  vote.  A  few 
days  subseqent  to  the  election,  the  barber  met  Mr.  Clay  in  Lexing- 
ton, and  approaching  him,  burst  into  tears,  saying  that  he  had 
wronged  him,  and  manifested  bitter  regret  for  his  ingratitude.  '  My 
poor  dear  wife,'  said  he,  '  got  round  me,  blubbering,  and  was  after 
vexing  herself  and  me  too.  She  tould  me  that  I  was  too  bad,  too 
bad,  to  desart  like  a  base  spalpleen,  me  ould  frind.  '  Niver's  the 
time,  Jerry,  dear,  when  you  got  in  jail  or  any  bad  fixin',  niver's  the 
time  he  didn't  come  to  you  an'  hilp  you  out.  Och !  bad  luck  to 
you,  for  not  giving  him  your  vote.' '  The  barber  was  ever  after 
true  to  Mr.  Clay. 

In  all  matters  of  public  importance  brought  before  the  house, 


94  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

whenever  it  was  compatible  with  his  station,  Mr.  Gay  interested 
himself,  concerning  which  his  manifestation  of  regard  for  the  wel- 
fare of  his  country  was  characterized  by  unusual  uniformity. 
There  was  nothing  fitful  or  erratic  about  his  zeal ;  it  burned  with 
a  steady,  certain  light,  revealing  the  secrets  of  his  very  soul,  in 
relation  to  his  public  intentions  and  desires.  Defeat  could  not 
diminish,  nor  opposition  extinguish  it;  always  irrepressible,  con- 
flicting circumstances  only  rendered  it  more  intense.  No  meas- 
ures passed  through  his  hands  without  bearing  its  impress,  and  so 
deep  as  to  appear  a  part  of  the  same.  But  there  were  periods  of 
extraordinary  interest,  when  it  blazed  with  more  than  meteoric 
brilliancy  —  when  it  constituted  the  aurora  borealis  of  the  political 
horizon,  seen  and  admired  by  the  whole  universe.  One  of  these 
periods  we  now  approach  —  a  period  which  reflects  the  highest 
honor  on  his  character,  for  philanthropy  and  benevolence,  and 
which  caused  his  memory  to  be  enshrined  in  the  hearts  of  millions 
remote  from  the  field  of  his  fame  —  the  period  of  the  struggles  of 
the  Spanish  colonies  in  South  America,  to  become  independent  of 
the  mother  country.  These  he  contemplated  with  as  much 
anxiety  and  solicitude  for  their  result,  as  though  he  had  been  an 
actual  participator  in  them. 

Happily  for  America,  the  allotment  of  Providence  introduced 
Mr.  Clay  to  the  stage  of  public  action  at  one  of  the  most  critical 
times  in  her  history,  when  just  such  influence  as  he  could  exert  was 
imperiously  demanded.  The  din  of  the  revolution  had  hardly 
died  away,  and  the  blood  with  which  it  was  achieved  scarcely 
dried  up,  when  he  first  came  forward  in  the  defence  of  his  country's 
rights.  The  spirit  of  ;  seventy-six '  had  indeed  felled  the  tall  trees 
of  tyranny,  and  plucked  up  the  rank  weeds  of  oppression,  and 
planted  the  germ  of  liberty.  But  the  little  band  of  men  inhaling 
that  spirit,  who  had  arrayed  around  the  place  of  the  precious 
deposit  a  rampart  of  iron  hearts,  after  irrigating  and  enriching  it 
with  their  blood,  had  either  sunk  down  to  an  enviable  rest  in  the 
sacred  soil,  or  with  diminished  energy  and  flagging  zeal  still 
maintained  their  posts.  Their  pristine  strength,  however,  the  storm 
of  war  had  swept  away,  and  though  they  still  stretched  out  their 
scar-covered  arms  to  shield  it  from  invasion,  their  feeble  efforts 
were  hardly  sufficient  to  the  task.  Dangers  were  numerous,  boding 
disaster  in  case  the  vigilance  of  that  veteran  band  should  slumber. 
The  enemies  of  freedom,  though  beaten  back,  had  retired  with 
their  weapons  in  their  hands,  and  from  their  secret  lurking  places 
looked  forth,  ready  to  avail  themselves  of  the  first  favorable  mo- 
ment to  sally  forth  and  nip  it  in  the  bud.  Such  were  the  circum- 
stances, when  Mr.  Clay  joined  that  weak  and  diminished  company 
of  watchers.  He  found  the  tree  of  liberty  a  strong  and  vigorous 
plant,  unfolding  its  beautiful  leaves,  but  needing  great  care  and 
culture.     There  was  much  foreign  rubbish  to  be  removed  which 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY,  95 

retarded  its  growth.  A  glance  at  its  situation  determined  his 
course.  Nothing  within  the  compass  of  his  ability  necessary  to 
hasten  on  its  progress  towards  maturity,  was  wanting.  Morning, 
noon  and  night  found  him  pouring  the  dew  of  his  diligence  upon 
it  in  copious  effusions.  Under  its  genial  influences  the  trunk  shot 
upward  stately  and  strong,  and  the  wide-spreading  branches  soon 
bent  beneath  large  clusters  of  delicious  fruit.  The  taste  of  that 
fruit  caused  the  heart  of  the  nation  to  bound  with  gladness,  and 
her  good  and  great  men  to  desire  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  whole 
world  might  partake  of  it.  Not  a  few  of  them  gave  utterance  to 
that  desire  in  words  that  burned  with  benevolence,  but  none  spoke 
louder  or  with  more  effect  than  Mr.  Clay.  His  voice  infused 
courage  into  the  hearts  of  those  who  were  toiling  to  plant  a  similar 
tree  on  the  fertile  pampas  of  South  America.  Its  thunder-tones  rever- 
berated among  the  lofty  heights  of  the  Andes,  and  rang  through  the 
halls  of  the  incas.  The  hunter  heard  them,  and  departed  for  the 
battle-field  to  seek  a  nobler  quarry.  The  gauchios  left  his  lasso 
on  the  plain  and  buckled  on  his  armor.  From  rank  to  rank  of 
their  embattled  hosts  they  pealed,  and  nerved  their  arms  to  deal 
the  liberating  blows. 

The  first  public  expression  of  Mr.  Clay's  feelings  in  relation  to 
South  American  independence,  was  made  in  connection  with  a^ 
proposition  to  reduce  the  direct  taxes  of  the  United  States,  which 
he  thought  too  high  for  a  state  of  peace.  The  aspect  of  our 
foreign  relations  at  that  time  was  peculiarly  amicable,  although, 
from  a  report  that  the  Spanish  minister  had  made  an  informal 
demand  for  a  portion  of  Florida,  seemed  to  indicate  that  a  rupture 
with  Spain  was  by  no  means  improbable,  and  he  expressed  him- 
self in  favor  of  husbanding  our  means  as  much  as  practicable, 
in  anticipation  of  such  an  event.  At  the  same  time,  he  hinted  the 
propriety  of  assisting  her  colonial  dependents  in  their  endeavors  to 
establish  a  free  government.  His  remarks  caused  Mr.  Randolph 
to  express  his  sentiments  concerning  the  same  subject,  which 
among  other  things  charged  Mr.  Clay  with  entertaining  a  desire 
for  conquest,  indeed  as  being  influenced  by  unworthy  motives. 
He  said  he  was  not  '  going  a  tilting  for  the  liberties  of  South 
America.'  She  came  not  to  our  aid ;  let  us  mind  our  own  business, 
and  not  tax  our  people  for  the  liberties  of  the  people  of  Spanish 
America.  He  declared  that  her  inhabitants  were  incapable  of  appre- 
ciating or  enjoying  liberty.  He  thought  Mr.  Clay  had  imbibed  the 
war-spirit  of  Europe.  '  The  honorable  gentleman  has  been  sent  on  a 
late  occasion  to  Europe ;  he  had  been  near  the  field  of  Waterloo, 
and  he  was  apprehensive  had  snuffed  the  carnage  and  caught  the 
infection.'  He  intimated  that  Mr.  Clay  advocated  an  increase  of 
the  army  for  the  purpose  of  marching  them  to  the  scene  of  action. 
'  What!  increase  our  standing  army  in  time  of  peace  on  the  sug- 
gestion that  we  are  to  go  on  a  crusade  to  South  America  ? '     Mr. 


96  LIFEOFHENRYCLAY. 

Clay  denied  having  made  the  most  remote  suggestions  to  that 
effect,  —  that  his  remarks  were  incapable  of  being  so  construed. 
1  Do  I  not  understand  the  gentleman ? '  —  'I  am  sorry  I  do  not. 
I  labor  under  two  great  misfortunes  —  I  can  never  understand  the 
honorable  speaker,  and  he  can  never  Understand  me.'  Such  being 
the  case,  Mr.  Randolph  remarked,  he  should  be  under  the  necessity 
of  abandoning  the  argument  with  him,  since  it  would  be  impossi- 
ble to  proceed. 

Mr.  Clay  again  alluded  to  the  same  subject  a  few  days  after, 
in  a  most  feeling  manner.  A  bill  was  brought  forward  to  prohibit 
<  our  citizens  from  selling  vessels  of  war  to  subjects  of  a  foreign 
power,'  which  he  vigorously  opposed  because  of  its  evident  bear- 
ing upon  the  belligerent  state  of  South  America.  He  said  it  was 
impossible  to  conceal  the  true  character  of  that  bill.  '  Bestow 
upon  it  what  denomination  you  will,  disguise  it  as  you  may,  it 
will  be  understood  by  the  world  as  a  law  to  discountenance  any 
aid  being  given  to  the  South  American  patriots,  now  in  a  state  of 
revolution  against  the  parent  country.  With  respect  to  the  nature 
of  that  struggle,  I  have  not  now  for  the  first  time  to  express  my 
opinion  and  wishes.  I  wish  them  independence.  It  is  the  first 
step  towards  improving  their  condition.  Let  them  have  a  free 
government,  if  they  are  capable  of  enjoying  it.  At  any  rate  let 
them  have  independence.  Yes,  from  the  inmost  recesses  of  my 
soul  I  wish  them  independence.  In  this  I  may  be  accused  of 
imprudence  in  the  utterance  of  my  feelings  on  this  occasion.  I 
care  not,  when  the  independence,  the  happiness,  the  liberty  of  a 
whole  people  is  at  stake,  and  that  people  our  neighbors,  our 
brethren  occupying  a  portion  of  the  same  continent,  imitating  our 
example,  and  participating  of  the  same  sympathies  with  ourselves.' 

During  the  following  month  an  attempt  was  made  to  appro- 
priate and  pledge  the  bonus  paid  by  the  United  States  bank  into 
the  public  treasury,  as  a  permanent  fund  to  be  employed  in 
constructing  works  of  internal  improvement.  Mr.  Clay  gave  his 
hearty  concurrence  to  this  measure,  declaring  his  belief  that '  there 
were  no  two  subjects  which  could  engage*  the  attention  of  the 
national  legislature,  more  worthy  of  its  deliberate  consideration, 
than  those  of  internal  improvements  and  domestic  manufactures.' 
A  bill  was  passed  constituting  such  fund,  but  the  president  vetoed 
it  on  alleged  constitutional  grounds. 

Mr.  Clay's  remarks  caused  great  interest  to  be  felt  in  behalf  of 
South  American  liberty,  and  during  the  summer  following,  the 
president  appointed  three  commissioners,  Messrs.  Rodney,  Gra- 
ham, and  Bland,  to  proceed  to  South  America,  and  examine  her 
political,  civil  and  social  condition  as  preliminary  to  rendering 
them  any  assistance.  Mr.  Clay  regarded  the  appointment  as 
impolitic,  and  when  a  bill  came  before  the  house  in  March  1818, 
providing   for  the  support  of  government,  objected   to  having  it 


LIFEOFHENRYCLAY.  97 

embrace  a  clause  appropriating  thirty  thousand  dollars  for  their  com- 
pensation, for  constitutional  reasons.  For  it  he  proposed  to 
substitute  an  amendment,  appropriating  eighteen  thousand  dollars 
as  the  outfit  and  one  year's  salary  of  a  minister  from  the  United 
States  to  the  Independent  Provinces  of  the  river  La  Plata 
in  South  America.  He  accompanied  the  presentation  of  the 
amendment  with  a  speech  of  great  power,  evincing  great  geo- 
graphical and  historical  knowledge,  and  setting  forth  clearly  the 
condition  of  the  people.  The  amendment,  however,  was  not 
adopted. 

Many  members  of  prominence  differed  with  Mr.  Clay,  for 
whose  opinions  he  expressed  his  respect,  and  regretted  that  his 
own  convictions  of  expediency  and  duty  led  him  to  take  a  different 
view  of  the  subject.  He  directly  avowed  that  considerations  of 
liberty  and  humanity  had  no  little  weight  with  him  in  advocating 
their  cause,  but  at  the  same  time  his  belief,  that  the  adoption  of 
the  measure  under  consideration,  while  it  would  add  to  the  renown 
of  the  republic,  would  render  material  assistance  to  those  who 
were  greatly  in  need  of  it  He  vindicated  himself  from  the  charge 
which  had  been  made,  that  he  was  desirous  of  fomenting  a  war 
between  the  states  and  Spain.  He  indulged  in  animating  antici- 
pations of  the  number  and  importance  of  the  governments  which 
might  be  formed  in  those  vast,  fertile,  and  beautiful  provinces.  To 
attempts  at  proving  the  movements  of  the  colonists  as  rebellious, 
opposing  the  lawful  government  of  Spain,  he  replied  by  clearly 
showing  that  if  that  power  had  possessed  a  legal  claim  to  their  allegi- 
ance, she  had  forfeited  it  by  withholding  that  protection  requisite  to 
entitle  her  to  it,  and  that  consequently  the  people  of  Spanish  America 
were  contending  for  nothing  more  than  their  legal  and  natural  rights. 
*  But '  said  Mr.  Clay,  '  I  take  a  broader,  bolder  position.  I  main- 
tain that  an  oppressed  people  are  authorized,  whenever  they  can, 
to  rise  and  break  their  fetters.  This  was  the  great  principle  of 
the  English  revolution.  It  was  the  great  principle  of  our  own. 
We  must  therefore  pass  sentence  of  condemnation  upon  the 
founders  of  our  liberty,  say  that  they  were  rebels  and  traitors,  and 
that  we  are  at  this  moment  legislating  without  competent  powers, 
before  we  can  condemn  the  course  of  Spanish  America.'  He 
contended  that  if  we  were  justified  in  our  attempts  at  independence, 
much  more  was  she,  who  had  writhed  beneath  the  scourge  of 
oppression  so  long,  so  much  longer  than  we;  that  if  they  were 
worthy  of  success,  if  they  were  entitled  to  succeed  from  the  just- 
ness of  their  cause,  then  surely  we  ought  to  wish  it,  especially 
when  we  consider  the  barbarous  character  of  the  war.  He 
maintained  that  we  were  deeply  interested,  in  recognizing  their 
independence.  Even  then  our  commerce  with  those  provinces 
was  considerable,  and  would  greatly  increase  after  they  should 
become  permanently  settled  as  free  and  independent  nations.  The 
vol.  i.  13 


98  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

act  would  attach  them  to  us,  nay,  it  would  bind  them  to  us  by- 
relations  as  intimate  as  those  of  kindred ;  they  would  become  our 
powerful  allies.  Mr.  Clay  said  he  took  this  ground,  not  because 
he  desired  to  force  our  principles  where  they  were  not  wished,  but 
simply  from  feelings  of  sympathy.  We  knew  by  experience  how 
sweet  it  was  to  receive  that  when  we  were  in  circumstances  that 
tried  men's  souls.  There  could  be  no  danger,  nor  objection  to 
stretch  out  towards  their  people  the  hand  of  friendly  sympathy, 
to  present  to  those  abused  and  oppressed  communities  an  expres- 
sion of  our  good  will,  to  make  them  a  tender  of  those  great 
principles  which  we  have  adopted  as  the  basis  of  our  institu- 
tions. Their  ignorance  and  inability  had  been  brought  forward, 
by  those  opposing  the  measure,  as  completely  incapacitating  them 
for  self-government.  These,  he  contended,  had  been  greatly 
magnified,  but  admitting  them  to  be  as  unqualifying  as  they  had 
been  represented  to  be,  the  fact  ought  rather  to  increase  our  pity 
for  them,  and  to  urge  us  to  seek  the  more  earnestly,  by  all  reasona- 
ble and  just  means  within  our  reach,  their  liberation  from  that 
detestable  system  which  chained  them  to  such  a  servile  state.  He 
ridiculed  the  idea  that  recognition  could  be  made  a  just  pretext 
for  war.  '  Recognition'  said  he,  'without  aid  is  no  just  cause  of 
war ;  with  aid,  it  is  not  because  of  the  recognition,  but  because  of 
the  aid,  as  aid  without  recognition  is  cause  of  war.'  Mr.  Clay's 
efforts  were  not  successful  at  this  time ;  no  minister  was  despatched 
to  South  America;  the  friendly  mission  was  deferred  until  1821, 
when  he  submitted,  on  the  tenth  of  February,  a  resolution  to  the 
house,  l  declaring  that  the  house  of  representatives  participated 
with  the  people  of  the  United  States  in  the  deep  interest  which 
they  felt  for  the  success  of  the  Spanish  provinces  of  South 
America,  which  were  struggling  to  establish  their  liberty  and  inde- 
pendence, and  that  it  would  give  its  constitutional  support  to  the 
president  of  the  United  States,  whenever  he  might  deem  it 
expedient  to  recognize  the  sovereignty  and  independence  of  those 
provinces.' 

On  this  resolution,  a  warm  and  protracted  debate  ensued,  which 
was  finally  adopted,  by  a  vote  of  eighty-seven  to  sixty-eight,  and 
Mr.  Clay  was  appointed  chairman  of  a  committee  to  communicate 
to  the  president  the  action  of  the  house. 

On  the  eighth  day  of  March,  1822,  the  president  transmitted  to 
the  house  of  representatives  a  message  recommending  the  recogni- 
tion, which  Mr.  Clay  had  so  long  struggled  for.  On  the  twenty- 
eighth  the  vote  of  recognition  was  taken,  when  it  appeared  that 
there  was  but  one  dissenting  voice. 

Thus  at  last  were  the  noble  and  generous  efforts  of  the  patriot 
statesman  crowned  with  success  as  complete  as  they  had  been 
persevering.  Years  had  elapsed  between  their  commencement 
and  glorious  consummation ;  years  of  toil,  anxiety,  and  hope,  but 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  99 

now  the  harvest  time  had  come.  The  president  and  congress, 
from  vehemently  opposing  his  views  in  relation  to  their  indepen- 
dence, by  his  persuasive  arguments  were  brought  over  to  them, 
who  officially  stretched  out  the  hand  of  the  nation,  to  clasp  with 
friendly  pressure  those  of  the  infant  republics  of  the  south.  As  a 
matter  of  course,  the  act  was  denounced  as  one  of  folly  and  fraught 
with  danger,  by  the  personal  and  political  enemies  of  Mr.  Clay ; 
but  the  truly  philanthropic,  throughout  the  land,  regarded  it  with 
approbation,  and  described  it  as  just  what  ihe  greatest  free  nation 
on  the  globe  should  do  towards  those  who  were  worthy  of  it.  It 
was  applauded  throughout  the  world,  but  particularly  by  those 
towards  whom  it  was  directed,  with  enthusiastic  expressions  of 
gratitude.  The  supreme  congress  of  Mexico  voted  him  the  thanks 
of  the  nation,  for  his  zeal  and  efficient  labors  in  their  behalf. 

During  the  struggle,  his  speeches  were  frequently  read  at  the  head 
of  the  patriot  army,  and  the  effect  was  always  to  increase  their 
intrepidity  and  valor.  The  name  of  Clay  became  associated  with 
every  thing  dear  and  valuable  in  freedom,  and  was  pronounced  by 
both  officer  and  soldier  with  reverence ;  and  many  were  the  epis- 
tolary notices  which  he  received,  of  the  high  estimation  in  which 
his  services  were  held,  by  that  suffering,  but  successfully  struggling 
people.     The  following  is  a  specimen. 

'  Bogota,  21st  November,  1827. 

Sir,  —  I  cannot  omit  availing  myself  of  the  opportunity  afforded  me  by  the  depart- 
ure of  colonel  Watts,  chargd  d'affaires  of  the  United  States,  of  taking  the  liberty  to 
address  your  excellency.  This  desire  has  long  been  entertained  by  me,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  expressing  my  admiration  of  your  excellency's  brilliant  talents  and  ardent 
love  of  liberty.  All  America,  Colombia,  and  myself,  owe  your  excellency  our  purest 
gratitude,  for  the  incomparable  services  you  have  rendered  to  us,  by  sustaining  our 
course  with  a  sublime  enthusiasm.  Accept,  therefore,  this  sincere  and  cordial  testi- 
mony, which  I  hasten  to  offer  to  your  excellency  and  to  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  who  have  so  greatly  contributed  to  the  emancipation  of  your  southern  brethren. 

'  I  have  the  honor  to  offer  to  your  excellency  my  distinguished  consideration. 
1  Your  excellency's  obedient  servant, 

'BOLIVAR.' 

To  the  above,  Mr.  Clay  replied,  of  which  the  following  is  an 
extract. 

Washington,  21th  October,  1828. 
1  Sir,  —  It  is  very  gratifying  to  me  to  be  assured  directly  by  your  excellency,  that 
the  course  which  the  government  of  the  United  States  took  on  this  memorable  occa- 
sion, and  my  humble  efforts,  have  excited  the  gratitude  and  commanded  the  approba- 
tion of  your  excellency.  I  am  persuaded  that  I  do  not  misinterpret  the  feelings  of 
the  people  of  the  United  States,  as  I  certainly  express  my  own,  in  saying  that  the 
interest  which  was  inspired  in  this  country  by  the  arduous  struggles  of  South  Amer- 
ica, arose  principally  from  the  hope  that  along  with  its  independence  would  be  estab- 
lished free  institutions,  insuring  all  the  blessings  of  civil  liberty.  To  the  accomplish- 
ing of  that  object  we  still  anxiously  look.  We  are  aware  that  great  difficulties 
oppose  it,  among  which  not  the  least  is  that  which  arises  out  of  the  existence  of  a 
large  military  force,  raised  for  the  purpose  of  resisting  the  power  of  Spain.  Standing 
armies,  organized  with  the  most  patriotic  intentions,  are  dangerous  instruments. 
They  devour  the  substance,  debauch  the  morals,  and  too  often  destroy  the  liberties 
of  a  people.     Nothing  can  be  more  perilous  or  unwise,  than  to  retain  them  after  the 


100  LIFE     OF     HENRY      CLAY. 

necessity  has  ceased  which  led  to  their  formation,  especially  if  their  numbers  are 
disproportioned  to  the  revenues  of  the  state. 

'  But  nothwithstanding  all  these  difficulties,  we  had  fondly  cherished  and  still 
indulge  the  hope  that  South  America  would  add  a  new  triumph  to  the  cause  of 
human  liberty,  and  that  Providence  would  bless  her  as  he  had  her  northern  sister, 
with  the  genius  of  some  great  and  virtuous  man,  to  conduct  her  securely  through  all 
her  trials.  We  had  even  Battered  ourselves  that  we  beheld  that  genius  in  your  excel- 
lency. But  I  should  be  unworthy  the  consideration  with  which  your  excellency 
honors  me,  and  deviate  from  the  frankness  which  I  have  ever  endeavored  to  practice, 
if  I  did  not  on  this  occasion  state  that  ambitious  designs  have  been  attributed  by  your 
enemies,  to  your  excellency,  which  have  created  in  my  mind  great  solicitude.  They 
ha've  cited  late  events  in  Colombia  as  proofs  of  these  designs.  But  slow  in  the 
withdrawal  of  confidence  which  I  have  once  given,  I  have  been  most  unwilling  to 
credit  the  unfavorable  accounts  which  have  from  time  to  time  reached  me. 

'  I  cannot  allow  myself  to  believe  that  your  excellency  will  abandon  the  bright  and 
glorious  path  which  lies  plainly  before  you,  for  the  bloody  road  passing  over  the 
liberties  of  the  human  race,  on  which  the  vulgar  crowd  of  tyrants  and  military 
despots  have  so  often  trodden.  I  will  not  doubt  that  your  excellency  will  in  due 
time  render  a  satisfactory  explanation  to  Colombia,  and  to  the  world,  of  the  parts  of 
your  public  conduct  which  have  excited  any  distrust,  and  that  preferring  the  true 
glory  of  our  immortal  Washington  to  the  ignoble  fame  of  the  destroyers  of  liberty, 
you  have  formed  the  patriotic  resolution  of  ultimately  placing  the  freedom  of  Colom- 
bia upon  a  firm  and  sure  foundation.  That  your  efforts  to  that  end  may  be  crowned 
with  complete  success,  I  most  fervently  pray. 

'  I  request  that  your  excellency  will  accept  assurances  of  my  sincere  wishes  for 
your  happiness  and  prosperity. 

xl.    ILAl. 

|  His  magnanimity,  his  disinterestedness,  and  his  philanthropy,  stand 
out  in  bold  relief,  in  the  above  extract  from  his  apeal  to  Bolivar.     It 

I  evinces  the  same  spirit  of  kind  regard  for  the  welfare  of  the  South 
American  republics  which  he  invariably  manifested  towards  that 
of  his  own.  Its  tone,  the  nature  of  its  sentiments,  and  its  more 
than  open  frankness,  utterly  preclude  the  belief  that  selfishness 
had  any  agency  in  its  dictation.  It  exhibits  him,  cherishing  as 
strong  a  desire  that  the  happy  institutions,  immunities,  and  priv- 
ileges of  liberty  should  be  established  and  enjoyed  in  them,  as  he 
felt  in  supporting  and  perpetuating  those  of  his  own.  No  one 
can  rise  up  from  its  perusal  and  candidly  question  the  purity  of  his 
motives,  nor  charge  him  with  an  overweening  ambition.  In  short, 
no  one  unblinded  by  prejudice  can  fail  of  beholding  in  it,  his 
generous,  uncalculating  attitude. 

During  Mr.  Madison's  administration,  Mr.  Clay  was  twice 
offered  a  seat  in  his  cabinet  by  him,  or  the  mission  to  Russia. 
The  president  reposed  in  him  most  unbounded  confidence,  and  cor- 
rectly appreciated  his  preeminent  abilities.  At  the  breaking  out  of 
hostilities,  Mr.  Madison  selected  him  as  commander-in-chief  of  the 
army.  But  Mr.  Clay,  thinking  that  he  could  render  his  country  more 
efficient  service  in  her  public  councils,  declined  all  attempts  at  remov- 
ing him  from  them,  though  he  well  knew  that  he  did  so  at  the  expense 
of  his  private  interests.  These,  however,  never  appear  to  have 
entered  into  or  influenced  in  the  least  his  calculations.  '  My 
country  first,  myself  afterwards,'  is  legibly  written  on  every  part  of 
his  public  career. 


LIFE     OF      HENRY     CLAY',,     ...      .  101 


After  the  accomplishment  of  his  desire's  in  relation  to,  South 
America,  he  again  reverted  to  his  favorite  poltcy  ?  favbryte;  ■k£Q*:&$& 
he  saw  its  intimate  connection  with  the  growth  and  prosperity  of 
his  country,  as  calculated  to  develope  her  vast  resources,  and  to 
pour  into  her  lap  the  blessings  of  a  virtuous  and  free  people.  The 
formation  of  Mr.  Clay's  attachment  to  internal  improvements  and 
domestic  manufactures,  is  coeval  with  his  entrance  into  congress  ; 
and  when  matters  demanding  immediate  attention  had  been 
disposed  of,  he  would  bring  them  forward,  and  labor  to  make  the 
conviction  of  their  importance  sink  deep  into  the  heart  of  the 
nation.  When  Mr.  Madison  returned,  with  his  objections,  the  bill 
appropriating  the  bonus  of  the  United  States  bank  for  purposes  of 
internal  improvements,  Mr.  Clay  expressed  his  astonishment. 
He  had  confidently  calculated  on  its  receiving  the  signature  of  the 
president ;  for  he  had  particularly  invited  the  attention  of  congress, 
in  his  message,  'to  the  expediency  of  exercising  their  existing 
powers,  and  where  necessary,  of  resorting  to  the  prescribed  mode 
of  enlarging  them,  in  order  to  effectuate  a  comprehensive  system 
of  roads  and  canals,  such  as  will  have  the  effect  of  drawing  more 
closely  together  every  part  of  our  country,  by  promoting  intercourse 
and  improvements,  and  by  increasing  the  share  of  every  part  in 
the  common  stock  of  national  prosperity.'  Mr.  Clay  had  heard, 
through  the  medium  of  uncertain  rumor,  that  Mr.  Madison  designed 
to  veto  the  bill,  whereupon  he  sent  him  a  communication,  requesting 
him,  if  he  entertained  any  constitutional  scruples  about  signing  it, 
to  let  the  whole  matter  rest  and  pass  over  to  his  successor  for 
action.  The  president,  however,  took  a  different  view  of  the 
subject,  and  on  the  third  of  March,  returned  the  bill.  On  the 
following  day,  Mr.  Monroe  was  inducted  into  his  office,  who,  it 
was  conjectured,  prior  to  seeing  Mr.  Madison's  veto-message,  had 
prepared  his  inaugural  address  in  such  a  manner  as  to  recommend, 
in  strong  terms,  the  policy  of  promoting  internal  improvements, 
but  that,  on  reading  Mr.  Madison's  objections  to  the  bill,  he 
changed  his  opinion.  It  was  thought  he  was  led  to  do  so  partly 
from  fear,  and  partly  from  a  desire  to  conform  his  views  with 
those  of  his  predecessor.  Subsequently  he  stated  that  a  careful 
investigation  had  conducted  him  to  the  conclusion,  that  the 
power  of  making  internal  improvements  was  not  vested  in  con- 
gress, and  that  to  clothe  that  body  with  it,  an  amendment  of 
the  constitution  was  requisite.  Opposition  such  as  this  policy 
had  encountered,  from  so  exalted  a  source  as  that  of  three 
chief  magistrates,  (Messrs.  Jefferson,  Madison  and  Monroe,) 
would  have  appalled  a  mind  of  ordinary  strength  and  persever- 
ance ;  but  Mr.  Clay  was  one  who  never  formed  an  opinion  with 
precipitancy,  but  only  when,  by  the  most  diligent  inquiry,  he  had 
established  a  foundation  for  it  in  reason  and  philosophy.  Erected 
upon  this  basis,  he  would  adhere  to  it,  though  confronted  by  the 


XQ2  •  LIFE     OF      HENRY     CLAY. 


combined  opposition  of.  the  world.  A  compromise  of  principle 
hfc !  ^?a^ «  i  .stronger  to.  Nothing  disheartened,  therefore,  by  the 
magnitude  of  the  obstacles  opposed  to  his  progress  in  advocating 
his  favorite  measures,  by  those  high  in  authority,  he  seemed  to 
gather  fresh  energy  from  every  new  one  that  he  encountered.  In 
March,  1818,  a  resolution  was  submitted  to  the  house,  declaring 
that  congress  had  power  to  construct  military  post-roads  and 
canals,  and  also  to  appropriate  money  for  that  object.  The  oppo- 
sition to  this  presented  a  formidable  array  of  strength,  and  brought 
forward  every  objection  that  political  ingenuity  could  devise.  Mr. 
Clay  did  not  deem  it  advisable  to  consume  the  time  of  the  house 
in  examining  in  detail  any  except  those  denominated  constitutional. 
His  whole  aim,  therefore,  was  to  prove  that  the  power  alleged  in 
the  resolution,  was  derivable  from  the  constitution ;  and  this  he 
accomplished  in  the  most  convincing  manner.  In  construing  this 
instrument,  he  observed  the  same  rules  which  governed  his  action 
in  relation  to  the  bank  bill  of  1816.  He  maintained  that  every 
power,  which  appeared  necessary  and  proper,  to  secure  the  lawful 
exercise  of  constitutional  rights,  ivas  fairly  impliable,  and  that  this 
necessity  and  propriety  must  be  determined  by  the  discretion  of 
those  who  exercised  it,  '  under  all  the  responsibility  of  a  solemn 
oath,'  and  the  knowledge  that  they  were  the  subjects  of  those  laws 
that  they  passed,  and  that  they  were  amenable  to  the  people,  who 
held  in  reserve  the  right  to  resist  tyrannic  usurpation.  Mr.  Clay 
argued  that  the  power  to  establish  post-roads,  expressly  specified 
in  the  constitution,  involved  the  power  to  construct  them.  This 
position  he  illustrated  with  the  clearness  of  demonstration,  by 
referring  to  that  clause  which  gives  congress  the  power  of  making 
war,  and  employing  the  resources  of  the  country  in  prosecuting  it. 
He  declared  that,  from  the  same  provision,  the  power  of  transport- 
ing those  means  was  derived  by  implication ;  and  that  therefore, 
to  secure  such  transportation,  congress  might  legally  construct 
military  roads,  &c.  His  adversaries,  compelled  to  yield  before 
his  powerful  reasoning,  fell  back,  and  intrenched  themselves 
behind  the  concession  that  peculiar  emergencies  might  justify  the 
exercise  of  the  power  in  question.  From  this  he  drove  them, 
by  proving  that  this  concession  contained  the  admission  that  the 
constitution  conveyed  '  the  power ;  and,'  said  Mr.  Clay,  ■  we  may 
safely  appeal  to  the  judgment  of  the  candid  and  enlightened  to 
decide  between  the  wisdom  of  these  two  constructions,  of  which 
one  requires  you  to  wait  for  the  exercise  of  your  power  until  the 
arrival  of  an  emergency,  which  may  not  allow  you  to  exert  it,  and 
the  other,  without  denying  the  power  if  you  can  exercise  it  during 
the  emergency,  claims  the  right  of  providing  beforehand  against 
the  emergenc)'.'  They  finally  fortified  themselves  behind  the 
position,  that  it  was  not  requisite  for  the  general  government  to 
construct  such  works,  because  individual  enterprise  would  do  it 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  103 

as  soon  as  sectional  interests  should  demand  their  construction. 
Here  he  hemmed  in  and  captured  them.  His  motion  was  adopted 
by  a  vote  of  ninety  to  seventy-five.  It  was  a  triumph,  and  a 
signal  one,  over  opposition  that  had  been  accumulating  and 
strengthening  during  two  previous  administrations  ;  and  which  in 
the  then  existing  one,  was  directed  against  him  with  all  the 
violence  and  impetuosity  that  reserved  energies  could  impart  to  it. 
It  must  have  been  a  moment  of  proud  satisfaction  to  the  indefat- 
igable statesman,  as  he  beheld  the  last  vestige  of  opposition 
disappear  beneath  his  feet,  and  himself  the  sole  occupant  of  the 
place  on  which  he  had  so  happily  succeeded  in  founding  a  basis 
for  that  noble,  incomparably  noble  system,  fraught  with  every 
good  and  every  immunity  which  a  virtuous  people  could  desire. 
This  system  has  since  been  erected  so  much  under  his  supervision, 
and  through  his  direct  instrumentality,  as  to  give  him  the  title  of 
4  its  father/ 

Mr.  Clay  advocated  the  policy  of  carrying  forward  the  construc- 
tion of  the  Cumberland  road,  as  rapidly  as  possible,  and  exerted 
himself  from  time  to  time,  to  procure  appropriations  for  that  purpose  ; 
with  what  earnestness,  we  may  learn  from  his  own  language, 
declaring  that  '  he  had  to  beg,  entreat,  and  supplicate  congress, 
session  after  session,  to  grant  the  necessary  appropriations  to  com- 
plete the  road.'  Said  he,  '  I  have  myself  toiled  until  my  powers 
have  been  exhausted-  and  prostrated  to  prevail  on  you  to  make  the 
grant.'  A  monument  of  stone  has  been  erected  on  the  road, 
surmounted  by  the  genius  of  liberty,  and  bearing  as  an  inscription, 
the  name  of  '  Henry  Clay.'  The  importance  of  this  road  to  the 
public  may  be  learned  from  some  remarks  made  by  Mr.  Clay,  on 
the  occasion  of  a  dinner  given  him  by  the  mechanics  of  Wheeling, 
Virginia,  in  which  he  declared  the  great  interest  that  work  had 
awakened  in  his  breast,  and  expressed  his  ardent  desire  that  it 
might  be  prosecuted  to  a  speedy  completion.  He  said  that  a  few 
years  since,  he  and  his  family  had  employed  the  whole  or  greater 
part  of  a  day,  in  travelling  the  distance  of  about  nine  miles, 
from  Uniontown  to  Freeman's  on  Laurel  Hill,  which  now,  since 
the  construction  of  the  Cumberland  road  over  the  mountains, 
could  be  accomplished,  together  with  seventy  more,  in  the  same 
time.  He  considered  its  importance  so  great  to  the  union,  that  he 
would  not  consent  to  give  it  up  to  the  keeping  of  the  several  states 
through  which  it  passed. 

Mr.  Clay's  latest  congressional  efforts  in  behalf  of  internal 
improvements,  were  made  on  the  sixteenth  of  January,  1824,  when 
he  made  a  speech  before  the  house,  on  a  bill  authorizing  the  presi- 
dent to  cause  certain  surveys  and  estimates  of  roads  and  canals  to 
be  made.  Mr.  Monroe  and  a  strong  party  of  supporters  assumed 
the  ground,  that  congress  had  no  control  over  the  post  roads,  other 
than  to  use  such  as  had  been  established  by  the  states  individually, 


104  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

and  that  their  construction  and  repair  (and  consequent  alteration 
and  closure)  did  not  belong  to  the  general  government.  To  this 
doctrine  Mr.  Clay  replied,  by  saying,  '  is  it  possible  that  this  con- 
struction of  the  constitution  can  be  correct — a  construction  which 
allows  a  law  of  the  United  States,  enacted  for  the  good  of  the 
whole,  to  be  obstructed  or  defeated  in  its  operations  by  a  county 
court  in  any  one  of  the  twenty-four  sovereignties  ?  Suppose  a 
state,  no  longer  having  occasion  to  use  a  post-road  for  its  own 
separate  and  peculiar  purposes,  withdraws  all  care  and  attention 
from  its  preservation.  Can  the  state  be  compelled  to  repair  it  ? 
No!  Then  may  not  the  general  government  repair  this  road, 
which  is  abandoned  by  the  state  power  ?  And  may  it  not  protect 
and  defend  that  which  it  has  thus  repaired,  and  which  there  is  no 
longer  an  interest  or  inclination  in  the  state  to  protect  and  defend  ? 
Is  it  contended  that  a  road  may  exist  in  the  statute  book,  which 
the  state  will  not,  and  the  general  government  cannot  repair  and 
improve  ?  What  sort  of  an  account  should  we  render  to  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  of  the  execution  of  the  high  trust 
committed  to  us  for  their  benefit,  if  we  were  to  tell  them,  that  we 
had  failed  to  execute  it  because  a  state  would  not  make  a 
road  for  us?  The  same  clause  of  the  constitution  which 
authorizes  congress  to  establish  post  roads,  authorizes  it  also  to 
establish  post  offices.  Will  it  be  contended  that  congress, 
in  the  exercise  of  the  power  to  establish  post  offices,  can  do 
no  more  than  adopt  or  designate  some  preexisting  office,  enacted 
and  kept  in  repair  by  state  authority  ?  There  is  none  such. 
It  may  then  fix,  build,  create  and  repair  offices  of  its  own,  and 
its  power  over  the  post  roads,  is  by  the  constitution  equally 
extensive. '  Mr.  Barbour,  of  Virginia,  was  among  the  most  vigor- 
ous assailants  of  the  policy  advocated  by  Mr.  Clay.  He  contended, 
that  if  it  were  carried  out,  an  encroachment  on  the  rights  of  the 
states  would  be  the  inevitable  consequence ;  that  their  jurisdiction 
would  be  abridged.  He  was  answered  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
show  that  there  was  no  ground  of  alarm  to  be  apprehended  from 
that  source ;  that  all  the  control  which  the  general  government 
sought  to  exercise,  related  simply  to  constructing  and  preserving 
the  road,  and  the  maintenance  of  the  necessary  measures  of  its 
defence,  and  that  all  illegal  acts  committed  upon  it  would  be  left 
for  adjudication  by  the  state  through  which  it  passed.  Mr.  Clay 
contended  that  the  general  government  derived  the  right  of  construct- 
ing canals,  from  the  specified  rights  of  making  war  and  regulating 
domestic  and  foreign  commerce.  His  reasoning  was  clear  and  con- 
clusive, and  when  the  final  vote  was  taken,  the  majority  was  much 
greater  than  the  most  sanguine  supporters  of  the  measure  had  antici- 
pated, showing  a  great  increase  since  1818,  when  he  discussed  the 
same  subject.  The  opposition  were  now  prostrated,  indeed  they  had 
on  this  occasion  brought  out  their  whole  strength,  and  many  were 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  105 

heard  to  say,  that  if  defeated  now,  they  should  regard  the  policy  of 
internal  improvements  permanently  settled.  Many,  therefore,  who 
had  formerly  opposed  it,  on  witnessing  Mr.  Clay's  complete 
triumph,  adopted  his  views,  and  came  over  to  his  aid. 

It  has  always  been  a  prominent  principle  with  Mr.  Clay,  in  his 
legislative  career,  to  give  a  judicious  direction  to  his  exertions,  so 
that  if  they  were  successful,  his  country  would  be  benefited,  but 
if  unsuccessful,  that  she  should  not  sustain  any  harm.  In  this  one 
feature  of  his  action,  is  seen,  as  in  a  mirror,  the  purity  of  his  pa- 
triotism. His  exertions,  as  directed  towards  the  subject  of  internal 
improvements,  have  been  productive  of  incalculable  benefit  to  the 
nation,  and  to  individuals.  They  have  awakened,  and  employed, 
and  given  an  impetus  to  an  amount  of  enterprise  unmeasured,  the 
salutary  effects  of  which,  every  hill  and  vale  of  our  vast  country 
has  felt.  And  the  sea  has  felt  them  too ;  the  sails  of  commerce 
have  been  multiplied  by  them,  and  foreign  shores  have  groaned 
beneath  the  burdens  of  rich  freights,  which  they  have  heaped  upon 
them.  But  who,  in  imagination,  even,  can  enumerate  the  number 
and  the  depth  of  the  new  channels  of  enterprise  which  they  are 
destined  yet  to  create,  where  industry  may  roll  her  golden  tide, 
and  build  by  their  sides  the  abodes  of  a  mighty,  free,  and  happy 
people.  Through  the  long  vista  of  years  to  come,  it  needs  no 
prophetic  ken  to  look,  and  read,  on  many  a  monument  of  adamant, 
interspersed  among  them,  in  characters  of  imperishable  fame, 
inscribed  the  name  of  Henry  Clay. 

Near  the  commencement  of  1817,  efforts  were  made  by  the 
friends  of  the  free  colored  population  in  the  United  States,  to  ame- 
liorate their  condition.  For  this  purpose,  a  meeting  was  convened 
at  Washington,  on  the  twenty-first  of  December,  1816,  over  which 
Mr.  Clay  was  called  to  preside.  On  taking  the  chair,  he  stated 
the  object  of  the  meeting  to  be,  to  consider  the  propriety  and  prac- 
ticability of  colonizing  the  free  people  of  color  of  the  United 
States,  and  of  forming  an  association  relative  to  that  object.  In 
regard  to  the  various  schemes  of  colonization  which  had  been  sug- 
gested, that  appeared  the  most  feasible,  which  contemplated  some 
portion  of  the  coast  of  Africa.  There,  he  said,  ample  provision 
might  be  made  for  the  colony  itself,  and  it  might  be  rendered 
instrumental  in  introducing  into  that  extensive  portion  of  the  globe, 
the  arts  of  civilization  and  Christianity.  He  said  there  was  a  pecu- 
liar and  moral  fitness  in  restoring  them  to  the  land  of  their  fathers. 
He  went  on  to  state,  that  he  had  understood  it  constituted  no  part 
of  the  object  of  the  meeting  to  touch  or  agitate  in  the  slighest 
degree,  a  delicate  question  connected  with  another  portion  of  the 
colored  population  of  our  country.  It  was  not  proposed  to  delib- 
erate on  or  consider  at  all,  any  question  of  emancipation,  or  that 
was  connected  with  the  abolition  of  slavery.  It  was  upon  that 
condition  alone,  he  was  sure  that  many  gentlemen  from  the  south 
vol.  i.  14 


106  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

and  west,  whom  he  saw  present,  had  attended,  or  could  be  expected 
to  cooperate.  The  meeting  resulted  in  the  formation  of  the  Colo- 
nization Society,  of  which  Bushrod  Washington  was  chosen 
president. 

In  March  previous,  Mr.  Clay  expressed  his  views  relative  to 
holding  congressional  caucuses,  for  the  purpose  of  making  nomi- 
nations. He  thought  them  not  compatible  with  the  nature  of  the 
powers  delegated  to  them  by  the  people,  as  calculated  to  meet  their 
disapprobation,  and  establish  a  precedent  which  might  prove  dan- 
gerous to  their  liberties. 

When  congress  adjourned,  in  March,  1817,  the  house  unani- 
mously voted  Mr.  Clay  their  thanks,  for  the  ability  and  impartiality 
with  which  he  had  presided  over  their  deliberations,  and  the  cor- 
rectness of  his  decisions  on  all  questions  referred  to  the  chair.  He 
replied  in  an  apposite  and  beautiful  manner,  saying  that  next  to 
the  approbation  of  one's  own  conscience,  and  one's  own  country, 
was  that  of  the  immediate  representatives  of  the  people.  He  spoke 
of  the  difficulties  of  legislation ;  said  there  were  three  periods  that 
might  be  denominated  difficult ;  the  first  was  that  which  immedi- 
ately preceded  a  state  of  war;  the  second  was  that  which  existed 
during  its  continuance ;  and  the  third  was  that  which  immediately 
succeeded  it.  The  last  was  the  one  through  which  they  had  just 
passed  —  the  most  difficult  of  the  three,  when  every  thing  pertain- 
ing to  the  general  and  state  governments  was  unsettled,  and  when 
disorganization  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  prevailed ;  when  the 
task  of  supplying  deficiences,  strengthening  weaknesses,  and  cor- 
recting abuses,  was  by  no  means  light  or  pleasant.  He  congratu- 
lated them  on  the  efficient  manner  in  which  they  had  discharged 
that  task,  to  which  the  records  of  the  house  bore  ample  testimony. 
He  closed  by  tendering  them  his  thanks,  for  the  flattering  expres- 
sion of  good  feeling  with  which  they  had  honored  him,  presuming 
that  it  was  prompted  more  by  a  spirit  of  kindness,  than  by  a  sense 
of  justice  to  him,  as  he  was  sure  he  did  not  merit  it,  and  by  pledg- 
ing their  united  efforts,  as  an  offering  to  their  common  country,  in 
advancing  their  best  interests. 

When  he  reached  Lexington,  its  citizens  gave  him  a  dinner,  and 
as  heretofore,  showered  on  him  their  enthusiastic  approbation 
and  applause. 

In  January,  1817,  the  subject  of  the  well  known  Seminole  war 
was  brought  before  the  house  for  its  consideration.  Several 
features  relating  to  the  mode  in  which  it  had  been  conducted, 
demanded,  in  the  opinion  of  many  humane  members,  a  critical 
investigation.  The  character  which  had  been  given  to  that  war, 
by  the  chieftain  to  whose  management  it  was  intrusted,  was 
reflecting  strongly  on  the  honor  and  justice  of  our  country.  She 
had  sustained  a  grievous  injury  from  a  portion  of  the  Seminole 
Indians,  who,  daring  the  last  war,  aided  the  British   arms  against 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  107 

her,  and  feeling  that  she  had  just  cause  for  seeking  redress,  de- 
spatched general  Andrew  Jackson,  at  the  head  of  a  strong  military 
force,  to  obtain  it.  He  marched  into  their  territory,  and  in  a  short 
time  so  reduced  them,  that  a  portion  sued  for  peace.  A  treaty  was 
accordingly  prepared,  in  August,  1814,  but  which  was  not  signed 
by  many  of  the  chiefs,  except  those  previously  friendly  to  our 
country,  who  constituted  only  about  one  third  of  the  nation.  This 
misnomered  treaty,  from  its  cruel  and  unheard-of  tyrannical  exac- 
tions, had  found  a  much  more  appropriate  resting  place  by  the  side 
of  Ihe  ruthless  interdicts  of  a  Nero,  or  a  Trajan,  than  in  the  archives 
of  a  christian  nation.  The  poor  natives,  reduced  to  actual  starva- 
tion, their  wigwams  and  villages  in  ashes,  withering  in  the  dust 
beneath  the  feet  of  the  conqueror,  had  no  alternative  but  to  submit 
to  death,  or  just  such  terms  as  he  chose  to  dictate.  They  preferred 
the  latter,  which  was  meted  out  with  a  hand  nerved  with  all  the 
unrelenting  sternness  of  patriotism,  without  any  of  its  mercy. 
The  Indians  obtained  what  they  sought,  but  they  paid  dearly  for  it. 
The  instrument  granted  them  peace,  on  condition  that  they  would 
cede  a  large  portion  of  their  territory  to  the  United  States,  and 
yield  them  important  powers  and  privileges  over  the  remainder, 
and  deliver  into  the  hands  of  the  conqueror  the  prophets  of  their 
nation.  It  needed  only  a  superficial  knowledge  of  the  Indian 
character,  to  perceive  that  their  proud  and  haughty  spirit  would 
not  long  brook  a  compliance  with  terms  so  abjectly  humiliating. 
Not  many  months  elapsed  before  they  began  to  renew  their  depre- 
dations on  our  frontiers.  Though  acts  of  cruelty,  on  the  part  of 
the  Seminoles,  were  of  frequent  occurrence,  apparently  calling 
loudly  for  vengeance,  still  they  were  greatly  palliated  by  a  letter 
from  ten  of  the  Seminole  towns,  addressed  to  the  commanding  offi- 
cer of  fort  Hawkins,  on  the  eleventh  of  September,  1817,  in  which 
it  was  stated  that  not  a  solitary  white  man  had  been  butchered  by 
them,  except  in  revenge  for  the  unprovoked  murder  of  an  Indian. 
'  The  white  people,'  it  declared,  '  killed  our  people  first,  the  Indians 
then  took  satisfaction.  There  are  yet  three  men  that  the  red  people 
have  never  taken  satisfaction  for.'  The  governor  of  Georgia, 
accurately  acquainted  with  all  the  facts,  declared  his  honest  and 
sincere  conviction  that  they  were  not  in  fault.  But  supposing  the 
whites  had  not  been  guilty  of  outrages  on  the  Seminoles,  subse- 
quent to  the  date  of  the  treaty,  yet  its  unjustly  oppressive  character, 
the  paucity  of  their  chieftains'  signatures  attached  to  it,  and  the 
obligations  imposed  on  the  United  States,  by  the  ninth  article  of 
the  treaty  of  Ghent,  towards  the  Indian  tribes,  to  say  nothing  of 
the  law  of  nature,  justified,  in  our  humble  opinion,  the  attempts  of 
the  Seminoles  to  shake  off  the  insupportably  heavy  burden  which 
military  despotism  had  bound  upon  them.  In  view  of  these  facts, 
in  relation  to  general  Jackson's  treatment  of  the  Seminoles,  it  is 
unnecessary  to  say,  that  his  second  expedition   against  them  was. 


103  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

not  marked  by  one  mitigating  or  lenient  feature ;  that  they  were 
treated  more  like  dogs  than  men ;  that  their  chiefs  were  decoyed 
by  him  into  his  camp,  and  there  seized  and  instantly  put  to  death. 
In  short,  that  every  principle  of  honor,  humanity,  and  justice,  which 
ought  to  accompany  the  operations  of  a  civilized  army,  was  utterly 
disregarded.  It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  the  patriotically 
disposed,  in  congress,  on  beholding  the  dark  spot  gathering  on  the 
escutcheon  of  their  country's  fame,  in  consequence  of  such  high- 
handed proceedings,  should  rise  up  and  attempt  to  efface  it.  Gen- 
eral Jackson's  conduct  in  the  Florida  war,  was  made  the  subject 
of  special  investigation,  during  the  session  of  1818-19.  A  series 
of  resolutions  were  offered  to  congress,  severely  censuring  it,  which 
Mr.  Clay  sustained  in  a  speech  of  unparalleled  ability.  Although 
on  terms  of  personal  intimacy  with  the  general,  although  he 
accorded  to  him  his  just  meed  of  praise,  for  the  distinguished  ser- 
vice he  had  rendered  his  country  in  the  battle  of  New  Orleans, 
still  Mr.  Clay  thought  he  had  transcended  the  limits  of  both  law 
and  equity,  and  did  not  allow  his  feelings  of  friendship  for  him  to 
interpose  any  obstacle  to  the  frank  and  fearless  avowal  of  his  sen- 
timents. He  commented  very  severely  upon  his  treatment  of 
Indian  prisoners,  in  ordering  their  inhuman  massacre,  after  obtain- 
ing possession  of  them,  by  the  artifice  of  a  *  false  flag ,'  not  hesita- 
ting to  pronounce  it  wanton,  barbaric,  and  uncalled  for.  But  his 
flagrant  violations  of  the  rights  of  neutrality  called  forth  his  sharp- 
est animadversions.  During  the  campaign,  two  Indian  traders, 
Messrs.  Arbuthnot  and  Ambrister,  the  former  a  Scotchman,  the 
latter  an  Englishman,  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  general  Jackson. 
Ambrister  was  found  in  the  Indian  camp,  Arbuthnot  within  the 
limits  of  Spanish  jurisdiction.  The  Englishman  was  suspected 
of  having  instigated  the  savages  to  make  war  upon  the  whites, 
and  the  Scotchman  was  charged  with  informing  the  Indians  of 
their  rights,  as  secured  to  them  by  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  and  of  hav- 
ing advised  them  to  maintain  them  by  force  of  arms.  These 
unfortunate  men,  he  ordered  the  one  to  be  shot  and  the  other  hung, 
in  direct  opposition  to  the  decision  of  a  court  martial  of  his  own 
choosing.  The  turpitude  of  this  act,  Mr.  Clay  exhibited  in  its 
true  colors.  He  contrasted  the  execution  of  Arbuthnot  with  the 
blackest  act  of  Napoleon,  the  execution  of  Louis  of  France,  and 
showed  that  for  atrocity,  and  disregard  for  justice  and  clemency, 
it  cast  the  latter  far  into  the  back-ground.  His  aggression  commit- 
ted upon  the  Spanish  authorities,  in  seizing  upon  St.  Marks  and 
Pensacola,  fell  under  the  rod  of  his  reprobation.  Mr.  Clay  de- 
nounced these  acts  as  falling  little  short  of  tyrannic  usurpation, 
and  which  could  not  be  justified  on  any  ground  of  justice  or  rea- 
son. His  speech  on  this  occasion,  has  been  compared  to  the 
polished  orations  of  Sheridan,  in  the  case  of  Hastings,  but  as 
exhibiting  a  much  milder  spirit,  one  of  sincere  sorrow,  instead  of 
revenge. 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  109 

The  resolutions  were  rejected  by  a  small  majority,  which  is  not 
surprising,  on  considering  that  Mr.  Monroe,  his  cabinet,  and  nearly 
all  the  house,  were  disinclined  to  arraign  the  conduct  of  general 
Jackson  in  the  Seminole  war,  and  when  we  reflect  that  Mr.  Clay 
did  not  repeat  his  efforts,  as  he  usually  did.  The  general,  who 
soon  after  visited  Washington,  took  umbrage  at  Mr.  Clay's  speech, 
and  carried  his  animosity  so  far  as  to  refuse  to  have  any  intercourse 
with  him,  although  he  called  on  him  directly  after  his  arrival,  thus 
evincing  an  unabatement  of  friendship. 

To  whatever  part  of  Mr.  Clay's  congressional  career  we  turn 
our  eyes,  we  invariably  find  him  actively  engaged  in  building  up 
that  magnificent  system  of  domestic  utility,  whenever  circumstan- 
ces admitted.  This  he  commenced,  as  we  have  seen,  previous  to 
the  war,  and  his  attachment  to  it  had  been  increasing  ever  since, 
until  the  conviction  of  its  indispensable  importance  to  the  coun- 
try had  sunk  so  deep  into  his  mind,  as  to  cause  him  to  toil 
unremittingly,  in  order  that  the  beneficial  influences  of  that  system 
might  be  diffused  over  it  as  soon  as  possible.  For  these,  the 
farmer  at  his  plough  and  the  mechanic  in  his  shop  were  stretching 
out.  their  hands.  These,  our  infant  manufactories,  which  sprang 
up  to  supply  the  demands  caused  by  the  war,  demanded,  and 
these  were  requisite  to  make  the  union  (what  Mr.  Clay  never  lost 
sight  of,)  independent  in  reality,  as  she  was  in  name,  of  all 
foreign  powers. 

It  was  obvious  to  both  parties  in  congress,  that  in  order  to 
accomplish  an  object  so  essential  to  the  welfare  of  the  nation,  a 
protective  tariff  was  necessary.  Accordingly,  on  the  twelfth  of 
March,  1816,  Mr.  Lowndes,  of  South  Carolina,  one  of  the  com- 
mittee of  ways  and  means,  made  a  report  relative  to  the  policy  of 
protection.  He  sustained  the  policy  by  an  able  speech,  and  was 
followed  by  Mr.  Calhoun,  who  also  advocated  it.  Mr.  Clay 
yielded  his  unqualified  assent  and  vindication,  and  sought  to  cause 
the  bill  to  be  so  formed  as  to  secure  efficient  protection  for  woollen 
fabrics.     It  was  finally  adopted. 

In  April,  1820,  the  subject  of  a  protective  tariff  came  again 
before  congress.  The  distress  which  the  country  had  experienced 
since  1816,  was  seen  to  have  originated,  in  a  great  degree,  from 
inadequate  protection,  particularly  that  which  had  fallen  upon  the 
manufacturing  districts.  To  a  bill  revising  and  improving  the 
tariff  of  1816,  Mr.  Clay  gave  his  ardent  support.  As  on  former 
similar  occasions,  he  urged  its  adoption  on  the  high  ground  of 
national  utility.  '  I  frankly  own,'  said  he,  '  that  I  feel  great 
solicitude  for  the  success  of  this  bill.  The  entire  independence  of 
my  country  of  all  foreign  states,  as  it  respects  a  supply  of  our 
essential  wants,  has  ever  been  with  me  a  favorite  object.  The 
war  of  our  revolution  effected  our  political  emancipation.  The 
last   war   contributed   greatly   towards    accomplishing   our   com- 


110  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

mercial  freedom.  But  our  complete  independence  will  only 
be  consummated  after  the  policy  of  this  bill  shall  be  recognized 
and  adopted.'  The  bill,  though  passed  by  the  house,  was  defeated 
in  the  senate. 

In  1824,  the  distress  of  the  country  had  increased  to  such  an 
enormous  extent,  that  the  most  serious  apprehensions  began  to  be 
entertained,  lest  the  productive  energies  of  the  land  would  be  com- 
pletely annihilated,  unless  some  remedy  should  be  devised.  There 
was  no  department  which  did  not  feel  its  blighting  influence  ; 
navigation  and  commerce,  no  less  than  agriculture  and  manufac- 
tures, tottered  beneath  the  tremendous  weight  of  gloom,  which, 
like  a  dense  cloud  of  ruin,  overshadowed  the  whole  nation.  Our 
vessels  were  either  lying  idle  at  their  moorings,  or  mostly  going  in 
ballast;  all  encouragement  for  enterprise  was  taken  away;  produce 
was  plenty,  but  purchasers  few ;  our  granaries  and  store  houses 
were  full  to  overflowing,  and  in  many  instances,  their  contents 
were  going  to  decay;  to  obtain  money,  except  at  ruinous  rates, 
was  out  of  the  question,  consequently  labor  was  in  little  demand 
and  poorly  rewarded ;  the  depreciation  of  property  of  all  kinds 
was  unparalleled,  and  disorder  and  embarrassment  pervaded 
every  rank  and  condition  of  every  industrial  department.  It  was 
under  such  circumstances,  that  a  farther  revision  and  enlargement 
of  the  tariff  of  1816  was  proposed.  In  the  house,  the  committee 
on  manufactures  reported  a  bill  to  that  effect,  at  the  same  time 
expressing  their  opinion,  that  the  evils  which  then  existed,  were 
clearly  traceable  to  inefficient  protection  of  domestic  industry,  and 
of  relying  too  much  on  foreign  producers,  thereby  allowing  the 
specie,  the  life-blood  of  the  country,  to  be  drained  out  of  it.  This 
defect  the  bill  proposed  to  remedy.  Mr.  Clay  came  forward  in 
its  support,  under  the  most  solemn  impressions  of  the  exceedingly 
lamentable  condition  which  his  country  was  in,  and  evinced,  by 
every  tone  of  his  voice  and  look  of  his  countenance,  his  deep 
anxiety  to  extend  to  her  the  hand  of  speedy  relief.  '  If  it  were 
allowable  for  us  at  the  present  day,'  said  he,  '  to  imitate  ancient 
examples,  I  would  invoke  the  aid  of  the  Most  High.  I  would 
anxiously  and  fervently  implore  his  divine  assistance,  that  he  would 
be  graciously  pleased  to  shower  on  my  country  his  richest  bless- 
ings, and  that  he  would  sustain,  on  this  interesting  occasion,  the 
individual  who  stands  before  him,  and  lend  him  the  power,  moral 
and  physical,  to  perform  the  solemn  duties  which  now  belong  to 
his  public  station.'  He  felt  that  it  was  indeed  a  sad  sight,  to  behold 
a  free  and  mighty  nation  sitting  in  sackcloth  and  ashes,  with  her 
hands  shackled  by  a  policy  as  unwise  as  it  was  foreign  to  her 
interests,  with  which,  had  they  been  free,  she  could  have  clothed 
herself  with  beautiful  garments,  excited  the  envy  and  admiration 
of  the  world,  and  brushed  like  chaff  every  vestige  of  depression 
and  distress  from,  her  borders.     He  contended  that  the  causes  of 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  Ill 

these  were  easily  discoverable,  and  as  easily  removable  ;  that  they 
were  entirely  within  our  control,  and  that  we  had  but  to  will  it  and 
the  work  was  done,  and  it  was  high  time,  he  said,  to  set  about  it. 
Evils  of  every  description  had  been  accumulating  during  the  last 
ten  years,  until  they  had  become  so  numerous  and  great  as  to  be 
no  longer  patible.  But  it  was  a  source  of  satisfaction  to  know 
that  they  need  not  be  endured  —  that  they  were  medicable  —  that 
with  a  change  of  policy  they  would  disappear,  as  certainly  as  dark- 
ness disappears  before  light.  A  cultivation  of  her  own  resources,  he 
said,  would  relieve  the  country.  If  she  would  break  away  from  that 
state  of  foreign  vassalage,  into  which  she  had  voluntarily  entered, 
the  streams  of  commerce  would  again  fertilize  her  fair  fields.  If  she 
would  but  exend  her  hand  and  pluck  from  her  breast  the  thorn,  which 
her  own  suicidal  policy  had  planted  there,  he  avowed  his  belief  that 
the  rose  of  industry  would  spring  up  in  its  place.  This  change  of 
policy,  he  believed,  would  accomplish  all  that  would  be  requisite 
to  her  peace  and  prosperity.  In  supporting  the  bill,  however,  he 
had  to  encounter  much  and  strong  opposition,  at  the  head  of 
which  stood  Daniel  Webster.  The  collision  of  these  eloquent 
and  intellectual  giants,  is  said  to  have  been  inconceivably  grand. 
Says  a  gentleman  who  witnessed  it,  '  the  eloquence  of  Mr.  Webster 
was  the  majestic  roar  of  a  strong  and  steady  blast,  pealing  through 
the  forest ;  but  that  of  Mr.  Clay  was  the  tone  of  a  god-like  instrument, 
sometimes  visited  by  an  angel  touch,  and  swept  anon  by  all  the 
fury  of  the  raging  elements.'  Mr.  Clay,  aware  that  he  was  con- 
tending for  the  very  vitality  of  his  country,  had  nerved  himself  up 
to  one  of  his  mightiest  efforts,  one  which  would  demolish  every 
opposing  obstacle,  and  plant  his  foot  in  complete  triumph  on  the 
ruins  of  the  strongest  holds  of  his  assailants.  He  turned  aside 
every  weapon  directed  against  his  system,  and  entirely  disarmed 
all  opposition.  The  bill  passed  the  house  on  the  sixteenth  of  April, 
by  a  vote  of  one  hundred  and  seven  to  one  hundred  and  two,  and 
shortly  after  became  a  law,  and  its  beneficial  effects  were  felt 
throughout  the  country.  The  operations  of  this  system,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  United  States  bank,  which  was  now  rapidly  correct- 
ing the  derangements  in  the  currency,  filled  the  land  with  gladness 
and  prosperity.  Enterprise  came  forth  from  his  retiracy,  to  which 
the  previous  embarrassment  had  driven  him,  and  shaking  the  dust 
of  sloth  from  his  garments,  cast  his  eyes  about  over  the  vast  and 
beautiful  field  which  invited  his  occupancy.  Encouraged  by  the 
loud  and  united  voices  of  this  wisely  regulated  institution,  and 
the  American  system,  he  took  immediate  possession.  The  desert 
bloomed,  the  forest  fell,  the  mill  arose,  and  the  wTheel  of  industry, 
which  before  was  slumbering  on  its  rusting  axle,  under  the  guid- 
ance of  his  potent  hand  began  again  its  healthful  revolutions,  and 
soon  the  land  was  belted  by  her  green  and  golden  tracks.  He 
hushed  the  voice  of  woe,  and  caused  the  loud  shout  of  joy  to  go 


112  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

up  from  every  hill  and  vale  throughout  the  nation.  After  she  had 
enjoyed  his  life-imparting  influence  eight  years,  Mr.  Clay  thus 
describes  her  appearance.  '  We  have  the  agreeable  contemplation 
of  a  people  out  of  debt,  innumerable  flocks  and  herds  browsing 
on  ten  thousand  hills  and  plains  covered  with  rich  and  verdant 
grasses,  our  cities  expanded,  and  whole  villages  springing  up  as  it 
were  by  enchantment,  our  exports  and  imports  increased  and 
increasing,  our  tonnage,  foreign  and  coastwise,  fully  occupied,  the 
rivers  of  our  interior  animated  by  countless  steamboats,  the  cur- 
rency sound  and  abundant,  the  public  debt  of  two  wars  nearly 
redeemed,  and,  to  crown  all,  the  public  treasury  overflowing, 
embarrassing  congress,  not  to  find  subjects  of  taxation,  but  to  select 
the  objects  which  shall  be  relieved  from  the  imposts.  If  the  term 
of  seven  years  were  to  be  selected,  of  the  greatest  prosperity  which 
this  people  have  enjoyed  since  the  establishment  of  their  present 
constitution,  it  would  be  exactly  the  period  of  seven  years  which 
immediately  followed  the  passage  of  the  tariff  of  1824.'  Who 
can  doubt,  after  an  impartial  survey  of  the  whole  ground,  (and  a 
superficial  one  is  sufficient,)  who  can  doubt  that  the  materials  for 
limning  the  above  strong,  but  correct  picture,  were  furnished  by  a 
sound  currency,  and  a  judicious  tariff.  As  long  as  the  term  tariff 
shall  remain  in  the  English  vocabulary,  will  the  memory  of  Henry 
Clay,  in  all  the  verdancy  of  spring,  abide  in  the  heart  of  the 
nation. 

Notwithstanding  the  sturdy  opposition  which  Mr.  Webster 
arrayed  against  this  system,  as  advocated  by  Mr.  Clay,  he  became 
its  ardent  supporter  when  time  had  tested  and  proved  its  impor- 
tance. Many  other  public  functionaries  also,  who  had  assailed  it 
in  the  most  vindictive  manner,  laid  down  their  weapons,  and  cor- 
dially embraced,  with  strong  protecting  arms,  its  salutary  provisions. 
Even  bigotry  and  prejudice  were  forced  into  an  unwilling  acknowl- 
edgement of  its  utility,  and  were  soon  seen  placing  themselves 
in  a  situation  where  its  benign  influences  would  fall  upon  them. 

In  1819,  the  most  exciting  question  that  ever  agitated  the  coun- 
cils of  the  nation,  came  before  congress  for  adjustment — the 
question  of  admitting  Missouri  as  a  state  into  the  Union.  It  was 
correctly  called  a  '  distracting  question]  for  it  caused  a  political 
earthquake,  whose  quaking  influences  were  felt  from  one  end  of 
the  land  to  the  other;  and  even  now  its  recollection  causes  a 
sensation  of  terror  to  come  over  those  who  were  the  immediate 
witnesses  of  it.  Its  contemplation  made  the  stout-hearted  patriot, 
and  the  immovably  good  of  all  classes,  to  turn  pale  with  fear,  who 
believed,  that  unless  it  could  be  calmed,  it  would  engulph  in  irre- 
mediable ruin  the  liberties  of  the  republic.  It  was  not  the  simple 
question  of  admission  which  convulsed  the  country,  but  the  terms 
with  which  it  was  proposed  to  connect  her  reception  into  the  con- 
federacy—  terms  involving  another  question,  one  which  furnished 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  113 

all  the  fuel  which  kindled  the  fires  of  the  most  acrimonious  strife, 
in  every  section  of  the  nation — 'the  question  of  slavery.  The 
question  of  admission  divided  the  country  into  two  great  parties. 
A  large  and  respectable  portion  of  her  representatives  at  Washing- 
ton, desired  the  admission  to  be  unconditional,  while  the  other 
wished  it  to  be  subject  to  certain  conditions,  among  which  was  the 
following :  that  '  all  children  of  slaves,  born  within  the  said  state 
after  the  admission  thereof  into  the  union,  shall  be  free,  but  may 
be  held  to  service  until  the  age  of  twenty-five  years,  and  the  farther 
introduction  of  slavery  or  involuntary  servitude  is  prohibited, 
except  for  the  punishment  of  crimes  whereof  the  party  shall  have 
been  duly  convicted.'  With  the  certainty  of  intuition,  Mr.  Clay 
foresaw  and  predicted  the  alarming  consequences  which  would 
flow  from  the  fiery  crucible  of  public  debate,  if  this  combustible 
condition  was  placed  in  it,  and  rang  the  tocsin  peal  of  his  voice  in 
the  ears  of  the  nation.  Although  opposed  to  slavery,  and  declaring 
that  if  he  were  a  citizen  of  Missouri,  he  would  strenuously  oppose 
any  farther  introduction  of  slaves  into  her,  and  provide  for  the 
emancipation  of  those  already  within  her  borders,  still  he  believed 
we  had  no  right  to  compel  her  to  adopt  our  opinions,  especially  as 
she  was  unrepresented,  and  preferred  leaving  the  subject  of  slavery 
to  be  settled  by  her  alone. 

The  condition,  however,  was  made  the  subject  of  the  most 
stormy  debate  in  the  house,  and  carried.  The  bill  containing  it 
was  sent  to  the  senate,  which  returned  it  to  the  house,  after  reject- 
ing the  condition.  Neither  house  would  abandon  its  opinion,  con- 
sequently the  bill  for  admitting  Missouri  was  defeated,  and  unfor- 
tunately the  question  was  laid  over  for  the  action  of  the  next  ses- 
sion. This  gave  time  greatly  to  augment  and  embitter  the  tempest 
of  contention  that  had  been  raised  over  this  matter  in  congress, 
which  soon  drew  within  its  eddying  vortex,  in  one  fierce  wrangle, 
the  entire  people.  Their  representatives,  on  the  adjournment  of 
congress,  carried  the  infection  among  them  in  every  direction,  which 
created  the  most  violent  monomania  relative  to  this  condition, 
demanding  the  sacrifice  of  ease,  domestic  avocations,  and  even 
health  itself.  The  press  reeked  with  inflammatory  appeals,  and 
when  they  reassembled  at  the  session  of  1819-20,  they  were  almost 
wafted  to  their  seats  on  the  wings  of  the  furious  commotion.  Un- 
der such  circumstances  the  discussion  was  renewed,  which  was 
conducted  in  such  an  angry  manner  as  to  add  fresh  fuel  to  the 
flame  raging  without.  Resolutions  in  favor  of,  and  opposed  to  the 
condition,  were  passed  by  several  states,  and  placed  on  the  tables 
in  congress,  which  already  groaned  beneath  the  ponderous  weight 
of  similar  documents,  from  associations  and  public  meetings 
throughout  the  country.  These,  instead  of  shortening,  tended  only 
to  prolong  the  debate.  At  one  time,  Mr.  Clay  spoke  about  four 
hours  against  the  condition,  but  his  speech,  we  regret  to  say,  was 
vol.  i.         15 


114  LIFE     OF     H  E-N  R  Y      CL  A  Y  . 

never  reported.  Those  who  were  in  favor  of  subjecting  her  admis- 
sion to  the  specific  condition,  brought  forward  the  acts  of  congress 
passed  in  connection  with  the  admission  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  and 
Illinois,  into  the  union,  which  was  coupled  with  a  similar  condition, 
or  one  even  more  restrictive  in  relation  to  slavery,  as  proof  that  it 
had  a  right  to  impose  conditions  on  admitting  a  state.  The  prin- 
cipal argument  of  those  opposed  to  the  condition  was  derived 
from  the  constitution,  which  they  contended  bestowed  on  congress 
no  power  whatever  over  slaves,  except  what  had  already  been  ex- 
ercised, in  prohibiting  their  importation  after  the  year  1808,  that  the 
slave  states  never  would  have  joined  the  confederacy,  if  the  power 
now  claimed  had  been  conferred  by  the  constitution,  that  the  day 
when  it  should  be  usurped,  would  be  the  last  of  the  union,  that 
Louisiana,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Mississippi,  and  Alabama,  had 
been  admitted  into  the  union,  unsubjected  to  any  such  condition, 
and  that  therefore  Missouri  should  also  be  received  on  the  same 
ground. 

After  the  smoke  of  the  political  battle  had  somewhat  cleared  up, 
the  vote  was  again  taken  on  the  question  of  restriction,  which 
showed  a  majority  in  the  senate  against,  and  in  the  house  for  it. 
At  the  same  time  before  congress  was  an  application  from  Maine 
for  admission  to  the  privileges  of  a  state,  which  the  senate  coupled 
with  that  of  Missouri,  but  the  house  re/used  to  sanction  the  union. 
Finally,  the  question  was  referred  to  a  joint  committee  from  both 
houses,  who  attempted  to  decide  it  by  compromise.  By  this,  Mis- 
souri was  admitted  without  restriction,  but  it  was  provided  '  that  in 
all  that  territory  ceded  by  France  to  the  United  States,  under  the 
name  of  Louisiana,  which  lies  north  of  thirty-six  degrees  and 
thirty  minutes  north  latitude,  not  included  within  the  limits  of  the 
state  contemplated  by  this  act,  slavery  and  involuntary  servitude, 
otherwise  than  in  the  punishment  of  crimes  whereof  the  parties 
shall  have  been  duly  convicted,  shall  be  and  is  hereby  forever  pro- 
hibited. Provided  always,  that  any  person  escaping  into  the  same, 
from  whom  labor  or  service  is  lawfully  claimed,  in  any  state,  or 
territory  of  the  United  States,  such  fugitive  may  be  lawfully 
reclaimed  and  conveyed  to  the  person  claiming  his  or  her  labor  or 
service  as  aforesaid.' 

By  this  act  of  congress  the  territory  was  authorized  to  frame  a 
constitution  and  state  government,  which  should  not  infringe  any 
article  of  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  required  to 
transmit  to  congress  '  a  true  and  attested  copy  of  the  same,'  when 
a  final  resolution  of  congress  would  be  requisite  to  its  admission 
into  the  union. 

In  June,  1820,  the  territory  complied  with  these  conditions,  and 
introduced  into  her  constitution  an  article  making  it  the  duty  of 
the  legislature  { as  soon  as  might  be  to  pass  such  laws  as  were 
necessary  to  prevent  free  negroes  and  mulattoes  from  coming  to 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  115 

and  settling  in  the  state  under  any  pretext  whatever.'  This  clause 
called  forth  the  most  violent  censure  of  the  friends  of  restriction, 
which  caused  the  flames  of  contention  to  burst  out  anew  and  with 
redoubled  violence.  Mr.  Clay  found  himself,  in  the  autumn  of 
1820,  obliged  to  resign  his  seat  as  speaker,  and  retire  from  congress, 
to  repair  by  the  practice  of  law,  his  fortune,  which  had  been  greatly 
diminished  by  heavy  losses  sustained  by  his  becoming  security 
for  a  friend. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  session  of  1820-21,  the  constitu- 
tion of  Missouri  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  committee,  who 
reported  in  favor  of  her  admission.  The  senate  passed  an  act  to 
that  effect,  but  the  house  rejected  it.  The  admission  of  Missouri 
was  opposed  on  the  ground  that  free  people  of  color  were  citizens 
of  the  state  of  their  residence,  and  as  such  they  possessed  an 
undoubted  right  to  remove  to  Missouri,  and  that  her  prohibition  of 
their  removal  within  her  limits,  was  a  flagrant  violation  of  the 
constitution  of  the  United  States.  On  the  other  hand  it  was  main- 
tained that  whether  bond  or  free,  the  African  race  were  not  parties 
to  our  political  institutions,  that  therefore  free  negroes  and  mulat- 
toes  were  not  citizens  within  the  meaning  of  the  constitution  of 
the  United  States,  and  that  even  if  the  constitution  of  Missouri 
were  repugnant  to  that  of  the  United  States,  the  latter  was  perma- 
nent and  would  overrule  the  conflicting  provision  of  the  former, 
without  the  interference  of  congress. 

Such  was  the  question  which  menaced  a  disruption  of  the  union. 
Almost  daily,  in  some  form  or  other,  it  presented  itself,  wearing  a 
more  threatening  aspect  at  each  successive  appearance,  engender- 
ing in  the  hearts  of  the  two  contending  parties,  feelings  of  the 
most  bitter  animosity,  clogging  the  wheels  of  government,  and 
effectually  impeding,  and  almost  extinguishing  all  legislative 
action.  Says  one  familiar  with  this  question,  '  popular  meetings, 
legislative  resolves,  and  other  demonstrations  of  feeling  and  pas- 
sion were  resorted  to;  crimination  and  recrimination  followed; 
and  separation,  disunion,  and  civil  war,  with  all  its  infinite  of  hor- 
rors, were  the  common  topics  of  every  village  and  hamlet.  Had 
a  few  more  materials  of  excitement  been  kindled,  the  work  of 
destruction  would  have  been  instant  and  complete. 

In  this  crisis,  when  the  last  lingerings  of  hope  seemed  to  have 
departed,  that  an  amicable  adjustment  of  the  question  would  be 
effected,  all  eyes  were  turned  towards  Mr.  Clay,  as  the  only 
person  who  could  avert  the  calamities  which  seemed  suspended 
over  the  nation.  He  reached  Washington  on  the  sixteenth  of 
January  1821,  and  found  congress  in  the  greatest  scene  of  confusion 
imaginable.  Legislation  was  absolutely  terminated.  The  most 
envenomed  feelings  of  hatred  rankled  in  the  bosoms  of  the  two 
parties,  who,  frowning  darkly  on  each  other,  bore  a  stronger  resem- 
blance to  two  belligerent  armies,  with  their  weapons  in  their  hands. 


116  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

impatiently  waiting  for  the  word  to  rush  into  the  maddening  conflict, 
than  to  companies  of  grave  and  sober  legislators.  He  was  immedi- 
ately waited  on  by  both  parties,  who  expressed  the  strongest  anxiety 
that  the  vexed  question  might  be  settled  and  entreated  him  to  devise 
some  method  by  which  it  might  be  consummated.  He  expressed 
his  views  freely,  and  urged  them  to  select  some  common  ground  on 
which  both  parties  could  meet  and  harmonize  their  opinions.  On 
the  second  day  of  February,  he  made  a  motion  to  commit  the 
question  to  a  committee  of  thirteen,  to  be  chosen  from  both  parties, 
a  number  suggested  by  the  original  states  of  the  union,  which 
was  accepted.  Mr.  Clay,  in  a  report  submitted  to  the  house  on 
the  tenth  of  February,  by  him  as  chairman  of  the  committee  of 
thirteen,  introduced  a  resolution  for  the  admission  of  Missouri,  on 
the  following  conditions : 

It  is  provided  that  the  said  state  shall  never  pass  any  law  pre- 
venting any  description  of  persons  from  coming  to  or  settling  in 
the  said  state,  who  now  are  or  may  hereafter  become  citizens  of 
any  of  the  states  of  this  union,  and  also  that  the  legislature  of  the 
said  state  by  a  public  act  shall  declare  the  assent  of  the  state  to 
this  provision,  and  shall  transmit  to  the  president  of  the  United 
States,  on  or  before  the  fourth  Monday  in  November  next,  an 
authentic  copy  of  the  said  act,  upon  the  receipt  whereof,  the  presi- 
dent by  proclamation  shall  announce  the  fact,  whereupon  and 
without  any  farther  proceedings  on  the  part  of  congress,  the  admis- 
sion of  the  said  state  into  the  union  shall  be  considered  as  com- 
plete, and  it  is  provided  further  that  nothing  herein  contained  shall 
be  construed  to  take  from  the  state  of  Missouri,  when  admitted 
into  the  union,  the  exercise  of  any  right  or  power  which  can  now 
be  constitutionally  exercised  by  any  of  the  original  states.'  The 
report  was  made  to  include  this  provision  with  direct  reference  to 
those  who  opposed  the  admission  in  consequence  of  the  repug- 
nance of  a  clause  of  the  constitution  of  Missouri  to  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States,  which,  if  they  were  sincere  in  their 
opposition,  would  cause  them  to  desist.  The  house  took  up  the 
report  on  the  twelfth,  when  Mr.  Clay  entered  into  a  minute  detail 
of  the  deliberations  of  the  committee,  the  difficulties  that  attended 
them,  and  the  causes  which  led  to  the  adoption  of  the  resolution 
in  the  report,  and  concluded  by  beseeching  them  to  cherish  a  feel- 
ing of  conciliation,  and  to  temper  their  proceedings  by  modera- 
tion. The  report  was  rejected  in  committee  of  the  whole  on  the 
state  of  the  union,  but  was  afterwards  adopted  in  the  house.  On 
the  third  reading  of  the  resolution,  another  sharp  debate  ensued, 
which  was  terminated  by  Mr.  Clay,  who  is  represented  as  having 
reasoned,  remonstrated,  and  entreated,  that  the  house  would  settle 
the  question.  He  is  represented  as  having  been  almost  the  only 
individual  who  was  collected  and  calm.  While  others  were  covered 
with  the  foam  of  fierce  debate,  and  lashed  into  fury  by  the  com- 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY  117 

bined  influences  of  political  or  personal  animosity,  he  seemed  like 
one  dwelling  in  the  region  of  perpetual  serenity  on  some  lofty 
mountain,  and  contemplating  unmoved  the  storm  that  was  raging 
and  bursting  around  its  base.  '  Every  darker  passion  seemed  to 
have  died  within  him,  and  he  looked  down  upon  the  maddening 
and  terrific  scene  with  that  calm  and  sublime  regret,  and  gave 
utterance  to  his  thoughts  in  that  high,  majestic,  and  pathetic 
eloquence,  which  seemed  almost  to  designate  him  as  a  superior 
being  commissioned  by  heaven  to  warn  our  country  against  the 
sin  of  anarchy  and  blood.'  The  resolution,  notwithstanding  his 
exertions,  was  lost. 

On  the  fourteenth,  the  two  houses  met  for  the  purpose  of  ascer- 
taining the  result  of  an  election  that  had  been  held  for  president 
and  vice  president,  and  while  the  ceremony  was  being  performed, 
a  scene  of  confusion  occurred,  on  the  presentation  of  the  votes  of 
the  electors  for  Missouri.  The  senate  withdrew,  and  with  much 
difficulty  Mr.  Clay  finally  succeeded  in  restoring  order,  when  the 
senate,  on  its  being  announced  to  them  that  the  house  was  ready 
to  complete  the  business  for  which  they  were  assembled,  returned. 
On  proclaiming  the  result,  it  appeared  that  James  Monroe  had 
received  two  hundred  and  thirty-one  votes,  including  those  of  the 
electors  from  Missouri,  and  two  hundred  and  twenty-eight,  if  these 
were  excluded.  While  the  president  of  the  senate  was  announc- 
ing the  result,  two  members  of  the  house  claimed  the  floor  to 
inquire  what  disposition  had  been  made  of  the  votes  of  Missouri, 
whereupon  a  scene  of  confusion  and  turmoil  ensued,  that  beggars 
description,  and  the  house  was  compelled  to  adjourn,  in  order  to 
put  a  period  to  it. 

The  rejection  of  the  report  of  thirteen,  both  in  and  out  of  con- 
gress, was  regarded  as  a  disaster.  Those  who  had  been  most 
active  in  effecting  it,  soon  began  to  repent  their  rashness,  and  the 
blackness  of  despair  seemed  to  be  settling  down  upon  the  councils 
of  the  nation.  Mr.  Clay  sagaciously  concluded  that  the  feelings  of 
despondency  which  they  began  to  evince,  would,  if  allowed  to  take 
their  course,  accomplish  what  reason,  and  argument,  and  philoso- 
phy could  not ;  that  they  would  cause  the  headstrong  to  reflect,  and 
retrace  their  steps.  He  had  driven  them  to  the  very  '  ultima  thule ' 
of  argumentative  debate,  applying  the  lash  of  logic  at  every  step, 
until  they  had  become  insensible  to  its  infliction.  *  What  is  your 
plan  as  to  Missouri,'  he  would  say  to  them.  '  She  is  no  longer  a 
territory.  She  is  a  state,  whether  admitted  into  the  union  or  not. 
She  is  capable  of  self-government,  and  she  is  governing  herself. 
Do  you  mean  to  force  her  permanently  from  the  union  ?  Do  you 
mean  to  lose  the  vast  public  domain  which  lies  within  her  limits  ? 
Do  you  mean  to  drive  her  back  to  a  territorial  condition  ?  Do 
you  intend  to  coerce  her  to  alter  her  constitution  ?  How  will  you 
do  all  this  ?     Is  it  your  design  to  employ  the  bayonet  ?     We  tell 


118  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

you  frankly  our  views.  They  are,  to  admit  her  absolutely  if  we 
can,  and  if  not,  with  the  condition  which  we  have  offered.  You 
are  bound  to  disclose  your  views  with  equal  frankness.  You  aspire 
to  be  thought  statesmen.  As  sagacious  and  enlightened  statesmen, 
you  should  look  forward  to  the  fearful  future,  and  let  the  country 
understand  what  is  your  remedy  for  the  evils  which  lie  before  us.' 

Various  propositions  were  submitted  in  both  houses,  for  the 
purpose  of  healing  the  breach  which  every  day  seemed  to  be 
widening,  but  all  fell  short  of  accomplishing  the  object.  Finally, 
on  the  twenty-second,  Mr.  Clay  presented  the  following  resolu- 
tion : 

1  Resolved,  that  a  committee  be  appointed  on  the  part  of  the 
house,  jointly  with  such  committee  as  may  be  appointed  on  the 
part  of  the  senate,  to  consider  and  report  to  the  senate  and  house 
of  representatives  respectively,  whether  it  be  expedient  or  not,  to 
make  provision  for  the  admission  of  Missouri  into  the  union,  on 
the  same  footing  as  the  original  states,  and  for  the  due  execution 
of  the  laws  of  the  United  States  within  Missouri,  and  if  not, 
whether  any  other,  and  what  provision  adapted  to  her  actual  condi- 
tion ought  to  be  made  a  law.' 

This  resolution  was  adopted  in  the  house  by  a  majority  of  nearly 
two-thirds,  and  in  the  senate  by  a  much  larger  one.  The  com- 
mittee, Mr.  Clay  proposed,  should  consist  of  twenty-three,  a  num- 
ber answering  to  all  the  states  in  the  union,  and  so  exerted  his 
influence  in  their  selection,  as  to  secure  a  majority  favorable  to 
the  settlement  of  the  whole  matter,  in  the  manner  and  form 
proposed. 

The  joint  committees  met  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  February,  1821, 
and  proceeded  to  consider  and  discuss  the  question  of  admission. 
Mr.  Clay,  with  a  vigilance  that  did  not  slumber  for  an  instant, 
exerted  himself  to  infuse  into  the  members  of  the  committees  a 
portion  of  his  own  conciliatory  spirit,  exhorting  them  to  mutual 
concession,  and  declared  that  it  would  be  utterly  futile  to  report 
any  plan  of  adjustment  in  which  they  could  not  unanimously 
concur,  when  it  should  be  submitted  to  the  final  test.  So  firmly 
convinced  was  he,  that  the  effort  which  they  were  then  making, 
was  the  last  feasible  one  that  could  be  made  for  the  settlement  of 
the  question  on  w*hich  they  were  deliberating,  as  to  cause  him  to 
address  individually  the  members  of  the  committees,  in  order  to 
make  such  thorough  preparation  as  to  preclude  the  possibility  of 
defeat.  And  it  was  found  on  the  next  day  that  such  preparation 
had  been  made ;  the  resolution  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of  eighty- 
seven  to  eighty-one  in  the  house,  and  despatched  to  the  senate, 
which  unhesitatingly  agreed  to  it,  and  thus  the  question  which 
had  convulsed  congress  for  three  sessions,  and  nearly  distracted  the 
land,  was  at  last  settled,  and  mainly  through  the  influence  of  Mr. 
Clay.     The    proclamation  of  the  president  was  issued,  and  Mis- 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  119 

souri  took  her  place  among  her  sisters  of  the  confederacy.  This 
event  was  greeted  with  the  highest  demonstrations  of  joy,  and 
Missouri,  beautiful  Missouri,  from  her  majestic  forests  and  broad 
prairies,  from  her  ancient  mounds  and  mighty  rivers,  pealed  her 
loud  anthems  of  grateful  praise  to  her  and  her  country's  deliverer, 
hailing  him  as  the  second  Washington,  as  one  who  had  plucked 
the  brand  of  discord  from  the  hands  of  ten  millions  of  enraged 
and  exasperated  people,  and  put  in  its  place  the  olive  branch  of 
peace.  The  incense  of  exulting  hearts  was  lavished  on  Mr.  Clay 
like  rain.  His  agency  in  settling  one  of  the  most  difficult  and 
dangerous  questions  that  ever  has  arisen  since  the  adoption  of  our 
present  constitution,  was  clearly  seen,  deeply  and  gratefully  felt, 
and  thus  publicly  acknowledged.  No  one  then  was  so  blind 
as  not  to  see  that  it  was  his  hand  that  rent  the  pall  of  gloom, 
which  enshrouded  the  whole  land.  His  labors  and  his  incessant 
.  and  health-destroying  toils  to  bring  this  question  to  a  happy 
consummation,  constituted  a  topic  of  conversation  which  was  in 
the  mouth  of  every  one.  Although  the  journals  of  the  day  do 
not  record  the  many  speeches  made  by  him  on  the  occasion,  yet  it 
is  reported  that  his  exertions  in  speaking  and  acting  were  almost 
superhuman.  If  a  stranger  arrived  in  Washington,  whose  influ- 
ence he  thought  could  be  made  to  bear  favorably  on  the  settle- 
ment of  the  question,  he  instantly  endeavored  to  enlist  it.  Mr. 
Clay  himself  was  heard  to  say,  that  so  intense  had  become  his 
excitement,  and  so  exhausting  his  efforts,  his  life  would  in  all  proba- 
bility have  been  sacrificed  to  them,  if  the  admission  of  Missouri 
had  been  delayed  a  fortnight  longer.  There  is  no  doubt,  that  he 
taxed  his  patriotism,  his  eloquence,  his  philanthropy,  his  intellect, 
and  his  every  attribute  of  mind  and  body,  to  the  utmost,  and 
strained  the  bow  of  life  almost  to  breaking,  to  accomplish  this,  and 
it  is  saying  very  little  to  observe,  that  a  nation's  thanks  are  his  due, 
and  that  his  signal  service,  in  allaying  the  most  tremendous  storm 
that  passion,  prejudice,  and  sectional  feeling  ever  raised,  has 
imposed  a  debt  of  gratitude  upon  her,  which  posterity  alone  can 
pay. 

At  the  time  of  the  greatest  turbulence  over  the  Missouri  ques- 
tion, when  the  fury  of  the  contending  parties  in  congress  had 
broken  down  every  barrier  of  order  and  decency,  and  was  rushing 
rampant  over  the  field  of  debate,  certain  southern  gentlemen  in  the 
house,  headed  by  Mr.  Randolph,  concocted  a  plan  for  withdrawing 
the  entire  body  of  members  from  the  slaveholding  states,  from  its 
deliberations,  and  abandon  the  business  to  the  representatives  of 
the  other  states.  Had  this  been  carried  out,  anarchy,  civil  war, 
and  the  effusion  of  blood  would  have  followed  inevitably.  About 
this  time,  when  an  amicable  settlement  was  nearly  despaired  of, 
and  when  the  house  was  in  session  one  evening,  Mr.  Randolph 
approached  Mr.  Clay  and  said,  '  Mr.  speaker,  I  wish  you  would 


120  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

leave  the  house.  I  will  follow  you  to  Kentucky,  or  any  where  else 
in  the  world.'  Mr.  Clay,  regarding  him  with  one  of  his  most 
searching  looks  for  an  instant,  replied,  in  an  under  tone,  '-Mr.  Ran- 
dolph, your  proposition  is  an  exceedingly  serious  one,  and  demands 
most  serious  consideration ;  be  kind  enough  to  call  at  my  room 
to-morrow  morning,  and  we  will  deliberate  over  it  together/  Punc- 
tual to  a  minute,  Mr.  Randolph  was  there,  and  closeted  with  Mr. 
Clay,  discussed  for  some  time  the  then  all  absorbing  question  con- 
nected with  the  admission  of  Missouri.  Mr.  Clay  maintained, 
with  all  the  force  of  his  fine  colloquial  powers,  the  plan  of  comprom- 
ise, as  the  wisest  and  best  which  he  could  suggest,  and,  in  his 
opinion,  that  could  be  suggested,  declaring  his  sincere  conviction 
that  the  slaveholding  states"  might  adopt  it,  without  any  sacrifice  of 
principle  or  interest.  On  the  other  hand,  Mr.  Randolph  contended 
that  it  could  not  and  would  not  be  adopted ;  that  the  slave  states 
occupied  a  correct  position,  and  would  maintain  it  at  all  hazards,, 
and  would  not  proceed  an  inch  towards  a  compromise.  They 
finally  separated  without  agreeing  on  any  thing  that  was  calculated 
to  harmonize  their  action  in  congress.  '  Oh !  Mr.  Randolph,'  said 
Mr.  Clay,  as  the  former  was  about  stepping  from  the  house,  '  Mr. 
Randolph,  with  your  permission  I  will  embrace  the  present  occa- 
sion to  observe,  that  your  language  and  deportment  on  the  floor  of 
the  house,  it  has  occurred  to  me,  were  rather  indecorous  and 
ungentlemanly  on  several  occasions,  and  very  annoying  indeed  to 
me,  for,  being  in  the  chair,  I  had  no  opportunity  of  replying.'  Ad- 
mitting that  such,  perhaps,  might  be  the  case,  Mr.  Randolph 
replied  that  he  too  had  often  been  much  vexed  at  witnessing  Mr. 
Clay's  neglect  to  attend  to  him  when  speaking.  Said  he,  '  I  have 
seen  you  often,  when  I  have  been  addressing  the  chair,  I  have  seen 
you  often  turn  away  your  head  and  ask  for  a  pinch  of  snuff?  '  Oh ! 
you  are  certainly  mistaken,  Mr.  Randolph,  you  are  mistaken  if  you 
think  I  do  not  listen  to  you ;  although  I  frequently  turn  away  my 
head,  it  is  true,  and  ask  for  a  pinch  of  snuff,  still  I  hear  every  thing 
you  say,  when  seeming  to  hear  nothing,  and  I  will  wager,  retentive 
as  I  know  your  memory  to  be,  Mr.  Randolph,  that  I  can  repeat  as 
much  of  any  of  your  recent  speeches  as  you  yourself  can?  i  Well, 
I  do  not  know  but  I  am  mistaken,'  he  replied,  '  and  suppose  we 
drop  the  matter,  shake  hands,  and  become  good  friends  again.' 
'  Agreed,'  said  Mr.  Clay,  and  extended  his  hand,  which  was  cor- 
dially embraced  by  Mr.  Randolph.  They  never  spoke  to  each 
other,  however,  during  the  remainder  of  the  session. 

Soon  after  this  meeting,  Mr.  Clay  was  successively,  and  without 
concert,  informed  by  the  late  governor  Edwards  and  general  C.  F. 
Mercer,  the  one  a  senator  and  the  other  a  member  of  the  house, 
that  Mr.  Randolph  was  present  at  and  witnessed  the  death  scene 
of  the  gallant  and  lamented  commodore  Decatur,  that  he  remained 
gazing  a  long  time  upon  his  corpse,  agitated  with  deep  emotions, 


LIFE     OF     HENRY 

and  that  he  had  been  heard  to  express  a 

Mr.  Clay,  an  affair  of  honor  similar  to  that 

to  his  untimely  end.     This   information  naturally  put  Mr.   Clay 

upon  his  guard,  and  ever  after  during  the  session,  whenever  he 

met  Mr.  Randolph,  he  refrained  from  addressing  him. 

It  is  said  that  Mr.  Randolph  used  all  his  influence  in  trying  to 
induce  one  of  the  gentlemen  above  mentioned  not  to  agree  to  a 
settlement  of  the  Missouri  question,  as  he  ( Mr.  Randolph )  feared 
that  this,  if  accomplished  as  it  was  desired,  would  secure  Mr. 
Clay's  election  to  the  presidency. 

During  the  same  session,  and  some  time  previous  to  their  inter- 
view, Mr.  Randolph  accosted  Mr.  Clay  with  a  look  and  manner 
betokening  the  deepest  concern,  exhibiting  to  him  a  letter  couched 
in  very  abusive  and  insulting  terms,  threatening  to  cow-hide  him, 
and  asked  Mr.  Clay's  advice  as  to  the  course  he  should  pursue  in 
relation  to  it.  '  What  caused  the  writer  to  send  you  such  an  insult- 
ing epistle,  Mr.  Randolph  ? '  said  Mr.  Clay.  •  Why,  I  suppose,' 
said  he,  i  it  was  in  consequence  of  what  I  said  to  him  the  other 
day.'  '  What  did  you  say?'  'Why,  sir,  I  was  standing  in  the 
vestibule  of  the  house,  when  the  writer  came  up  and  introduced  to 
me  a  gentleman  who  accompanied  him,  and  I  asked  him  what 
right  he  had  to  introduce  that  man  to  me,  and  told  him  that  the 
man  had  just  as  good  a  right  to  introduce  him  to  me,  whereat  he 
was  very  indignant,  and  said  I  had  treated  him  scandalously,  and 
turning  on  his  heel  went  away.  I  expect  that  made  him  write  the 
letter.'  '  Do  you  not  think  that  he  was  a  little  out  of  his  head  to 
talk  in  that  way  ? '  replied  Mr.  Clay.  l  Why,  I  have  been  thinking 
about  that,'  said  Mr.  Randolph,  '  I  have  my  doubts  respecting  his 
sanity.'  '  Well,  that  being  the  case,  would  it  not  be  the  wisest 
course  not  to  bring  the  matter  before  the  house  ?  I  will  direct  the 
sergeant-at-arms  to  keep  a  sharp  look  out  for  the  man,  and  to  cause 
him  to  be  arrested,  should  he  attempt  any  thing  improper.'  Mr. 
Randolph  expressed  his  acquiescence  in  the  speaker's  opinion,  and 
nothing  more  was  heard  of  the  subject. 

On  another  occasion,  when  the  same  question  was  before  the 
house,  Mr.  Randolph  informed  Mr.  Clay  that  he  had  come  to  the 
conclusion  to  abandon  his  invective  and  caustic  irony  in  debate, 
and  in  future  to  confine  himself  to  pure  argument ;  that  he  had 
come  to  this  conclusion  in  consequence  of  the  advice  of  chief  jus- 
tice Marshall.  He  tried  pure  argument,  but  was  unsuccessful,  not 
awakening  any  interest  in  those  who  listened  to  him.  He  finally 
fell  back  into  his  old  eccentric,  sarcastic  track,  where  he  was  at 
home,  and  crowds  flocked  to  hear  him,  as  usual.  In  Mr.  Ran- 
dolph's hands  ridicule  was  a  powerful  weapon,  and  one  which  no 
member  knew  how  to  use  better  than  he,  but  sound  reasoning  and 
logical  disquisition  he  wielded  awkwardly  —  they  were  untem- 
pered  weapons  when  used  by  him,  about  as  effective  as  a  rush  in 
vol.  i.  16 


122  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

the  hands  of  a  child.  One  day  he  came  in  contact  with  a  very 
able  debater,  Mr.  Sheffey,  one  of  his  colleagues  from  Virginia, 
who,  in  a  playful  sally,  had  made  some  remarks  which  aroused 
the  irascible  temper  of  Mr.  Randolph,  who  replied  to  him  and  con- 
cluded by  offering  him  the  following  morceau  of  advice.  '  My 
worthy  colleague  possesses  talents  of  a  high  order,  but  they  are  not 
very  versatile.  They  qualify  him  for  a  particular  sphere  only,  beyond 
the  limits  .of  which  nature  never  designed  him  to  travel.  That  sphere 
is  logic.  In  this  he  can  do  battle  with  the  boldest,  but  when  he 
transcends  it,  he  has  less  power  than  a  pigmy.  Therefore,  as  a 
friend,  I  would  in  the  spirit  of  kindness,  advise  him  never  to  leave 
it  for  any  other;  but  especially  would  I  caution  him,  as  he  values 
his  reputation  and  safety,  never  to  venture  within  the  unexplored 
and  unsubjugated  regions  of  wit,  for  whose  labyrinths  and  intrica- 
cies he  has  neither  taste  nor  talent.  As  no  other  motive  but  a 
tender  solicitude  for  the  gentleman's  welfare,  has  prompted  this 
advice,  I  hope  it  will  be  received  and  appreciated  accordingly.' 
Mr.  Sheffey,  in  reply,  remarked  that  he  did  not  like  to  remain  in 
Mr.  Randolph's  debt,  and  would  therefore  cancel  the  heavy  demand 
which  he  owed  the  gentleman,  for  his  exceedingly  valuable  advice, 
by  returning  the  compliment.  He  accordingly  advised  him  never 
to  aspire  after  logic,  as  it  was  an  instrument  of  whose  use  his 
ignorance  was  more  than  sophomoric,  and  that  in  his  hand  it  was 
like  a  knife  in  the  hands  of  a  child.  '  In  my  opinion,  from  the 
armory  of  wit  the  facetious  member  may  draw  weapons  every  way 
adapted  to  his  capacity,  and  I  would  therefore  advise  him  never  to 
resort  to  any  other.'  When  he  concluded,  Mr.  Randolph  sprang 
to  his  feet,  and  in  his  quick,  off-hand  way,  said,  '  I  will  take  back 
all  that  I  have  said,  by  way  of  advice,  to  my  colleague,  for  he  has 
given  satisfactory  evidence  that  he  is  a  man  both  of  logic  and  wit.' 
The  incident  furnished  much  mirth  to  the  house.  The  next  day, 
Mr.  Randolph  recommenced  the  attack  with  increased  bitterness, 
and  was  called  to  order  several  times  by  Mr.  Clay,  who,  after 
repeated  trials,  succeeded  in  checking  him.  Mr.  Sheffey  was 
much  excited,  and  was  called  to  order  also,  wThen  Mr.  Clay  observed 
that  he  would  be  out  of  order  in  replying,  as  he  was,  to  any  other 
member,  except  Mr.  Randolph. 

At  one  time,  Mr.  Randolph,  in  a  strain  of  most  scorching  irony, 
had  indulged  in  some  personal  taunts  towards  Mr.  Clay,  commis- 
erating his  ignorance  and  limited  education,  to  whom  Mr.  Clay 
replied  by  saying,  '  sir,  the  gentleman  from  Virginia  was  pleased 
to  say,  that  in  one  point,  at  least,  he  coincided  with  me  —  in  an 
humble  estimate  of  my  grammatical  and  philological  acquirements. 
I  know  my  deficiences.  I  was  born  to  no  proud  patrimonial  estate 
from  my  father.  I  inherited  only  infancy,  ignorance,  and  indigence ; 
I  feel  my  defects ;  but  so  far  as  my  situation  in  early  life  is  con- 
cerned, I  may  without  presumption  say,  they  are  more  my  misfor- 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  123 

tune  than  my  fault.  But,  however  I  deplore  my  inability  to 
furnish  to  the  gentleman  a  better  specimen  of  powers  of  verbal 
criticism,  I  will  venture  to  say  my  regret  is  not  greater  than  the 
disappointment  of  this  committee,  as  to  the  strength  of  his  argu- 
ment.' 

The  following  incident  aptly  illustrates  Mr.  Clay's  readiness  at 
repartee.  At  the  time  of  the  passage  of  the  tariff  bill,  April  six- 
teenth, 1824,  as  the  house  was  about  adjourning,  a  friend  of  the 
bill  observed  to  Mr.  Clay,  'we  have  done  pretty  well  to-day.' 
'  Very  well,  indeed,'  rejoined  Mr.  Clay,  instantly,  'very  well;  we 
made  a  good  stand,  considering  we  lost  both  our  Feet  ;'  alluding 
to  Mr.  Foote,  of  New  York,  and  Mr.  Foot,  of  Connecticut,  both 
having  opposed  the  bill,  who  it  was  confidently  expected  but  a 
short  time  previous  would  support  it. 

During  Mr.  Clay's  absence  from  congress,  which,  as  has  been 
before  stated,  was  occasioned  to  furnish  him  an  opportunity  to 
repair  pecuniary  losses,  he  was  appointed,  in  connection  with  Mr. 
Bibb,  to  attend  the  Virginia  legislature,  for  the  purpose  of  adjusting 
certain  Kentuckian  land  claims.  The  land  laws  of  Kentucky  were 
a  source  of  great  perplexity  and  litigation,  subjecting  those  who 
had  settled  there  prior  to  her  separation  from  Virginia,  to  great 
inconvenience  and  loss.  In  his  appeal  to  the  general  assembly  of 
Virginia,  Mr.  Clay  manifested  unusual  anxiety  to  protect  the 
interests  of  the  occupants  of  the  soil,  in  the  state  from  which  he 
was  a  delegate,  and  succeeded  in  awakening  a  corresponding 
feeling  of  sympathy  in  the  hearts  of  those  whom  he  addressed. 
He  drew  a  vivid  picture  of  the  privations  and  hardships  which  the 
settler  had  to  encounter,  placed  him  before  them  in  the  attitude  of 
bidding  adieu  to  the  'tombs  and  temples  of  his  fathers,'  then 
followed  him  to  the  wilderness,  and  traced  his  toilsome  progress, 
step  by  step,  until  he  brought  him  to  the  period  when  he  began  to 
reap  the  reward  of  his  labors.  He  exhibited  him  sitting  at  twilight 
in  the  door  of  his  comfortable  tenement,  looking  out  upon  his 
broad  enclosures,  the  happy  partner  of  his  cares  by  his  side,  and 
his  dear  little  ones  enjoying  their  innocent  pastimes  around  him, 
and  almost  made  them  see  the  heavings  of  his  grateful  heart,  and 
the  moistening  of  his  eye,  as  he  surveyed  the  abundance  of 
domestic  bliss,  and  peace,  and  plenty,  which  his  industrious  hand 
had  gathered  about  him.  This,  said  Mr.  Clay,  is  the  bright  side 
of  the  picture  ;  now  let  us  look  at  the  dark ;  and  then,  in  his  solemn, 
impressive,  and  inimitably  graphic  manner,  with  a  quivering  lip, 
and  a  hand  tremulous  with  emotion,  he  pointed  to  the  same  group, 
yet  he  painted  no  happy  look,  he  caused  no  shout  of  sportive  joy 
to  ascend,  but  he  rendered  audible  the  deep  sigh,  the  suffocating 
sob,  and  piercing  groan ;  he  made  almost  visible  the  furrowed 
brow  of  toil-worn  manhood  wet  with  the  dew  of  despair,  a  broken- 
hearted wife  drowned  in  grief,  surrounded  by  sorrowing  childhood, 


124  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

all  fixing  a  last  look  upon  a  home  dear  to  them  as  their  lives,  as 
they  were  about  to  depart  to  rear  a  new  abode  in  the  uninviting 
wilderness.  This  is  no  picture  of  a  heated  imagination,  said  Mr. 
Clay,  it  is  suggested  by  scenes  of  almost  every  day  occurrence, 
and  it  is  to  prevent  their  occurrence  that  prompts  us  to  attempt 
the  adjustment  of  these  conflicting  '  land  claims.'  Equity,  human- 
ity, and  benevolence,  all  urge  this ;  they  all  mingle  their  voices  of 
mercy,  and  beseech  that  when  the  settler  has  by  his  honest  and 
industrious  efforts  acquired  the  comforts  and  blessings  of  social 
and  domestic  life,  he  shall  be  permitted  to  enjoy  them,  and  not  be 
in  danger  of  being  dispossessed  by  a  prior  claim  to  his  domain, 
and  of  which  he  was  ignorant.  In  one  of  his  most  pathetic 
strains,  he  attempted  to  quote  the  affecting  lines  of  sir  Walter 
Scott : 

4  Lives  there  a  heart  so  cold  and  dead, 
That  never  to  itself  hath  said  — 
This  is  my  own,  my  native  land ! ' 

He  commenced,  but  could  not  finish  them ;  some  words  had 
escaped  his  memory,  but  without  the  least  hesitation  he  pressed 
his  hand  upon  his  forehead  a  moment,  in  recalling  them.  All 
believed  that  this  momentary  hesitation  was  caused  by  the  recol- 
lections of  other  years,  which  were  swelling  in  his  heart  and 
checking  utterance,  and  when  he  withdrew  his  hand  from  his 
brow  and  cast  his  tearful  eyes  over  the  assembly,  and  in  his  impas- 
sioned manner  repeated  the  lines,  there  was  one  general  gushing 
of  tears,  as  if  all  hearts  had  been  melted  beneath  his  look  and  tone. 

In  the  course  of  the  year,  Mr.  Clay,  in  behalf  of  Kentucky,  and 
B.  W.  Leigh,  Esq.,  in  behalf  of  Virginia,  met  at  Ashland,  and 
concluded  a  convention,  which  was  ratified  by  the  legislature  of 
Kentucky,  and  by  the  house  of  delegates  of  Virginia,  but  was 
rejected  in  her  senate,  by  a  small  majority. 

Mr.  Clay  had  now,  during  his  three  years  absence  from  congress, 
realized  his  wishes  in  repairing  his  pecuniary  losses,  and  at  the 
earnest  and  repeated  requests  of  his  fellow  citizens,  accepted  a 
renomination,  and  was  again  elected  without  opposition  a  mem- 
ber of  the  house  of  representatives. 

In  consequence  of  intense  application  to  his  professional  duties, 
Mr.  Clay's  health  had  become  materially  impaired ;  indeed  his  life 
was  despaired  of.  During  the  summer  of  1823,  he  had  visited, 
without  receiving  much  benefit,  the  Olympian  Springs,  in  Ken- 
tucky, and  submitted  to  a  thorough  course  of  medicine,  but  all 
remedial  means  failed  to  arrest  what  appeared  to  be  a  gradual 
decline,  which  was  conducting  him  apparently  rapidly  to  the  period 
of  his  dissolution.  He  began  to  think  seriously,  as  a  last  resort,  on 
going  south  to  spend  the  ensuing  winter,  but  it  was  requisite  for 
him  to  be  in  Washington  in  November,  and  his  own  feelings 
inclined  him  to  be  there  at  the  commencement  of  the  session,  in 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  125 

case  it  were  practicable.  He  finally,  after  consulting  with  his 
friends,  abandoned  the  prescriptions  of  his  physicians,  procured  a 
light  carriage  and  a  good  saddle-horse,  and  riding,  driving,  and 
walking,  leisurely  made  his  way  to  the  seat  of  government.  When 
he  reached  Washington,  he  was  nearly  well. 

At  the  opening  of  the  eighteenth  congress,  on  the  first  Monday 
of  December,  1823,  Mr.  Clay  was  elected  speaker  to  the  house, 
over  Mr.  Barbour,  of  Virginia,  the  late  speaker,  by  a  vote  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty-nine  to  forty-two.  Shortly  after  his  election, 
the  following  beautiful  jeu  d' esprit  appeared  in  the  National  In- 
telligencer. 

1  As  near  the  Potomac's  broad  stream,  t'  other  day, 

Fair  Liberty  strolled  in  solicitous  mood, 
Deep-pondering  the  future,  unheeding  her  way, 

She  met  goddess  Nature  beside  a  green  wood. 
'  Good  mother,'  she  cried, '  deign  to  help  me  at  need  ! 

I  must  make  for  my  guardians  a  Speaker  to-day  ; 
The  first  in  the  world  I  would  give  them/    '  Indeed  ! 

When  I  made  the  first  speaker,  I  made  him  of  Clay? ' 

Mr.  Clay  accepted  the  appointment  in  a  brief  but  pertinent 
speech,  in  which  he  gave  a  succinct  view  of  the  duties  of  the 
chair,  and  presented  the  house  his  thanks  for  placing  him  in  it. 

In  the  course  of  the  session,  the  subject  of  the  Greek  revolution 
came  before  congress.  Mr.  Webster,  of  Massachusetts,  on  the 
fifth  of  December,  introduced  it  to  the  house,  in  a  resolution 
4  providing  by  law  for  defraying  the  expenses  incident  to  the 
appointment  of  an  agent  or  commissioner  to  Greece,  whenever 
the  president  shall  deem  it  expedient  to  make  such  appointment.' 
This  he  sustained  by  a  speech  of  great  power.  Mr.  Clay  brought 
to  its  support  the  same  feelings,  the  same  warm  sympathies,  and 
the  same  strength  of  argument  that  he  had  arrayed  round  the  sub- 
ject of  South  American  independence.  They  both  fought  hard 
to  procure  the  adoption  of  this  resolution,  but  it  was  lost.  The 
struggling  Greek,  however,  Mr.  Clay  never  lost  sight  of,  and  when 
he  became  secretary  of  state,  succeeded  in  accomplishing  that  for 
them,  in  which  he  was  defeated  now. 

While  the  question  of  recognition  was  before  the  house,  Mr. 
Clay  was  violently  assailed  by  a  member  from  New  Hampshire, 
recently  arrived.  It  was  thought  his  motive  in  doing  this  was  to 
bring  himself  into  notice,  by  attacking  the  most  distinguished  man 
in  the  house.  He  received  such  a  rebuke  from  Mr.  Clay,  admin- 
istered with  mingled  feelings  of  indignation  and  pity,  as  almost  to 
wither  his  energies  during  the  remainder  of  the  session. 

It  will  be  recollected,  that  during  this  session,  the  great  tariff 
measure  was  passed.  An  incident  grew  out  of  Mr.  Clay's  exer- 
tions in  its  behalf,  which  occasioned  no  little  amusement  in 
Washington,  at  the  time,  and  throughout  Virginia.  Mr.  William 
B.  Giles,  since  governor  of  Virginia,  on  the  appearance  of  Mr. 


126  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

Clay's  tariff  speech,  published  several  articles  entitled  '  The  Golden 
Casket,'  in  which  he  introduced  Mr.  Clay's  name  pretty  often,  and 
in  no  very  courteous  connection.  The  articles  were  of  course 
perused  by  Mr.  Clay,  who,  aware  of  the  foibles  of  their  author, 
took  no  serious  offence  thereat,  but  set  to  work  to  manufacture 
amusement  from  them.  He  sat  down  in  a  comic  mood  one  day, 
and  wrote  Mr.  Giles  a  long  letter,  complimenting  him  on  the  vigor 
of  his  intellect,  his  great  mental  ability,  and  his  accurate  critical 
acumen,  but  praising  him  especially  for  those  qualities  of  which 
he  was  utterly  destitute.  When  it  was  completed,  he  showed  it 
to  Mr.  Archer,  of  Virginia,  and  several  other  friends,  all  of  whom 
enjoyed  it  immoderately,  and  urged  him  to  send  it  to  Mr.  Giles, 
and  accordingly  he  sent  it.  As  had  been  anticipated,  the  old  gen- 
tleman devoured  it  with  the  greatest  gusto  and  satisfaction.  It 
contained  just  what  he  most  desired  —  praise  of  his  weakest  traits 
of  character.  He  read  it  repeatedly,  and  at  each  successive  read- 
ing his  heart  relented  towards  the  author,  to  such  a  degree  as  to 
cause  him  to  observe,  that  had  he  received  the  communication 
previous  to  the  publication  of  his  '  Casket]  he  should  not  have 
spoken  of  Mr.  Clay  as  he  did  in  that  work.  Shortly  after,  he 
exhibited  this  letter  to  some  of  his  intimate  friends,  to  let  them  see 
in  what  high  estimation  he  was  held  by  the  great  orator  and  states- 
man, but  unfortunately  nearly  the  first  one  who  read  it,  discovered 
the  hoax  played  on  him,  and  immediately  circulated  it.  Curiosity 
to  see  the  letter  now  pervaded  the  whole  community,  and  some 
difference  of  opinion  prevailed  as  to  its  true  character.  A  few  of 
Mr.  Giles'  friends  expressed  their  belief  that  it  had  been  written  in 
good  faith,  but  most  that  it  was  intended  for  a  joke  at  his  expense. 
Quite  a  violent  dispute  grew  out  of  it;  one  party  instigated  by  angry, 
and  the  other  by  mirthful  feelings.  At  length,  Mr.  Archer,  who 
resided  in  the  same  district  with  Mr.  Giles,  returned  from  congress, 
and  the  true  version  of  the  matter  was  soon  trumpeted  through  the 
community,  which  caused  unusual  merriment.  This  was  too 
much  for  Mr.  Giles,  who  sent  his  son,  a  lad  of  sixteen  years  of 
age,  to  demand  an  explanation  of  Mr.  Clay.  He  received  the  boy 
very  civilly,  who  made  known  to  Mr.  Clay  the  nature  of  his  busi- 
ness, saying  that  he  was  commissioned  by  his  father  to  ask  if  he 
were  the  author  of  that  letter,  at  the  same  time  exhibiting  to  him 
the  famous  epistle,  and  if  he  were,  to  demand  his  motives  in 
writing  it.  When  he  had  concluded  his  interrogations,  Mr.  Clay 
coolly  replied,  '  tell  your  father  that  I  shall  make  no  explanation  to 
him  through  his  own  son.  If  he  will  employ  a  proper  messenger, 
I  will  render  him  another  answer.'  The  lad  departed,  and  nothing 
more  was  heard  from  Mr.  Giles. 

On  the  fifteenth  of  August,  1824,  general  Lafayette,  the  nation's 
guest,  arrived  at  New  York,  and  on  the  tenth  of  December 
following,  was  introduced  to  the  house  of  representatives  by  a  select 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  127 

committee  appointed  for  the  purpose,  and  was  received  by 
Mr.  Clay,  in  an  apposite  and  beautiful  address,  of  which  the 
following  is  an  extract.  '  The  vain  wish  has  been  sometimes 
indulged,  that  providence  would  allow  the  patriot  after  death,  to 
return  to  his  country,  and  to  contemplate  the  intermediate  change 
that  had  taken  place,  to  view  the  forests  felled,  the  cities  built,  the 
mountains  levelled,  the  canals  cut,  the  highways  constructed,  the 
progress  of  the  arts,  the  advancement  of  learning,  and  the  increase 
of  population.  General,  your  present  visit  to  the  United  States, 
is  a  realization  of  the  consoling  object  of  that  wish.  You  are  in 
the  midst  of  posterity.  Every  where  you  must  have  been  struck 
with  the  great  changes,  physical  and  moral,  which  have  occurred 
since  you  left  us.  Even  this  city,  bearing  a  venerated  name,  alike 
endeared  to  you  and  to  us,  has  since  emerged  from  the  forest  which 
then  covered  its  site.  In  one  respect  you  find  us  unaltered,  and 
that  is,  in  the  sentiment  of  continued  devotion  to  liberty,  and  of 
ardent  affection  and  profound  gratitude  to  your  departed  friend,  the 
father  of  his  country,  and  to  you,  and  to  your  illustrious  associates 
in  the  field  and  the  cabinet,  for  the  multiplied  blessings  which  sur- 
round us,  and  for  the  very  privilege  of  addressing  you,  which  1 
now  exercise.  This  sentiment,  now  fondly  cherished  by  more  than 
ten  millions  of  people,  will  be  transmitted  with  unabated  vigor,  down 
the  tide  of  time,  through  the  countless  millions  who  are  destined 
to  inhabit  this  continent,  to  the  latest  posterity.' 

To  this  address,  the  general  replied  in  a  manner  which  evinced 
that  he  had  been  most  deeply  affected  by  it ;  indeed,  it  was  calcu- 
lated to  thrill  his  heart  with  proud  joy,  conveying  to  him  as  it  did 
a  rich  tribute  of  gratitude  from  a  mighty  nation,  expressed  in  the 
full,  silvery  voice  of  sincerity  and  affection,  whose  every  tone 
sank  into  his  soul  with  the  power  of  a  warm  welcome.  He 
contracted  a  strong  attachment  for  Mr.  Clay,  which  existed  to  the 
day  of  his  death. 

At  this  period,  Mr.  Clay's  influence  had  reached  a  commanding 
height.  His  control  over  the  legislation  of  the  United  States,  was 
unquestionably  greater  than  that  of  any  other  individual,  not  even 
excepting  the  executive  himself.  Although  Mr.  Clay  disagreed 
with  president  Monroe  on  the  great  measures  of  national  policy, 
internal  improvements,  and  the  tariff,  and  also  respecting  the  mode 
of  recognizing  South  American  independence,  still,  the  latter,  enter- 
taining the  most  profound  regard  for  his  ability,  and  appreciating 
the  value  of  his  services  to  his  country,  repeatedly  offered  him  a 
seat  in  his  cabinet,  and  the  choice  of  all  the  foreign  missions. 
Justice  to  Mr.  Clay's  disinterested  patriotism  demands  it  to  be 
recorded,  that  his  honest  conviction,  that  he  could  be  more  ser- 
viceable to  his  country  by  remaining  in  her  popular  assembly, 
than  in  representing  her  abroad,  was  one  of  the  most  weighty 
motives  which  prevented  him  from  planting  his  foot  upon  one  of 


128  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

the  many  stepping-stones,  to  place  and  power,  which  the  hand  of 
executive  favor  had,  unsolicited,  laid  before  him.  The  differences 
of  opinion  existing  between  him  and  Mr.  Monroe,  never  inter- 
rupted for  a  moment,  the  amicable  relations  of  social  intercourse 
which  they  mutually  maintained. 

Towards  the  close  of  his  second  term,  which  expired  in  1825, 
the  question  of  the  next  presidency  was  generally  agitated.  As 
candidates  for  this  office,  Messrs.  J.  Q.  Adams,  Andrew  Jackson, 
Henry  Clay,  and  William  H.  Crawford,  had  been  brought  forward 
by  their  respective  friends.  As  early  as  November,  1822,  in  a 
meeting  of  the  members  of  the  legislature  of  Kentucky,  Mr.  Clay 
had  been  nominated  to  it,  and  a  short  time  after,  he  was  nominated 
also  in  meetings  of  the  members  of  the  legislatures  of  Missouri, 
Ohio,  and  Louisiana.  Enthusiastic  expressions,  approbating  this 
nomination,  issued  from  large  assemblies  throughout  the  land,  and 
as  the  period  for  the  election  approached,  there  were  many  cheering 
indications  that  it  would  be  carried  in  his  favor.  But  efforts  were 
resorted  to,  not  the  most  creditable  to  those  who  employed  them, 
for  the  purpose  of  defeating  his  election.  About  the  commence- 
ment of  the  canvass,  reports  were  industriously  circulated,  calcu- 
lated to  diminish  his  support.  Among  them  was  one  announcing 
his  withdrawal  from  the  contest,  for  which  the  unscrupulous  exer- 
tions of  many  of  his  opponents  gained  extensive  credence, 
notwithstanding  our  late  lamented  chief  magistrate,  and  many 
other  friends  of  Mr.  Clay  in  Ohio,  published  a  counter  report, 
declaring  that  he  '  would  not  be  withdrawn  from  the  contest  but  by 
the  fiat  of  his  Maker.'  The  probabilities,  however,  of  his  success, 
continued  to  increase,  until  the  time  of  the  choice  of  electors  in 
Louisiana,  by  the  legislature  of  that  state.  In  that  body,  Mr.  Clay's 
popularity  was  such  as  to  secure  him  the  vote  of  the  state ;  this 
was  evident  from  the  fact  of  his  nomination  by  it.  The  members 
of  the  legislature  friendly  towards  the  other  candidates,  endeavored 
to  effect  a  compromise  with  those  who  supported  Mr.  Clay ;  but 
the  latter,  aware  of  their  strength,  rejected  it.  The  compromise 
proposed  to  give  him  four  of  the  five  electoral  votes  to  which  the 
state  was  entitled,  which  would  have  carried  him  into  the  house  of 
representatives,  to  the  exclusion  of  Mr.  Crawford,  as  one  of  the 
highest  three  candidates,  from  which,  according  to  the  constitution, 
it  would  be  obliged  to  make  a  selection.  Unfortunately,  about 
the  time  when  the  state  of  Louisiana  made  choice  of  her  electors, 
three  of  Mr.  Clay's  friends  became  so  seriously  indisposed,  as  to 
preclude  their  attendance  on  the  legislature.  This  event  furnished 
the  friends  of  Mr.  Adams  and  general  Jackson  an  opportunity  to 
form  a  coalescence,  which  they  eagerly  embraced,  and  divided  the 
five  votes  so  as  to  give  the  former  three  and  the  latter  two.  This 
consequently  excluded  Mr.  Clay  from  the  house,  into  which,  had 
he  gone,  there  is  no  doubt  that  his  unbounded  popularity  in  that 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  129 

body  would  have  secured  his  election  to  the  office.  When,  how- 
ever, it  became  apparent,  that  no  election  of  president  would  be 
made  by  the  people,  with  a  nobleness  and  a  nice  sense  of  honor, 
so  characteristic  of  him,  he  resolved  not  to  go  into  the  house,  but 
to  withdraw  his  name,  and  at  a  time  too  when  the  prospect  was  of 
his  being  one  of  the  highest  three  candidates.  With  great  magna- 
nimity, therefore,  he  pat  into  execution  his  resolution,  assign- 
ing to  several  of  his  intimate  friends  his  reasons,  among  which 
was  the  belief,  that  by  his  doing  so,  the  choice  would  be  more 
readily  and  pacifically  made.  Such  generous  and  self-sacrificing 
conduct,  while  it  illustrates  the  purity  and  strength  of  his  patriot- 
ism, is  worthy  of  all  admiration  and  commendation. 

Near  the  close  of  December,  1824,  the  result  of  the  canvass  was 
ascertained,  by  which  it  appeared  that  the  three  candidates  returned 
to  the  house,  were  Andrew  Jackson,  John  Q.  Adams,  and  W.  H. 
Crawford,  by  votes  of  ninety-nine,  eighty-four,  and  forty-one. 

Mr.  Clay's  position  now  was  exceedingly  delicate  as  well  as 
important.  He  had  it  in  his  power,  by  placing  himself  at  the  head 
of  the  party  who  went  with  him  in  the  house,  to  control  its  choice 
of  the  three  candidates  returned  to  it.  This  he  well  knew,  as  also 
their  friends,  who  beset  him  continually  and  in  every  possible 
manner,  to  secure  his  influence  in  behalf  of  their  favorite  candi- 
dates. His  predilection  was  well  known  to  his  personal  friends, 
but  he  sedulously  refrained  from  making  it  the  basis  of  any  cau- 
cusses  or  intrigues,  which,  knowing  the  unhealthy  excitement 
always  generated  by  them,  he  desired  to  avoid.  During  the 
several  weeks  immediately  pending  the  election,  the  warm  parti- 
sans of  the  parties  supporting  Messrs.  Jackson  and  Adams, 
approached  him  in  the  most  obsequious  manner,  expressing  the 
deepest  regret  that  he  had  not  been  returned  to  the  house,  and 
lavished  on  him  the  most  fulsome  flatteries  and  mawkish  caresses. 
After  trying  these  for  some  time  ineffectually,  finding  the  more 
than  Roman  firmness  of  the  statesman  unmoved  by  them,  they 
attempted  to  coerce  him  into  a  compliance  with  their  wishes,  and 
the  most  unprincipled  attempts  were  made  to  accomplish  this.  He 
was  attacked  through  the  medium  of  anonymous  letters  inces- 
santly, filled  with  abusive,  and  menacing  language.  These  arrived 
almost  hourly,  from  every  part  of  the  country ;  indeed,  the  enginery 
of  compulsion  discharged  their  missiles  at  him  from  every  fortress 
of  his  political  opponents,  in  the  hope  of  making  him  espouse  their 
cause.  Vain  hope!  A  foolish  waste  of  power,  as  they  might 
have  known.  It  were  easier  for  the  infant  of  a  day  with  his  puny 
hand  to  bow  the  oak  of  a  thousand  years,  than  for  the  combined 
efforts  of  his  enemies  to  cause  him  to  yield  an  inch  of  the  high 
ground  he  had  taken.  In  writing  to  a  friend,  he  thus  alludes  to 
the  blandishments  and  brow-beatings  which  he  received  at  this 
time.  Of  the  former,  he  said,  '  I  am  enjoying  whilst  alive,  the 
vol.  i.  17 


130  LIFE     OF      HENRY     CLAY. 

posthumous  honors  which  are  usually  awarded  to  the  illustrious 
dead;'  and  of  the  latter,  he  remarked,  'I  bore  them,  I  trust,  as 
your  representative  ought  to  have  borne  them,  and  as  became  me.' 
But  the  basest  attempts  which  they  made,  one  which  capped  the 
climax  of  their  depraved  assaults,  and  which  was  intended  to  fix 
the  foul  stigma  of  disgrace  indelibly  upon  their  victim,  was 
embraced  by  a  letter  published  in  a  Philadelphia  newspaper,  called 
the  '  Columbian  Observer.'  Without  any  preamble,  this  charged 
Mr.  Clay  with  the  deliberate  intention  of  selling  his  vote  to  the 
highest  bidder.  This  letter  purported  to  have  been  written  by  a 
member  of  congress  from  Pennsylvania,  and  declared  that  the 
terms  of  a  contract  had  been  settled,  which  gave  Mr.  Clay  the 
secretaryship,  for  which  he  was  to  bring  his  influence  to  bear  in 
electing  Mr.  Adams.  This  allegation,  the  former  lost  no  time  in 
denying,  in  a  communication  published  in  the  National  Intelli- 
gencer, over  his  own  signature,  in  which  he  pronounces  the  author 
of  the  letter  '  a  base  and  infamous  calumniator,'  and  called  upon 
him,  whoever  he  might  be,  to  come  out  boldly,  avow  and  sustain 
the  charge.  This  was  answered  a  few  days  after,  by  a  member  of 
congress  from  Pennsylvania,  Mr.  George  Kremer,  who  admitted 
himself  the  author,  and  also  his  readiness  to  substantiate  his  asser- 
tions in  relation  to  the  character  of  Mr.  Clay.  Subsequent  devel- 
opements  have  made  it  more  than  probable  that  Kremer  did  not 
write  the  epistle  in  question,  his  declaration  to  the  contrary  notwith- 
standing, but  that  it  was  written  by  the  individual  who  sustained 
the  '  Columbian  Observer,'  John  H.  Eaton,  and  the  latter  did  not 
deny  the  authorship,  although  Mr.  Clay  directly  charged  him  wilh 
it.  The  evidence  elicited  was  such  as  to  show  Mr.  Kremer's 
entire  passivity  in  the  whole  matter  —  a  mere  machine,  moved  by 
the  hands  of  the  vile  plotters  behind  the  scene,  made  to  speak  and 
act  as  they  directed,  and  caused  to  father  the  villanous  slander, 
which  was  generated  amid  the  slime  of  their  hearts,  as  destitute  of 
honor  and  patriotism  as  the  icebergs  of  Greenland  of  verdure. 
This  supple  tool  had  the  frankness  (to  his  credit  be  it  spoken,)  to 
acknowledge  afterwards  to  Mr.  Crowninshield,  a  member  of 
congress  from  Massachusetts,  that  he  ivas  not  the  originator  or 
author  of  it. 

The  more  effectually  to  vindicate  himself,  Mr.  Clay  desired  to 
place  the  subject  before  the  house.  To  this  he  was  prompted  by 
his  own  feelings,  and  also  by  the  belief  that  the  dignity  and  honor 
of  the  body  over  which  he  presided,  demanded  that  a  complete 
investigation  should  be  instituted,  of  those  gross  charges  which  had 
caused  such  disreputable  imputations  to  rest  upon  his  character. 
In  accordance,  therefore,  with  his  request,  a  committee  was  ap- 
pointed on  the  fifth  of  February,  1825,  consisting  of  many  leading 
members  in  the  house,  all  of  whom  were  his  political  opponents. 
Probably  the  matter  had  now  gone  farther  than  Mr.  Kremer  wished 


LIFE     OF      HENRY     CLAY.  131 

or  expected  it  to  go,  as  he  began  to  manifest  considerable  uneasi- 
ness respecting  the  result,  notwithstanding  he  had  but  a  day  or 
two  previous  arisen  in  his  place  and  substantially  reiterated  the 
contents  of  the  communication  he  had  acknowledged,  stating  that 
1  if,  upon  an  investigation  being  instituted,  it  should  appear  that 
he  had  not  sufficient  reason  to  justify  the  statements  he  had  made, 
he  trusted  he  should  receive  the  marked  reprobation  which  had 
been  suggested  by  the  speaker.  Let  it  fall  where  it  might,  he  was 
willing-  to  meet  the  inquiry  and  abide  the  result?  And  yet,  when  it 
was  proposed  to  adopt  a  course  which  would  establish  the  truth  or 
falsehood  of  his  statements,  which  would  test  this  willingness  '  to 
meet  the  inquiry}  he  shrank  back  and  shuffled  under  a  mean 
subterfuge.  The  committee,  in  their  report,  declared  that  Mr. 
Kremer  refused  to  appear  before,  or  communicate  to  them  any 
facts  of  which  he  had  virtually  admitted  himself  to  be  in  possession, 
and  protested  against  acting  either  as  an  accuser  or  a  witness, 
although  strongly  urged  thereto  by  them,  and  not  feeling  author- 
ized to  use  compulsion  in  procuring  evidence,  they  suffered  the 
subject  to  drop.  While  it  was  in  the  hands  of  the  house,  he  was 
heard  to  remark  to  Messrs.  Brent  and  Little,  one  of  whom  was  a 
warm  friend  of  general  Jackson,  that  he  never  intended  to  charge 
Mr.  Clay  with  corruption ;  that  he  had  transferred  or  could  transfer 
the  votes  or  interests  of  his  friend;  and  that  he  was  among  the  last 
men  in  the  nation  to  make  such  a  charge  against  Mr.  Clay.  To 
this  declaration  both  these  gentlemen  certified.  Although  Mr. 
Kremer  was  weak  enough  to  allow  himself  to  be  made  the  organ 
of  the  abominable  conspirators,  and,  as  it  appears,  a  little  contrary 
to  his  convictions  of  truth  and  honor,  he  could  not  stifle  the  com- 
punctious visitations  of  conscience,  which  he  experienced  on 
account  of  the  abusive  treatment  which,  through  him,  had  fallen 
on  an  unoffending  individual,  and  that  individual  one  of  the  main 
pillars  of  the  republic.  He  often  expressed  his  intention  of  apolo- 
gizing to  Mr.  Clay,  and  even  went  so  far  as  to  prepare  an  apology, 
containing  a  minute  explanation  of  all  the  circumstances  connected 
with  the  whole  affair,  from  its  inception  to  its  completion,  and 
which  fully  exonerated  Mr.  Clay  from  every  charge  brought  against 
him  in  the  letter.  Information  of  his  repentings  and  intended 
reparation  soon  came  to  the  ears  of  the  grand  instigators,  which 
carried  panic  to  their  cowardly  hearts,  and  caused  them  to  quake, 
lest  their  party-colored  covering,  composed  of  the  very  quintessence 
of  meanness,  baseness,  and  falsehood,  should  be  stripped  from 
them,  and  their  nakedness  exposed  to  the  view  and  the  derision  of 
the  world.  To  prevent  such  dreaded  consequences,  they  began 
instantly  to  bestir  themselves,  at  what  expense  of  principle  or 
integrity,  they  stopped  not  to  consider.  Their  first  efforts  were 
very  naturally  directed  towards  the  instrument  of  their  machina- 
tions, who  was  seized,  the  apology  taken  from,  and  a  muzzle 


132  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

fastened  upon  him,  to  prevent  the  slightest  utterance  of  his  repent- 
ant emotions.  They  then  drew  up  a  labored  statement  in  his 
name,  and  laid  it  before  the  house,  reeking  with  duplicity,  and 
infecting  the  very  atmosphere  with  its  nauseating  effluvia.  Who 
can  contemplate  the  loathsome  picture  of  depravity,  worthy  of  the 
arch  fiend  himself,  which  those  evidently  instigated  by  him,  painted 
f~  and  attempted  to  suspend  on  the  walls  of  the  nation's  dwelling- 
place —  the  holy  home  of  Liberty  —  in  desecrating  and  contamina- 
ting proximity  to  the  canvass  emblazoning  the  form  and  the 
features  of  the  'father  of  his  country,'  and  the  glorious  scenes 
of  his  revolutionary  valor,  without  mingled  feelings  of  disgust, 
indignation,  and  regret  ? — what  patriotic  heart,  what  lover  of  liberty 
and  political  virtue,  in  view  of  the  fountain  of  immaculate  purity, 
on  the  one  hand,  whose  streams  went  forth  incessantly,  to  fertilize, 
and  gladden,  and  bless  a  mighty  nation,  and  their  diabolical  attempts, 
on  the  other,  to  pollute  and  blot  it  from  existence,  without  sending 
up  the  fervent  ejaculation,  '  Heaven  save  my  country  from  falling 
into  such  hands '  ? 

After  the  dust  and  fog  created  by  their  unnatural  endeavors  had 
passed  away,  the  object  of  their  malice  appeared  in  his  proper 
place,  as  unmoved  and  serene  as  though  the  clangor  of  their  strife 
had  not  saluted  his  ears,  and  as  unaffected  by  the  showers  of  their 
envenomed  arrows,  as  though  he  had  been  sitting  in  his  native 
forests  amid  the  rain-like  fall  of  autumnal  leaves.  Their  loud  and 
discordant  clamors  did  not  for  a  moment  interrupt  his  meditations 
concerning  that  important,  that  solemn  duty,  which  had  devolved 
upon  him,  in  the  performance  of  which  he  had  resolved  that  no 
arts  of  wheedling  or  coercion  should  influence  him ;  that  no  man 
nor  set  of  men  should  act  as  his  casuist;  and  that  he  would  not 
select  from  the  numerous  casuistical  proposals,  which  party  zeal 
had  placed  before  him,  one  that  should  determine  the  mode  of  its 
discharge.  No !  he  chose  to  settle  that  question  at  a  tribunal  from 
which  there  was  no  appeal — at  the  tribunal  of  Nature,  which 
Nature's  God  had  erected  in  his  own  bosom.  To  that  he  resorted ; 
indeed,  it  was  one  of  his  most  favorite  resorts ;  and  spreading  out 
this  momentous  question  before  her  bar,  we  hear  him  exclaim, 
<  My  position  in  relation  to  the  presidential  contest  is  highly  critical, 
and  such  as  to  leave  me  no  path  on  which  I  can  move  without 
censure.  I  have  pursued  in  regard  to  it  the  rule  which  I  always 
observe  in  the  discharge  of  my  public  duty.  I  have  interrogated 
my  conscience  as  to  what  I  ought  to  do,  and  that  faithful  guide 
tells  me  that  I  ought  to  vote  for  Mr.  Adams.  I  shall  fulfil  its 
injunctions.  Mr.  Crawford's  state  of  health,  and  the  circumstances 
under  which  he  presents  himself  to  the  house,  appear  to  me  to  be 
conclusive  against  him.  As  a  friend  to  liberty,  and  to  the  perma- 
nence of  our  institutions,  I  cannot  consent,  in  this  early  stage  of 
their  existence,  by  contributing  to  the  election  of  a  military  chief- 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  133 

tain,  to  give  the  strongest  guarantee  that  this  republic  will  march  in 
the  fatal  road  which  has  conducted  every  other  republic  to  ruin.  I 
am,  and  shall  continue  to  be,  assailed  by  all  the  abuse  which  parti- 
san zeal,  malignity  and  rivalry  can  invent.  I  shall  view  without 
emotion  these  effusions  of  malice,  and  remain  unshaken  in  my 
purpose.  What  is  a  public  man  worth,  if  he  will  not  expose  him- 
self, on  fit  occasions,  for  the  good  of  his  country  ? '  Yes !  he  did 
act  according  to  the  response  which  that  'faithful  guide '  gave  to 
his  sincere  interrogation,  and  had  the  anathemas  of  the  world  been 
thundered  in  his  ears,  they  would  not  have  driven  him  from  thus 
acting.  He  deemed  her  will  paramount  to  that  of  his  constituents, 
who  had  desired  him  to  vote  for  general  Jackson.  They  afterwards, 
however,  not  only  justified,  but  highly  approved  —  as  must  every 
good  man  —  his  decision.  It  would  be  an  act  of  superfluity  to 
specify  minutely  the  grounds  of  Mr.  Clay's  preference.  He  had 
obtained  occular  evidence  of  Mr.  Crawford's  inability  to  sustain 
the  responsibilities  and  perform  the  arduous  duties  of  the  chief 
magistracy.  He  ascertained  it  to  be  a  fact,  but  one  carefully  con- 
cealed from  the  community,  that  Mr.  Crawford  had  become  almost 
entirely  debilitated  by  paralysis,  both  physically  and  mentally, 
which  itself,  aside  from  the  knowledge  which  he  possessed,  that  his 
influence  could  not  elect  him,  was  sufficient  to  induce  his  rejection. 
Between  general  Jackson  and  Mr.  Adams,  it  cannot  be  supposed 
that  Mr.  Clay  would  long  hesitate  to  choose.  His  determination 
had  been  taken  a  long  time  previous  to  his  knowing  the  result  of 
the  election  by  the  people.  He  had  repeatedly  given  utterance  to 
that  determination  to  friends  and  foes,  at  home  and  at  Washington, 
in  public  and  in  private,  declaring  that  no  supposable  contingency 
could  arise  to  constrain  him  to  vote  for  general  Jackson,  and  even 
went  so  far  as  to  say,  that  if,  in  consequence  of  his  well  known 
and  often  promulged  opinion  of  the  character,  acquirements,  and 
abilities,  of  that  individual,  he  should  sustain  him,  he  would  subject 
himself  to  the  just  contempt  and  reprobation  of  all  parties.  Neither 
did  he  nor  his  friends  look  for  Mr.  Clay's  support,  and  said  that  if 
he  did  give  it,  he  would  be  guilty  of  duplicity.  It  is  very  natural 
to  suppose,  that  a  consultation  of  his  experience  would  be  sufficient 
to  cause  Mr.  Clay  to  prefer  Mr.  Adams.  He  had  been  associated 
with  the  latter  in  many  situations  of  trust  and  responsibility,  requir- 
ing the  most  consummate  skill  and  statesmanship,  and  he  had 
invariably  found  him  more  than  sufficient  for  them  all.  He  had 
always  found  him  prepared  for  any  emergency  or  exigency,  how- 
ever suddenly  or  unexpectedly  it  might  arise.  But  in  reference 
to  the  military  chieftain,  its  consultation  elicited  evidence  just  the 
reverse;  he  searched  in  vain  for  a  page  recording  his  diplomatic 
wisdom,  sound  expositions  of  governmental  policy,  and  accurate 
estimates  of  presidential  qualifications;  it  was  wanting.  But  on 
many  he  found  indelibly  written,  acts  of  unwarrantable  and  unjust- 


134  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

ifiable  usurpation,  evincing  a  disposition  to  trample  on  law, 
humanity,  and  the  constitution  itself.  But  general  Jackson's  sup- 
posed hostility  to  internal  improvements  and  protection  to  domestic 
manufactures,  had  these  enumerated  deficiences  and  defects  in  his 
character  been  wanting,  would  have  been  sufficient  to  exclude  him 
from  receiving  Mr.  Clay's  suffrage.  These  cherished  systems, 
which  he  regarded  as  of  no  subordinate  importance  to  the  nation, 
and  to  establish  which  he  had  expended  the  prime  of  his  life,  he  knew, 
found  a  firm  supporter  in  Mr.  Adams.  This  fact  furnished  the 
fundamental  reason  ( if  any  one  may  be  thus  denominated)  which 
determined  his  choice.  Mr.  Clay  therefore  gave  Mr.  Adams  his 
vote,  who  was  elected  president.  He  immediately  tendered  the 
former  the  office  of  secretary  of  state,  which  was  accepted  with 
that  promptitude  and  decision  which  he  always  manifested  in 
entering  upon  the  discharge  of  those  duties  to  which  he  believed 
his  country  called  him.  By  this  act  he  proved  himself  consistent 
with  his  advocacy  of  the  claims  of  Mr.  Adams  to  the  presidency, 
under  whom  he  believed  that  he  could  render  more  efficient  service, 
than  in  his  present  position  in  the  house.  There  can  be  no  other 
reason  assigned,  which  carries  with  it  even  the  shadow  of  validity, 
inducing  him  to  accept  a  place  in  the  cabinet  of  the  president. 
The  same  place  had  been  tendered  him  by  Messrs.  Madison  and 
Monroe,  and  had  been  declined,  on  the  ground  of  his  belief  that 
he  could  make  himself  more  serviceable  to  the  nation,  by  continu- 
ing where  he  was.  The  great  measures  of  national  policy  which 
were  suspended  upon  his  shoulders,  at  the  time  they  desired  to 
transfer  him  from  that  body  to  their  cabinets,  he  had  disposed  of, 
and  had  also  happily  removed  most  of  the  serious  impediments 
and  obstructions  which  then  greatly  retarded  the  wheels  of  legisla- 
tion, so  that  there  was  a  fair  prospect  that  they  would  roll  on 
smoothly,  without  requiring  his  immediate  aid.  He  could,  there- 
fore, seek  with  safety  another  sphere,  and  one  where  he  could  exert 
a  more  extended  and  salutary  influence. 

In  relation  to  his  having  bargained  for  the  office  of  secretary  of 
state,  Mr.  Adams  speaks,  in  reply  to  an  address  from  a  committee 
of  gentlemen,  expressing  their  confidence  in  his  purity  and  patriot- 
ism, and  a  hope  that  the  evening  of  his  days  would  be  passed  in 
that  tranquillity  which  is  only  the  lot  of  the  good.  He  said  that 
upon  Mr.  Clay,  '  the  foulest  slanders  have  been  showered.  Long 
known  and  appreciated,  as  successively  a  member  of  both  houses 
of  your  national  legislature,  as  the  unrivalled  speaker,  and  at  the 
same  time,  most  efficient  leader  of  debates  in  both  of  them,  as  an 
able  and  successful  negotiator  for  your  interests  in  war  and  in 
peace  with  foreign  powers,  and  as  a  powerful  candidate  for  the 
highest  of  your  trusts.  The  department  of  state  itself  was  a 
station,  which,  by  its  bestowal,  could  confer  neither  profit  nor 
honor  upon  him,  but  upon  which  he  has  shed  unfading  honor  by  the 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  135 

manner  in  which  he  has  discharged  its  duties.  Prejudice  and  pas- 
sion have  charged  him  with  obtaining  that  office  by  bargain  and 
corruption.  Before  you,  my  fellow  citizens,  in  the  presence  of  our 
country,  and  of  heaven,  I  pronounce  that  charge  totally  unfounded. 
This  tribute  of  justice  is  due  from  me  to  him,  and  I  seize  with 
pleasure  the  opportunity,  offered  me  by  your  letter,  of  discharging 
the  obligation. 

i  As  to  my  motives  for  tendering  to  him  the  department  of  state 
when  I  did,  let  that  man  who  questions  them  come  forward.  Let 
him  look  around  among  statesmen  and  legislators  of  this  nation, 
and  of  that  day.  Let  him  then  select  and  name  the  man,  whom, 
by  his  preeminent  talents,  by  his  splendid  services,  by  his  ardent 
patriotism,  by  his  all-embracing  public  spirit,  by  his  fervid  elo- 
quence in  behalf  of  the  rights  and  liberties  of  mankind,  by  his 
long  experience  in  the  affairs  of  the  union,  foreign  and  domestic, 
a  president  of  the  United  States,  intent  only  upon  the  honor  and 
welfare  of  his  country,  ought  to  have  preferred  to  Henry  Clay. 
Let  him  name  the  man,  and  then  judge  you,  my  fellow  citizens,  of 
my  motives/ 

Five  years  subsequent  to  his  election,  in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  Mr. 
Adams  referred  to  the  above  testimonial  of  Mr.  Clay's  talents  and 
character,  as  one  from  which  he  could  deduct  nothing,  but  to 
which  he  could  add  much.  He  also  said,  that  such  was  his  opinion 
of  Mr.  Clay's  abilities,  that  he  had  expressed  to  him  his  candid 
intention,  at  the  time  he  resigned  the  speakership,  in  1820,  if  a 
vacancy  should  occur  in  the  mission  to  Great  Britain,  he  should 
deem  it  his  duty  to  recommend  the  nomination  of  him  to  that 
office.  He  also  speaks  of  the  great  despatch  and  facility,  with 
which  Mr.  Clay  transacted  business,  notwithstanding  the  feeble- 
ness of  his  health  during  the  whole  time.  Indeed,  he  regarded 
him  as  a  perfect  model  of  fitness  for  the  office  to  which  he  called 
him,  and  as  having  honored  and  adorned  it  with  the  intellectual 
wealth  of  his  fertile  mind.  No  station  in  which  he  was  placed, 
suffered,  either  through  remissness,  or  deficiency.  The  fact  that 
his  entrance  to  office  was  always  hailed  with  general  joy,  and  his 
departure  witnessed  with  regret,  furnished  the  highest  possible 
compliment  to  his  ability  and  eminence.  Had  we  space,  and  felt 
disposed,  we  could  multiply  individual  complimentary  expressions 
to  almost  any  extent,  but  this  is  not  necessary,  for  his  fame  and 
praise  are  in  the  mouth  of  the  world.  The  period  of  Mr.  Clay's 
speakership  may  be  adduced  as  one  of  the  most  brilliant  of  his 
public  life.  He  illustrated  it  by  all  the  lofty  attainments  of  one 
profoundly  versed  in  the  arts  of  government,  under  the  guidance 
of  patriotism,  that  subordinated  every  thing  to  its  ardor  and  devo- 
tion. During  his  occupancy  of  the  chair,  from  1811  to  1825,  except 
two  years  of  voluntary  absence,  his  decisions,  though  prompt,  were 
rarely  reversed.     Though  a  warm  partisan,  he  never  allowed  his 


136  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

own  particular  views  to  influence  them  in  the  least,  and  both 
friends  and  foes  unite  in  declaring,  that  their  rendition  was  far 
removed  from  all  suspicion  of  party  or  venal  considerations,  in 
short;  that  on  them  all  was  stamped  impartiality,  in  everduring  char- 
acters. But  Mr.  Clay,  besides  rendering  himself  conspicuous  for 
the  correctness  of  his  decisions,  won  also  the  regard  and  confidence 
of  the  house  for  the  courteously  stern  manner  in  which  he  governed 
and  guided  its  deliberations.  He  combined,  in  a  preeminent 
degree,  the  suaviter  in  modo  with  the  fortiter  in  re.  There  was  an 
indescribable  something  in  his  look,  gesture,  and  tone  of  voice, 
added  to  his  dignity  and  self-possession,  that  always  restrained 
and  conciliated  the  turbulent  and  inimical,  and  bound  to  him,  with 
the  silken  ligaments  of  love,  the  peaceable  and  friendly.  At  no 
period  of  our  political  history,  were  subjects  so  momentous  and 
dangerous  in  their  nature,  and  so  difficult  to  adjust,  brought  before 
congress,  as  during  that  of  which  we  are  speaking.  The  politi- 
cal heavens  had  never  been  so  black,  nor  the  political  ocean 
heaved  his  surges  so  high,  before,  and  had  not  he  been  there  to  spread 
the  bow  of  serenity  upon  the  one,  and  calm  the  wild  fury  of  the 
other,  it  is  hardly  too  much  to  say,  that  our  liberties,  our  institutions, 
and  our  every  thing  nationally  valuable,  would  have  been  swept 
by  the  besom  of  their  rage  into  the  tomb  of  chaos,  if  not  into 
oblivion.  But  he  ivas  there,  ruling,  tempering,  guiding,  and  bless- 
ing. He  seemed  to  act  as  though  he  were  conscious  that  his  coun- 
try stood  at  his  side,  with  her  piercing  eyes  fixed  full  upon  him, 
reading  the  secrets  of  his  heart,  —  as  though  he  heard  her  voice 
sounding  in  his  ears,  imploring  and  beseeching  him  to  guard  and 
watch  over,  faithfully,  those  interests  which  she  had  so  unreservedly 
placed  in  his  hands,  and  whenever  he  lifted  his  arm,  or  opened  his 
mouth,  it  seemed  to  be  for  the  single  purpose  of  executing  her 
revealed  will.  No  wonder  that  in  view  of  such  unparalleled  pa- 
triotism and  disinterestedness,  applause  should  be  extorted  from 
the  mouth  of  enmity  itself.  No  wonder  that  it  should  be  heard 
saying,  '  Mr.  Clay  accomplished  what  no  other  man  could  have 
performed. ' 

Many  incidents  occurred  during  his  speakership,  highly  illustra- 
tive of  his  playfulness,  wit,  and  readiness,  of  which  the  following 
may  serve  as  a  specimen. 

On  one  occasion,  the  late  general  Alexander  Smyth,  of  Vir- 
ginia, a  gentleman  of  unusual  ability  and  erudition,  had  been 
speaking  a  long  time,  fatiguing  and  vexing  the  house  with  the 
length  and  number  of  his  quotations,  and  citations  of  authorities, 
and  justified  his  unbearable  prolixity  by  saying  to  Mr.  Clay,  who 
was  seated  near  him,  'you,  sir,  speak  for  the  present  generation,  but 
i"  speak  for  posterity.'  '  Yes,'  he  immediately  replied,  '  and  you 
seem  resolved  to  speak  until  the  arrival  of  your  audience !' 

On    another,  the   house  was   harangued    by  the   late   governor 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  137 

Lincoln,  of  Maine,  in  his  usual  eloquent,  but  verbose  and  declam- 
atory manner.  He  was  considering  the  revolutionary  pension 
bill,  and  replying  to  an  argument  which  opposed  it  on  the  ground 
that  those  to  whom  it  proposed  to  extend  pecuniary  aid,  might 
perhaps  live  a  long  time,  and  thus  cause  heavy  drafts  to  be  made 
upon  the  treasury.  In  one  of  his  elevated  flights  of  patriotic 
enthusiasm,  he  burst  out  with  the  exclamation,  '  soldiers  of  the 
revolution,  live  forever  /'  Mr.  Clay  succeeded  him,  in  favor  also 
of  the  humane  provision,  but  did  not  respond  to  his  desire  rela- 
tive to  the  length  of  the  lives  of  those  worthies  for  whose  benefit 
it  was  devised,  and  when  he  closed,  turned  suddenly  towards  Mr. 
Lincoln,  and,  with  a  smile  upon  his  countenance,  observed,  '  I  hope 
my  worthy  friend  will  not  insist  upon  the  very  great  duration  of 
these  pensions  which  he  has  suggested.  Will  he  not  consent,  by 
way  of  a  compromise,  to  a  term  of  nine  hundred  and  ninety- 
nine  years,  instead  of  eternity  ? ' 

We  have  seen,  that  the  contest  which  resulted  in  placing  Mr. 
Adams  at  the  head  of  the  nation,  was  one  of  unusual  violence, 
and  in  waging  which,  the  most  unscrupulous  means  were  employed; 
and  that  one  of  its  most  unredeeming  features  was  the  unmiti- 
gated calumny  and  abuse,  which  they  heaped  upon  Mr.  Clay. 
But  soon  after  the  combatants  had  retired  from  the  field  of  conflict, 
and  resumed  their  various  avocations,  the  jarring  elements  of 
political  faction  became  quiescent,  the  blood  of  the  ambitious 
demagogue  fell  from  its  fever  heat  to  its  ordinary  temperature,  and 
the  foul  slanderer,  fearing  exposure,  had  slunk  away  to  his  dark 
retreat,  to  deplore  his  discomfiture,  and  concoct  new  materials. 
Every  thing  gave  omen  that  a  season  of  peace  and  grateful  repose 
would  be  enjoyed.  It  was  thought  that  no  lover  of  these  and  of 
good  order,  much  less  a  patriot,  could  be  found,  who  would  be  base 
and  foolhardy  enough  to  stir  up  the  expiring  embers  of  strife,  and 
add  fresh  fuel  to  their  flames.  Those  who  entertained  this  belief, 
however,  found  themselves  mistaken.  They  saw  one  coming  forth, 
one  who  boasted  long  and  loud  of  patriotism  and  devotion  to 
country,  and,  stooping  from  his  supposed  lofty  eminence  of  politi- 
cal virtue,  pick  up  the  relaxed  bow  of  slander,  and  discharge 
the  most  envenomed  arrows  of  malice  and  detraction,  at  one  of 
the  fairest  ornaments  of  that  very  country,  to  whose  interests  he 
professed  himself  so  strongly  attached.  To  their  utter  astonish- 
ment, they  beheld,  in  that  individual,  thus  anomalously  engaged, 
no  less  a  personage  than  that  of  '  the  hero  of  New  Orleans?  Gen- 
eral Jackson  had  the  distinguished  honor  of  reviving  the  thousand 
times  refuted  report  of  '  bargain  and  corruption,'  in  relation  to  Mr. 
Clay's  acceptance  of  the  department  of  state.  A  letter,  dated 
March  eighth,  1825,  went  the  rounds  of  the  newspapers,  pretending 
to  give  the  substance  of  a  conversation  which  passed  between  the 
writer  and  general  Jackson,  to  the  effect  that  Mr.  Clay's  friends  in 
vol.  i.  18 


138  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

congress  had  proposed  to  his  friends,  that  if  they  would  agree  that 
Mr.  Adams  should  not  be  retained  in  the  department  of  state,  that 
then  their  (Mr.  Clay  and  his  supporters')  influence  should  be  imme- 
diately used  to  elect  general  Jackson,  who,  it  affirmed,  rejected  the 
proposal  with  becoming  indignation.  Soon  after  the  appearance 
of  this  communication,  the  author,  Mr.  Carter  Beverly,  addressed 
general  Jackson,  requesting  him  to  confirm  it,  who  replied,  June 
fifth,  1827,  by  a  letter  directly  charging  the  friends  of  Mr.  Clay 
with  having  proposed  to  him,  through  a  member  of  congress,  to 
give  him  their  support  in  case  he  (general  Jackson)  would  pledge 
himself  not  to  retain  Mr.  Adams  as  aforesaid,  and  who  intimated 
that  the  proposition  originated  with  Mr.  Clay ;  and,  to  give  the  last 
finishing  stroke,  and  one  which  should  ensure  it  credence,  he  went 
so  far  in  that  reply  as  to  state,  that  immediately  after  the  rejection 
of  the  proposition,  Mr.  Clay  came  out  openly  for  Mr.  Adams.  He 
also  declared,  that,  in  reply  to  this  proposition,  he  stated,  that 
before  he  would  reach  the  presidential  chair  by  such  ignoble 
means,  '  he  would  see  the  earth  open  and  swallow  both  Mr. 
Clay  and  his  friends,  and  himself  with  them!'  The  name  of 
the  member  of  congress  was  demanded  by  Mr.  Clay,  and  that 
of  Mr.  Buchanan,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  given,  a  warm  per- 
sonal friend  of  general  Jackson's.  His  version  of  the  matter 
proved  the  assertion  of  the  latter  a  barefaced  falsehood,  unsup- 
ported by  even  the  semblance  of  truth.  Mr.  Buchanan  flatly 
and  promptly  denied,  that  such  a  proposition  had  been  made 
through  him  as  had  been  alleged,  and  entirely  exonerated  Mr.  Clay 
and  his  adherents  from  all  connection  with  it.  He  stated,  that, 
during  the  month  of  December,  1824,  hearing  it  currently  reported 
in  Washington,  that  general  Jackson,  imcase  he  was  elected  presi- 
dent, designed  to  continue  Mr.  Adams  as  secretary  of  state,  and 
thinking  that  such  a  report,  if  not  properly  contradicted,  would  ope- 
rate detrimentally  to  his  interests,  he  called  on  him,  and  expressed 
his  opinion  in  relation  thereto,  and  that  the  general  declared,  that 
he  entertained  a  high  opinion  of  Mr.  Adams,  but  had  never 
said  any  thing  in  relation  to  retaining  or  rejecting  him  as  secretary 
of  state,  and  that  he  (Mr.  Buchanan)  was  authorized  to  state,  that 
such  was  the  result  of  the  interview.  Mr.  Buchanan  also  declared 
his  honest  and  sincere  conviction,  that  'general  Jackson  did  not 
believe  or  entertain  the  most  distant  idea  that  he  came  on  behalf  of 
Mr.  Clay  or  of  his  friends,  until  the  publication  of  the  letter  mak- 
ing that  accusation.' 

Thus  the  burden  of  proof  of  the  vile  calumny,  which  had  been 
placed  upon  the  shoulders  of  the  calumniator  himself,  remained 
unmoved.  The  united  efforts  of  himself  and  friends,  instead  of 
disengaging  it,  only  rendered  its  magnitude  more  visible,  and  its 
deformity  more  gross.  The  eyes  of  the  nation  have  been  directed 
to  it,  and  many  pure  patriots,  of  all  parties,  in  view  of  it,  with  sad- 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  139 

dened  hearts,  have  exclaimed,  'alas,   alas,   for   the   all-absorbing 
prevalence  of  party  spirit — for  the  frailty  of  human  nature!' 

Though  no  substantiating  evidence  was,  or  could  be,  produced, 
by  those  who  sought  to  produce  it,  a  mass  of  refuting  testimony 
was  obtained  by  Mr.  Clay  and  his  friends,  perfectly  overwhelming. 
A  circular  letter  was  addressed  to  the  western  delegation  of  1825, 
who  were  the  principal  individuals  implicated  in  the  charges  against 
Mr.  Clay,  soliciting  their  views  respecting  them,  who  unhesitatingly 
pronounced  them  false ;  and  many  stated,  that  their  determination 
to  vote  for  Mr.  Adams  was  formed  previous  to  knowing  Mr.  Clay's 
intention.  This  testimony  Mr.  Clay  embodied  in  a  pamphlet, 
which  he  published  in  January,  1828,  containing  evidence  more 
than  sufficient  to  convince  any  unprejudiced  mind,  that  he  had  re- 
peatedly and  unambiguously  declared  his  intention  to  vote  for  Mr. 
Adams,  long  before  the  alleged  proposition  was  said  to  have  been 
made.  In  this  he  says,  '  I  make  no  appeal  to  public  sympathy. 
I  invoke  only  stern  justice.  If  truth  has  not  lost  its  force,  reason 
its  sway,  and  the  fountains  of  justice  their  purity,  the  decision 
must  be  auspicious.  With  a  firm  reliance  upon  the  enlightened 
judgment  of  the  public,  and  conscious  of  the  zeal  and  uprightness 
with  which  I  have  executed  every  trust  committed  to  my  care,  I 
await  the  event  without  alarm  or  apprehension.  Whatever  it  may 
be,  my  anxious  hopes  will  continue  for  the  success  of  the  great 
cause  of  human  liberty,  and  of  those  high  interests  of  national 
policy,  to  the  promotion  of  which,  the  best  exertions  of  my  life  have 
been  faithfully  dedicated.  And  my  humble,  but  earnest  prayers  will 
be  unremitted,  that  all  danger  may  be  averted  from  our  common 
country,  and  especially  that  our  union,  our  liberty,  and  our  institu- 
tions, may  long  survive,  a  cheering  exception  from  the  operations 
of  that  fatal  decree,  which  the  voice  of  all  history  has  hitherto  uni- 
formly proclaimed.' 

Though  utterly  abortive  were  all  the  attempts  of  the  enemies  of 
Mr.  Clay,  to  injure  him  in  the  estimation  of  the  unprejudiced  and 
the  good,  still,  they  managed  to  make  political  capital  out  of  the 
charges  of  bargain  and  corruption.  Notwithstanding  this  final 
appeal  to  the  people,  embraced,  substantially,  the  numerous  evi- 
dences of  their  falsehood,  evidences  that  had  been  repeated  again 
and  again,  still,  there  were  found  thousands  who  believed  these 
charges,  and  many  servile  partisan  presses  to  circulate  them,  and 
carefully  suppress  the  proofs  of  their  untruth.  These  labored 
unremittingly,  to  make  the  community  believe,  that  general  Jack- 
son was  absolutely  cheated  out  of  his  election  by  Mr.  Clay,  and 
multitudes  settled  down  on  this  belief,  and  clung  to  it  with  an 
obstinacy,  that  would  not  have  been  moved,  had  he  sealed  his  pro- 
testation of  their  falsehood  with  his  blood.  This  belief  was  so  con- 
genial to  the  feelings  of  many,  as  to  cause  them  to  turn  a  deaf  ear 
to   any  statement  calculated  to  weaken  it.     A  specimen  of  this 


140  LIFE     OF     HENRY      CLAY. 

class  of  individuals  fell  under  the  personal  observation  of  Mr. 
Clay,  while,  in  1828,  he  was  travelling  in  Virginia,  accompanied  by- 
some  friends.  '  We  halted,'  said  he,  '  at  night,  at  a  tavern  kept  by 
an  aged  gentleman,  who,  after  supper,  sat  down  by  me,  and,  without 
hearing  my  name,  but  understanding  that  I  was  from  Kentucky, 
remarked,  that  he  had  four  sons  in  that  state,  and  that  he  was 
very  sorry  they  were  divided  in  politics,  two  being  for  Adams, 
and  two  for  Jackson.  He  wished  they  were  all  for  Jackson. 
Why  ?  I  asked  him.  Because,  he  said,  that  fellow  Clay,  and 
Adams,  had  cheated  Jackson  out  of  the  presidency.  Have  you  ever 
seen  any  evidence,  my  old  friend,  said  1,  of  that?  No,  he  replied, 
none,  and  he  wanted  to  see  none.  But,  I  observed,  looking  him  direct- 
ly and  steadily  in  the  face,  suppose  Mr.  Clay  were  to  come  here  and 
assure  you,  upon  his  honor,  that  it  was  all  a  vile  calumny,  and  not 
a  word  of  truth  in  it,  would  you  believe  him  ?  No,  replied  the  old 
man,  promptly  and  emphatically.  I  said  to  him,  in  conclusion,  will 
you  be  good  enough  to  show  me  to  bed,  and  bade  him  good  night. 
The  next  morning,  having  in  the  interval  learnt  my  name,  he  came  to 
me  full  of  apologies,  but  I  at  once  put  him  at  his  ease,  by  assuring  him 
that  I  did  not  feel,  in  the  slightest  degree,  hurt  or  offended  with  him.' 
These  calumnious  allegations  have  expended  their  strength,  and 
are  now  remembered  and  denominated  only  as  the  vilest  fabrica- 
tion of  the  most  unscrupulous  political  malice,  to  destroy  the  most 
exalted  patriotism  and  unsullied  political  virtue,  that  ever  adorned 
this  or  any  other  country.  The  individual  against  whom  they 
were  directed,  still  lives,  and  lifts  his  head,  encircled  by  the  civic 
wreath  of  honor,  in  which  flashes,  in  everduring  brilliancy,  many 
a  gem  of  public  favor.  It  was  a  sublime  sight,  for  a  mighty  nation 
to  see  her  most  distinguished  son,  single-handed,  holding  on  his 
patriotic  course,  now  breasting  the  ungovernable  waves  of  faction, 
and  now  making  his  way  through  the  serried  ranks  of  vindictive 
assailants,  casting  their  weapons  from  him  as  the  lion  shakes  the 
dewdrops  from  his  mane,  or,  seated  in  the  unmoved  majesty  of 
his  integrity,  regarding  them  as  the  ocean  rock  looks  down  and 
laughs  at  the  impotency  of  surge  and  storm,  breaking  harmlessly 
against  his  feet.  Through  all,  he  passed  to  the  chair  of  state, 
unshorn  of  a  lock  of  his  might.  The  duties  of  that  arduous  station 
he  discharged  with  a  zeal  and  fidelity,  which  may  be  equalled,  but 
not  surpassed.  These  had  become  greatly  multiplied  when  Mr. 
Clay  entered  upon  it,  in  consequence  of  the  extension  of  our  for- 
eign relations,  which  required  the  preparation  of  many  documents 
that  devolved  upon  it.  It  would  be  impracticable  to  give  even  a 
list  of  these.  His  health  was  so  feeble,  that  he  intimated  to  the 
president  his  intention  of  resigning  his  office  in  1828,  but,  through 
the  persuasion  of  his  friends,  consented  to  remain.  It  is  surprising, 
that,  under  such  circumstances,  the  official  records,  during  his  term 
of  service,  show  a  greater  amount  of  labor  performed  than  was 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  141 

accomplished  by  any  of  his  predecessors,  who  enjoyed  those 
collateral  aids  which  it  was  impracticable  for  him  to  obtain.  In 
the  single  article  of  treaties,  his  incumbency  was  illustrious.  The 
number  negotiated  and  concluded  by  him,  at  Washington,  is 
greater  than  that  of  all  which  had  ever  been  previously  concluded 
there,  from  the  first  adoption  of  the  constitution.  These  relate 
chiefly  to  commerce,  navigation,  and  neutral  rights,  and  were 
entered  into  between  the  United  States,  Central  America,  Prussia, 
Denmark  and  the  Hanseatic  Republic,  and  Austria,  though  he 
vacated  his  office  previous  to  the  ensealing  of  the  treaty  with  the 
latter.  With  foreign  ministers  at  Washington,  he  was  a  great 
favorite,  and  on  terms  of  salutary  intimacy,  which  enabled  him  to 
consult  most  advantageously  the  best  interests  of  his  country,  in 
negotiating  with  them.  In  devising  and  framing  these  instruments, 
Mr.  Clay  not  only  found  ample  scope  for  the  exercise  of  his  mental 
faculties,  but  also  for  those  amiable  qualities  of  his  character  which 
enhanced  the  pleasure  of  his  personal  intercourse,  and  which  con- 
tributed not  a  little  in  obtaining  liberal  terms  for  his  country.  He 
laid  the  foundation  of  an  arrangement  with  Russia,  for  the  settle- 
ment of  certain  claims  of  American  citizens.  These  treaties  furnish 
a  full  refutation  of  the  charge  often  preferred  against  him,  of  being 
indifferent  to,  and  unmindful  of  our  foreign  commercial  interests, 
and  as  being  willing  to  sacrifice  them  in  fostering  domestic  trade 
and  manufactures.  A  perusal  of  these  is  sufficient  to  convince 
the  most  skeptical,  that  our  foreign  commercial  interests  lay  as  near 
his  heart  as  any  other  subject  of  diplomatic  action.  He  abrogated 
in  them  a  clause  introduced  into  the  London  treaty  of  1815,  by 
which  English  and  American  vessels  were  restricted,  in  their  com- 
mercial intercourse  with  one  another,  to  articles  of  the  growth  or 
manufacture  of  each,  and  inserted  one  in  its  place,  permitting  them 
to  enter  their  ports,  without  any  regard  being  had  to  the  place  of 
growth  and  manufacture  of  their  cargoes.  This  removed  what 
experience  had  proved  to  be  a  most  serious  impediment  to  our 
navigation,  and  seemed  so  just  and  proper  in  Mr.  Clay's  estimation, 
that,  in  speaking  of  it,  he  says,  '  its  reciprocity  is  perfect ;  and  when 
it  comes  to  be  adopted  by  all  nations,  we  can  scarcely  see  any 
thing  beyond  it,  in  the  way  of  improvement  to  the  freedom  and 
interests  of  their  mutual  navigation.  The  devices  of  maratime 
nations  have  been  various,  to  augment  their  marine,  at  the  expense 
of  other  powers.  When  there  has  been  a  passive  acquiescence  in 
the  operation  of  these  devices,  without  any  resort  to  countervailing 
regulations,  their  success  has  sometimes  been  very  great.  But 
nations  are  now  too  enlightened  to  submit  quietly  to  the  selfish 
efforts  of  any  one  power  to  engross,  by  its  own  separate  legislation, 
a  disproportionate  share  of  navigation  in  their  mutual  intercourse. 
These  efforts  are  now  met  by  opposite  efforts,  restriction  begets 
restriction,  until  the  discovery  is  at  last  made,  after  a  long  train  of 


142  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

vexatious  and  irritating  acts  and  manoeuvres  on  both  sides,  that  the 
course  of  selfish  legislation,  ultimately,  does  not  effect  the  distribu- 
tion of  maritime  power,  whilst  it  is  attended  with  the  certain  evil 
of  putting  nations  into  an  ill  humor  with  each  other.  Experience 
at  last  teaches,  that,  in  every  view,  it  is  better  to  begin  and  continue 
in  the  career  of  liberality.' 

This  restriction,  however,  Great  Britain  would  not  abandon,  when 
urged  thereto  by  Mr.  Gallatin,  whom  Mr.  Adams  had  empowered 
to  treat  with  that  nation,  in  relation  to  the  trade  between  the  United 
States  and  her  colonial  dependencies.  He  was  particularly  instruct- 
ed by  Mr.  Clay  to  make  the  subject  of  the  West  India  trade  a 
matter  of  special  negotiation.  Unsuccessful  efforts  to  effect  a 
mutually  advantageous  arrangement,  had  been  made  several  years 
previous,  and  Mr.  Gallatin  was  despatched  to  resume  them,  at  the 
request  of  the  British  minister  at  Washington.  The  former  was 
told,  immediately  after  presenting  his  credentials,  that  the  British 
government  would  not  treat  concerning  the  West  India  trade,  and 
also  that  she  would  not  admit  the  United  States  to  participate  in 
it,  because  they  had  not  complied  with  the  provision  of  a  certain 
act  of  parliament  relating  to  it,  of  which  act  they  were  in  utter 
ignorance.  Its  passage  had  never  been  officially  announced  to 
them,  at  London  or  at  Washington.  The  act  itself  was  vague, 
and  when  the  British  minister  was  questioned  by  Mr.  Clay  respect- 
ing its  application,  the  former  was  unable  to  explain  its  ambiguity, 
or  to  say  whether  it  was  intended  to  apply  to  the  United  States  or 
not,  as  there  was  nothing  in  his  instructions  relating  to  it.  In  con- 
nection with  refusing  to  negotiate  with  Mr.  Gallatin,  Great  Britain 
insulted  the  United  States  through  him,  by  declaring  that  they  were 
bound  to  know  and  take  notice  of  the  acts  of  parliament !  We 
doubt  whether  the  diplomacy  of  any  other  nation  ever  presented 
such  a  flagrant  assertion,  so  arrogantly  assumptive,  and  so  palpably 
unjust.  The  result,  of  course,  was  inevitable  ;  direct  intercourse 
between  the  United  States  and  the  West  India  ports  of  Great 
Britain,  in  British  or  American  vessels,  was  mutually  prohibited. 
Mr.  Clay's  official  correspondence,  in  relation  to  this  question,  is 
replete  with  argument  and  sound  reasoning. 

The  expansiveness  of  Mr.  Clay's  love  of  freedom,  again  exhib- 
ited itself  soon  after  entering  upon  the  duties  of  his  office.  Although 
they  were  such  as  to  keep  him  continually  and  exhaustingly 
engaged,  he  nevertheless  found  time  to  extend  his  commiseration 
and  his  aid  to  those  nations,  the  recognition  of  whose  independence, 
by  his  country,  he  had  endeavored  to  procure  some  time  previous. 
His  situation  was  now  such  as  to  give  him  an  opportunity  of 
accomplishing  this.  From  time  to  time  he  spread  the  subject 
before  the  executive,  and  so  eloquently  pleaded  their  cause,  that  a 
minister  was  despatched  by  our  government  to  Greece,  which 
resulted  in  the  recognition  of  her  independence  by  it.     In  this  the 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  143 

United  States  was  first,  and  through  the  influence  of  Mr.  Clay  did 
she  make  this  benevolent  movement.  As  he  had  anticipated,  it 
infused  new  strength  into  the  hearts  of  the  struggling  Greeks,  who 
had  begun  to  sink  beneath  the  Turkish  scimetar. 

Mr.  Clay's  official  letter  to  Mr.  Middleton,  our  minister  at  Rus- 
sia, dated  May  tenth,  1825,  is  a  paper  of  great  polish  and  skill. 
Mr.  Clay  had  witnessed,  for  seventeen  years,  the  devastating  wars 
which  had  raged  between  Spain  and  her  South  American  colonies, 
and  fervently  desired  to  see  them  terminated.  For  this  purpose,  he 
projected  and  prepared  the  document  aforesaid,  independent  of  all 
suggestion  or  aid,  from  any  public  functionary.  He  had  familiar- 
ized himself  with  the  facts  connected  with  these  wars,  which,  in 
the  most  striking  and  beautiful  manner,  he  spread  out  before  the 
emperor,  and  urged  him  to  use  his  influence  in  bringing  about  an 
event  which  he  so  ardently  desired.  This  communication  was  so 
skilfully  and  ingeniously  framed,  as  to  direct  the  attention  of 
Alexander  to  the  struggling  Greeks,  and  enlist  his  influence  in 
their  behalf,  which  was  precisely  what  the  writer  wished,  though 
he  did  not  say  so  in  so  many  words.  Mr.  Clay's  efforts  were 
triumphantly  successful.  The  emperor  instructed  his  minister  at 
the  Spanish  court,  to  use  every  proper  exertion  to  terminate  these 
sanguinary  conflicts,  which  eventuated  in  the  acknowledgement  of 
South  American  independence,  by  the  parent  country.  The 
emperor  also  took  sides  with  the  Greeks,  made  certain  proposals, 
relative  to  them,  to  the  grand  sultan,  and,  on  their  being  rejected, 
instantly  set  about  making  preparations  to  march  against  him. 
Before  their  completion  he  deceased,  but  his  successor  took  them 
up,  and  struck  a  blow  so  decisive  as  to  put  instant  period  to  his 
barbarities.  Thus  Mr.  Clay's  influence,  through  this  instrument, 
set  in  motion  means  that  moved  both  hemispheres,  and  accom- 
plished results,  the  sum  of  whose  benefits  and  blessings,  never  has 
been,  and  never  can  be,  ascertained. 

If  we  were  to  single  out  one  from  the  multitude  of  official  papers 
prepared  by  Mr.  Clay  during  his  secretaryship,  as  evincing  the 
most  ability  and  skill,  it  would  be  the  letter  of  instructions  to 
Messrs.  John  Sergeant  and  Richard  C.  Anderson,  delegates  from 
the  United  States  to  the  congress  at  Panama,  convened  at  the 
request  of  the  republics  of  Colombia,  Mexico,  and  Central  Amer- 
ica, whose  representatives  were  also  present.  The  object  of  this 
congress  was  not  very  definitely  stated  in  the  request  for  it,  and, 
before  appointing  delegates,  Mr.  Clay  endeavored  to  ascertain  the 
nature  and  extent  of  the  subjects  upon  which  they  would  deliber- 
ate, and  the  powers  with  which  it  would  be  proper  to  clothe  them. 
This  object,  though  not  precisely  ascertained,  was  presumed  to  be 
honorable ;  indeed,  the  convention  was  belieyed  to  have  been  sug- 
gested by  the  declaration  of  president  Monroe,  that,  in  case  of  any 
interference  of  any  of  the  allied  powers,  in   the   contest  between 


L44  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

Spain  and  her  former  colonies,  the  United  States  would  not  remain 
an  indifferent  spectator.  This  declaration  very  naturally  led  the 
republics  before  mentioned,  towards  whom  the  Holy  Alliance  main- 
tained a  hostile  attitude,  to  seek  the  cultivation  of  those  amicable 
relations  with  the  United  States,  which  would  secure  their  aid,  in 
case  it  should  be  desired.  In  Mr.  Clay's  letter  of  instructions,  the 
delegates  were  authorized  to  treat  of  peace,  friendship,  commerce, 
navigation,  maritime  law,  neutral  and  belligerent  rights,  and  other 
subjects  of  mutual  interest.  Subjoined,  is  an  extract  from  this 
able  document. 

Speaking  of  the  regulation  respecting  private  property,  which 
ought  to  exist  on  the  ocean  in  time  of  war,  he  says :  '  although. 
in  the  arrangement  of  things,  security  against  oppression  should 
be  the  greatest  where  it  is  most  likely  to  be  often  practiced,  it  is 
nevertheless  remarkable,  that  the  progress  of  enlightened  civiliza- 
tion has  been  much  more  advanced  on  the  land  than  on  the  ocean. 
And,  accordingly,  personal  rights,  and  especially  those  of  property, 
have  both  a  safety  and  protection  on  the  former,  which  they  do  not 
enjoy  on  the  latter  element.  Scarcely  any  circumstance  would 
now  tend  more  to  exalt  the  character  of  America,  than  that  of 
uniting  its  endeavors  to  bring  up  the  arrears  of  civilization  as 
applied  to  the  ocean,  to  the  same  forward  point  which  it  has 
attained  on  the  land,  and,  thus  rendering  men  and  their  property 
secure  against  all  human  injustice  and  violence,  leave  them 
exposed  only  to  the  action  of  those  storms  and  disasters,  sufficiently 
perilous,  which  are  comprehended  in  the  dispensations  of  providence. 
It  is  under  the  influence  of  these  and  similar  considerations,  that 
you  will  bring  forward,  at  the  contemplated  congress,  the  proposi- 
tion to  abolish  war  against  private  property  and  non-combatants 
on  the  ocean.  Private  property  of  an  enemy  is  protected,  when 
on  land,  from  seizure  and  confiscation.  Those  who  do  not  bear 
arms  there,  are  not  disturbed  in  their  vocations.  Why  should  not 
the  same  humane  exemption  be  extended  to  the  sea  ? ' 

Respecting  religious  toleration,  he  remarks,  'you  will  avail 
yourselves  of  all  suitable  occasions  to  press  upon  the  minister  of 
the  other  American  states,  the  propriety  of  a  free  toleration  of  reli- 
gion, within  their  respective  limits.  In  the  United  States,  we 
experience  no  inconvenience  from  the  absence  of  any  religious 
establishment,  and  the  universal  toleration  which  happily  prevails. 
We  believe  that  none  would  be  felt  by  other  nations  who  should 
allow  equal  religious  freedom.  It  would  be  deemed  rash  to  assert, 
that  civil  liberty  and  an  established  church  cannot  exist  together  in 
the  same  state ;  but  it  may  be  safely  affirmed,  that  history  affords 
no  example  of  their  union,  where  the  religion  of  the  state  has  not 
only  been  established,  but  exclusive.  If  any  of  the  American  pow- 
ers thjnk  proper  to  introduce  into  their  systems  an  established 
religion,  although  we  should  regret  such  a  determination,  we  would 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  145 

have  no  right  to  make  a  formal  complaint,  unless  it  should  be 
exclusive.  As  the  citizens  of  any  of  the  American  nations  have  a 
right,  when  here,  without  hindrance,  to  worship  the  Deity  accord- 
ing to  the  dictates  of  their  own  consciences,  our  citizens  ought  to 
be  allowed  the  same  privilege,  when,  prompted  by  business  or 
inclination,  they  visit  any  of  the  American  states.  You  are  ac- 
cordingly authorized  to  propose  a  joint  declaration,  to  be  subscribed 
by  the  ministers  of  all  or  any  of  the  powers  represented,  that,  within 
their  limits,  there  shall  be  free  toleration  of  religious  worship.  The 
declaration  on  this  subject  in  which  you  are  authorized  to  unite,  as 
well  as  that  directed  against  European  colonization  within  the  terri- 
torial limits  of  any  of  the  American  nations  herein  before  men- 
tioned, does  no  more  than  announce,  in  respect  to  the  United  States, 
the  existing  state  of  their  institutions  and  laws.' 

These  instructions  reflect  the  highest  honor  on  Mr.  Clay,  and 
when,  in  March,  1829,  their  publication  was  called  for,  in  connection 
with  other  documents  relating  to  the  Panama  mission,  it  was  ran- 
corously  opposed  by  his  enemies,  who  foresaw  clearly  that  it  would 
increase  his  popularity  and  add  to  his  celebrity,  as  well  as  refute 
their  assertion,  that  the  object  of  the  administration,  in  sending  del- 
egates to  the  Panama  congress,  was  to  carry  into  effect  objects 
utterly  at  variance  with  the  interests  and  true  policy  of  the  United 
States. 

Mr.  Clay's  method  of  preparing  state  papers,  was,  to  make  him- 
self perfectly  master  of  the  subjects  to  be  considered,  by  perusing 
all  the  papers  on  file  relating  to  them,  and  afterwards  draw  up  the 
documents  in  a  form  that  seemed  to  him  correct,  and  then  submit 
them  to  the  inspection  of  the  president,  who,  it  is  understood, 
seldom  found  it  necessary  to  suggest  the  slightest  alteration. 

During  his  term  of  service,  Mr.  Clay  was  under  the  painful 
necessity  of  reproving  a  foreign  minister.  Our  charge  d'affaires 
at  the  court  of  Brazil,  had,  by  his  intimidating  manner,  rendered 
himself  very  unpopular,  and  brought  our  affairs  into  great  embar- 
rassment at  Rio  de  Janeiro.  He  frequently  indulged  in  harsh  and 
disrespectful  language  toward  officers  of  the  Brazilian  government. 
Mr.  Clay  conveyed  to  him  the  rebuke  of  the  United  States,  for 
these  misdemeanors,  which,  though  severe,  was  couched  in  lan- 
guage calculated  to  give  the  least  possible  pain. 

The  confidence  of  Mr.  Adams  was  liberally  and  voluntarily 
given  to  Mr.  Clay,  nor  could  it  have  been  better  bestowed.  With 
all  the  acts  of  the  latter,  he  expressed  himself  entirely  satisfied  — 
except  his  affair  of  honor  with  Mr.  Randolph.  Of  this  he  disap- 
proved, most  heartily  and  unequivocally;  and  Mr.  Clay  himself 
greatly  regretted  it.  Many  evidences  are  on  record  of  Mr.  Adams's 
regard  for  Mr.  Clay,  both  of  a  public  and  private  character.  The 
following  is  an  interesting  one. 

Says  a  correspondent   of    the    Newark    Daily    Advertiser,    'J 
vol.  i.  19 


146  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

have  frequently  observed  ladies'  albums  circulating  through  the 
house  and  senate  chamber,  with  the  view  of  collecting  the  auto- 
graphs of  the  members.  I  saw  one  this  morning  which  contained 
a  page  of  well  written  poetry,  dated  twenty-third  July,  1842,  in 
the  tremulous  hand-writing  of  John  Q.  Adams,  descriptive  of  the 
wild  chaos  at  present  spread  over  our  political  affairs,  and  antici- 
pated coming  events,  which  would  bring  order  out  of  disorder. 
The  closing  verse  was  as  follows : 

'  Say,  for  whose  brow  this  laurel  crown  1 

For  whom  this  web  of  life  is  spinning  ? 
Turn  this,  thy  album,  upside  down, 

And  take  the  end  for  the  beginning.' 

The  meaning  of  this  was  somewhat  mystical,  but,  by  turning  to 
the  back  of  the  book,  and  inverting  it,  on  its  last  page  a  piece  was 
found  with  the  signature  of  '  H.  Clay!' 

Seldom,  perhaps,  has  an  administration  been  assailed  with  more 
violence,  or  with  less  cause,  than  that  of  Mr.  Adams.  Perhaps  the 
hostility  manifested  towards  it,  was  occasioned,  to  a  considerable 
extent,  by  Mr.  Clay's  connection  with  it,  and  from  the  fact  that  the 
•views  of  the  president,  in  relation  to  the  great  measures  of  national 
policy,  harmonized  perfectly  with  his  own.  This  gave  to  the 
opposition,  of  the  ultra  advocates  of  state  rights,  its  bitterest  venom, 
which  was  profusely  lavished  upon  it.  As  soon  as  Mr.  Clay  left 
the  house,  his  old  eccentric  foe,  Mr.  Randolph,  cast  off  all  restraint, 
and  spoke  and  acted  as  though  law  and  order  were  not  for  him ; 
suffering  no  occasion  to  pass  unimproved  in  abusing  Mr.  Clay, 
and  often  travelling  out  of  his  way  to  seek  one.  The  subject  of 
the  Panama  mission  furnished  him  rich  materials  for  exercising 
his  peculiar  genius,  which  he  employed  in  the  most  insulting  man- 
ner towards  him.  He  characterized  that  unison  of  sentiment  to 
which  we  have  alluded,  which  existed  between  the  president  and 
Mr.  Clay,  as  a  i  coalition  of  Blifil  and  Black  George  —  a  combi- 
nation of  the  Puritan  with  the  black-leg '  —  and  charged  Mr.  Clay 
with  ■  stealing  a  leaf  from  the  curse  book  of  Pandemonium.'  Such 
language  would  be  disgraceful  under  any  circumstances,  but  espe- 
cially on  the  floor  of  the  senate  chamber.  Mr.  Randolph  seemed 
determined  to  bring  about  a  personal  conflict  with  Mr.  Clay,  from 
what  motives  it  is  difficult  to  determine,  for  the  latter  gave  him  no 
cause  of  abuse,  carefully  avoiding  him  as  he  did.  But  the  former 
went  on,  day  after  day,  unprovoked,  adding  injury  to  injury, 
heaping  insult  upon  insult  upon  the  latter,  until  further  forbearance 
became  exceedingly  difficult,  to  say  the  least,  especially  as  Mr. 
Clay  was  surrounded  by  his  family.  Says  an  individual  intimately 
acquainted  with  the  parties,  ■  Mr.  Randolph  knew  that  his  every 
word,  whether  spoken  in  his  sober  or  inebriated  moments,-  was 
pregnant  with  death,  to  the  pride  and  the  happiness  of  the  innocent 
and  the  lovely.'     Although  he  himself  had  no  family:  although  he 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  147 

was  an  individual  in  reference  to  whom  a  distinguished  friend  of 
ours  once  thanked  God  in  congress,  that  monsters  could  not  per- 
petuate their  species;  still  he  must  have  known,  from  hearsay,  that 
the  feelings  of  a  wife  and  a  daughter  are  keenly  sensitive.  Had  Mr. 
Clay  held  a  seat  in  the  senate,  Mr.  Randolph,  dark  as  were  his 
designs,  and  much  as  he  longed  for  a  quarrel,  would  not  have 
dared  to  use  the  language  of  open  outrage.  There  was  ever  some- 
thing in  Mr.  Clay's  eye,  before  which  his  spirit  quailed  and  blinked, 
like  a  frighted  thing.  Mr.  Clay,  however,  was  absent,  and  every  day 
of  his  forbearance  added  bitterness  to  the  insults  that  were  heaped 
on  him.  What  could  he  do  ?  Undoubtedly,  that  religion,  whose 
kingdom  is  not  of  this  world,  required  him  to  endure  patiently 
unto  the  end.  It  is  a  matter  of  regret  that  he  did  not,  but  who 
shall  censure  him  harshly,  for  having,  in  a  moment  of  uncontrolla- 
ble exasperation,  turned  upon  his  pursuer  and  dared  him  to  single 
combat ! 

Of  the  duel,  itself,  it  is  not  necessary  to  say  much.  Mr.  Ran- 
dolph, in  defiance  of  established  usage,  went  upon  the  field  in  a 
huge  morning  gown ;  and  the  seconds,  had  not  Mr.  Clay  interfered, 
would  have  made  this  singular  conduct  the  occasion  of  a  quarrel. 
In  due  time  the  parties  fired,  and  luckily  for  both  of  them,  or  at 
least  for  Mr.  Clay,  Mr.  Randolph's  life  was  saved  by  his  gown*. 
The  unseemly  garment  constituted  such  a  vast  circumference,  that 
the  locality  of  '  the  thin  and  swarthy  senator '  was  at  least  a  matter 
of  very  vague  conjecture.  Mr.  Clay  might  as  well  have  fired  into 
the  outspread  top  of  an  oak,  in  the  hope  of  hitting  a  bird  that  he 
supposed  to  be  snugly  perched  somewhere  among  the  branches. 
His  ball  hit  the  centre  of  the  visible  object,  but  Randolph  was  not 
there  !  and  of  course  the  shot  did  no  harm  and  no  good.  After 
the  first  discharge,  Mr.  Randolph,  by  firing  into  the  air,  showed  his 
disinclination  to  continue  the  fight.  He  immediately  walked  up 
to  Mr.  Clay,  who  was  still  standing  in  his  place,  and,  parting  the 
folds  of  his  gown,  pointed  to  the  hole  where  the  bullet  of  the  former 
had  pierced  his  coat,  and,  in  the  shrillest  tones  of  his  squeaking 
voice,  exclaimed,  'Mr.  Clay,  you  owe  me  a  coat,  you  owe  me  a 
coat  !'  to  which  he  replied,  in  a  voice  of  slow  and  solemn  empha- 
sis, at  the  same  time  pointing  directly  to  Mr.  Randolph's  heart,  '  Mr. 
Randolph,  I  thank  God  that  I  am  no  deeper  in  your  debt!' 

We  are  no  apologist  for  the  duelist ;  we  regard  the  practice  of 
duelling  with  the  deepest  detestation  and  abhorrence,  and  believe 
it  unjustified,  under  any  circumstances:  still,  we  unhesitatingly 
say,  that  those  which  surrounded  Mr.  Clay,  were  approximated  as 
nearly  to  a  justification,  as  any  possibly  could.  He  had  resorted 
to  all  honorable  means  to  avoid  a  duel  with  Mr.  Randolph  ;  calling 
upon  and  desiring  him  to  explain  or  retract  his  insulting  language, 
but  he  flatly  refused.  It  may  not  be  amiss  to  state,  in  this  connec- 
tion, that   Mr.    Clay  reprobates  the  practice  of  duelling,  himself. 


148  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

This  appears  from  his  avowed  sentiment  relative  thereto.  '  I  owe 
it,'  says  he,  «  to  the  community,  to  say,  that  whatever,  heretofore,  I 
may  have  done,  or  by  inevitable  circumstances  may  be  forced  to 
do,  no  man  in  it  holds  in  deeper  abhorrence  than  I  do,  the  perni- 
cious practice  of  duelling.  Condemned  as  it  must  be,  by  the 
judgment  and  philosophy,  to  say  nothing  of  the  religion,  of  every 
thinking  man,  it  is  an  affair  of  feeling,  about  which  we  cannot, 
although  we  should,  reason.  The  true  corrective  will  be  found, 
when  all  shall  unite,  as  all  ought  to  unite,  in  its  unqualified  pro- 
scription.' 

(  The  hostile  meeting  between  Mr.  Randolph  and  Mr.  Clay,  occur- 
red April  eighth,  1826.  Their  last  interview  took  place  in  March, 
1833,  a  short  time  previous  to  the  decease  of  the  former.  He  was 
on  his  way  to  Philadelphia,  where  he  died.  Being  unable  to  walk 
or  stand  without  assistance,  he  was  borne  into  the  senate  chamber, 
to  which  he  was  about  to  pay  his  last  visit.  The  senate  was  in 
session  by  candlelight.  Mr.  Clay  had  risen  to  make  some  remarks 
on  the  compromise  act.  '  Help  me  up,'  said  Mr.  Randolph,  sitting 
in  a  chair,  and  speaking  to  his  half-brother,  Mr.  Tucker,  '  help  me 
up ;  /  have  come  to  hear  that  voice  once  more?  When  Mr.  Clay 
concluded,  he  approached,  and  shook  Mr.  Randolph  cordially  by 
the  hand,  and  thus  terminated  their  intercourse  forever. 

Mr.  Clay's  efforts,  during  his  secretaryship,  contributed  much  in 
making  Mr.  Adams's  administration  peculiarly  American.  They 
afforded  material  aid  in  cherishing  and  strengthening  those  princi- 
ples, which  would  render  the  United  States  independent  of  for- 
eign nations  —  principles  for  which  he  contended  with  a  zeal  that 
nothing  could  dampen,  and  which  would  not  allow  any  compro- 
mise. In  giving  Mr.  Adams  his  vote,  he  was  not  mistaken  in  sup- 
posing that  he  would  be  their  able  supporter  too.  In  their  adherence 
to  these,  they  went  hand  in  hand.  This  was  a  source  of  most  vexa- 
tious uneasiness  to  the  enemies  of  those  principles.  Hence  the 
cause  of  their  excessive  hostility  towards  the  administration  of  Mr. 
Adams,  for  they  believed  it  was  materially  shaped  by  Mr.  Clay. 
They  little  expected,  and  less  designed,  that  their  opposition  should 
thus  pay  him  the  highest  possible  compliment  —  that  of  wielding 
a  power  scarcely  inferior  to  that  of  the  executive  himself.  The 
enemies  of  Mr.  Clay,  therefore,  became  the  enemies  of  Mr.  Adams, 
whose  administration  they  determined  to  prostrate,  let  the  expense 
be  what  it  might.  l  It  must  be  put  down,'  said  one  of  general  Jack- 
son's most  prominent  supporters,  '  though  as  pure  as  the  angels  at 
the  right  hand  of  God?  The  foulest,  charges  were  preferred  against 
Mr.  Adams  and  Mr.  Clay,  the  mildest  of  which  was,  corruption. 
Of  the  latter,  in  consequence  of  his  having  made  some  transfers, 
in  publishing  the  laws,  from  one  printing  establishment  to  another, 
it  was  alleged,  that  he  attempted  to  corrupt  the  press,  which,  with 
a  great  outcry,  was  bruited  from  one  end  of  the  land  to  the  other. 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  149 

He  was  charged  with  having  made  the  transfer  from  interested 
party  considerations,  and  an  attempt  was  made  to  cause  him  to 
communicate  to  congress  what  changes  he  had  made,  with  his 
reasons.  It  failed,  however,  on  the  ground  that  the  house  had 
no  jurisdiction  over  the  matter.  At  the  very  time,  (or  nearly)  that 
his  enemies  in  the  house  were  thus  engaged  in  subjecting  him  to 
this  gross  charge,  their  coadjutors  in  the  senate,  led  on  by  Mr.  Van 
Buren,  were  endeavoring  to  deprive  the  National  Intelligencer  of 
the  printing  of  that  body.  Notable  consistency  !  Not  an  act  of  Mr. 
Adams,  or  Mr.  Clay,  which  was  not  made  to  pass  through  the  tra- 
ducing ordeal  of  their  enemies'  malice,  and  pronounced  corrupt 
and  ruinous  in  their  tendency.  The  same  acts  might  be  submitted 
to  the  examination  of  any  impartial  tribunal,  who  would  rise  up 
from  it,  and  declare  them  as  nearly  faultless  as  any  human  ones 
could  be;  indeed,  that  of  posterity,- whose  decisions  are  never 
reversed,  is  fast  rendering  such  a  verdict.  Many  an  eye  now  dims 
with  tears,  and  many  a  heart  heaves  with  regret,  at  the  recollection 
of  Mr.  Adams's  administration.  The  political  degeneracy  and 
pollution  of  the  present  day,  were  far  from  it.  Economy,  dignity, 
and  liberality,  were  written  all  over  it,  in  such  indelible  characters, 
that  the  most  intemperate  flood  of  opposition  could  not  expunge 
them.  It  can  be  said  of  Mr.  Adams,  that  he  never  dismissed  a 
public  functionary  solely  on  the  ground  of  party  considerations, 
and  in  selecting  these,  he  did  not  permit  himself  to  be  governed  by 
them.  But,  unexceptionable,  as  was  the  course  pursued  by  him, 
detraction  and  calumny  performed  their  utmost  to  bring  him  into 
disrepute,  and  with  too  much  success.  Party  prejudice  and  sec- 
tional feelings  were  aroused  and  inflamed  in  all  parts  of  the  country. 
The  wants  of  each  were  catered  for,  without  stint  or  measure ; 
coalitions,  combinations,  caucusses,  and  all  the  unnamed  and 
undescribed  pharaphernalia  of  party  manoeuvring,  were  organized, 
drilled,  arrayed,  and  brought  out,  to  be  used  by  strong  and  willing 
hands,  in  the  most  ignoble  and  base  employment  in  which  they 
could  be  engaged  —  in  crushing  an  administration  without  any 
regard  to  its  merit  or  demerit.  The  prime  movers  of  the  whole 
heterogeneous  mass  had  decreed,  that  it  '  must  be  put  down,'  and 
its  loud  ergo  pealed  up,  '  it  ought  to  be  put  down.1  Contradictory 
and  paradoxical  reasoning  was  employed,  with  success  equal  to 
that  of  true,  in  different  parts  of  the  country.  Their  creed  was 
comprehensive  enough  to  embrace  all,  how  various  soever  their 
names  or  tenets.  From  such  an  army  political  virtue  and  honesty 
fled  away  and  hid  themselves,  which,  like  the  devouring  locusts 
of  Egypt,  passed  over  the  whole  land,  blighting  and  destroying 
every  green  thing  in  its  political  enclosures.  Sometime  previous 
to  the  close  of  the  administration,  the  opposition  gained  the  ascen- 
dency in  congress,  which  greatly  facilitated  their  operations,  which 
resulted  in  the  election  of  their  candidate,  Andrew  Jackson,  to  the 
presidential  chair,  in  the  autumn  of  1828. 


150  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

The  prevalence  of  truth  is  sure.  It  may  be  temporarily  sup- 
pressed, error  may  triumph  over  it,  and  it  may  seem  to  be  lost,  but 
its  disenthralment  is  just  as  certain,  as  the  release  of  the  earth  by 
solar  heat  from  the  mists  that  press  upon  its  bosom.  Error  gravi- 
tates —  its  nature  is  downwards ;  but  truth  soars  —  its  own  intrinsic 
buoyant  power  bears  it,  sooner  or  later,  to  the  surface  of  human 
observation.  It  cannot  perish ;  it  is  the  ally  of  immortality,  and 
will  survive  all  sublunary  things,  and  be  seen  and  admired  ages 
after  falsehood  and  all  his  base  companions  shall  have  gone  down 
to  their  dark  dwelling-place.  This  attribute  of  truth  seems  to  have 
been  overlooked  or  disregarded,  by  those  who,  with  a  blind  zeal 
and  misguided  patriotism,  sought  the  overthrow  of  an  administra- 
tion too  good  to  escape  the  shafts  of  envy,  and  dispensing  more 
benefits  than  could  be  enumerated  or  appreciated  by  them  when 
thus  engaged.  Those  who  were  most  active  in  elevating  general 
Jackson  to  the  presidency,  displayed  great  skill  in  party  tactics, 
and  a  most  liberal  education  in  the  schools  of  intrigue  and  detrac- 
tion. Experience  had  taught  them,  that  a  public  functionary  was 
most  vulnerable  through  the  minds  of  his  constituents  ;  that  if  the 
lodgment  of  a  certain  principle  could  be  effected  there,  their  work 
was  done,  his  ruin  was  accomplished.  This  was  precisely  the  mode 
of  warfare  pursued  by  the  opponents  of  Mr.  Adams  and  Mr.  Clay. 
All  their  efforts  were  directed  to  the  single  end,  of  instilling  into 
the  minds  of  the  people  the  belief,  that  these  eminent  statesmen, 
these  great  and  good  men,  were  vampyres  upon  their  pockets,  shap- 
ing their  measures  so  as  to  drain  them  of  their  contents.  The  cry 
of  extravagance  drowned  every  other,  and  that  of  economy,  re- 
trenchment, and  reform,  was  iterated  and  reiterated  so  often,  that 
the  truth  of  the  first,  and  imperious  necessity  of  the  others,  soon 
became  their  permanent  belief.  It  is  not  surprising,  that  under 
the  influence  of  this,  they  should  rise,  and  pluck  them  from  their 
places,  without  stopping  to  inquire,  whether  those  who  excited 
them  to  the  committal  of  this  act,  did  not  do  it  for  the  express  pur- 
pose of  thrusting  their  hands  still  deeper  into  their  pockets.  .  The 
sequel  seemed  to  furnish  good  grounds  for  such  an  opinion.  From 
the  purses  of  the  people,  general  Jackson's  administration  took 
about  two  dollars  to  Mr.  Adams's  one,  and  Mr.  Van  Buren's  about 
three.  The  necessity  for  diminishing  the  public  expenditures, 
suddenly  ceased,  upon  their  becoming  safely  installed  in  their 
places,  and  their  sympathy  for  the  '  dear  people]  in  view  of  their 
pretended  robbery,  which  seemed  to  be  so  expansive  before,  imme- 
diately returned  to  the  narrow  limits  of  their  own  bosoms.  But 
truth,  whose  voice  was  completely  stifled  in  reference  to  the  admin- 
istration of  Mr.  Adams,  and  the  herculean  labors  of  Mr.  Clay,  as 
connected  with  it,  in  the  political  melee  of  1828,  is  fast  justifying 
its  measures,  and  causing  many  to  regret,  who  zealously  sought,  its 
overthrow,  and  fervently  pray  for  its  return. 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  151 

A  few  days  after  general  Jackson's  inauguration  into  the  presi- 
dential chair,  Mr.  Clay  prepared  to  return  to  the  retirement  and  the 
social  delights  of  his  home  ;  where,  at  his  leisure,  he  could  review 
his  public  acts,  and  devise  new  measures  for  benefiting  his  country. 
About  the  time  of  his  departure  from  Washington,  his  friends 
residing  in  that  city,  as  a  testimonial  of  their  regard  for  his  private 
and  public  character,  gave  him  a  dinner.  In  a  speech,  on  that 
occasion,  he  alluded  to  his  public  career,  and  the  duties  of  citizen- 
ship, in  the  following  beautiful  language.  '  Whether  I  shall  ever 
hereafter  take  any  part  in  the  public  councils  or  not,  depends  upon 
circumstances  beyond  my  control.  Holding  the  principle  that  a 
citizen,  as  long  as  a  single  pulsation  remains,  is  under  an  obliga- 
tion to  exert  his  utmost  energies  in  the  service  of  his  country,  if 
necessary,  whether  in  a  public  or  private  station,  my  friends  here 
and  every  where  may  rest  assured,  that,  in  either  condition,  I  shall 
stand  erect,  with  a  spirit  unconquered,  whilst  life  endures  ready  to 
second  their  exertions  in  the  cause  of  liberty,  the  union,  and  the 
national  prosperity.' 

Of  general  Jackson  he  remarked,  \  that  citizen  has  done  me 
much  injustice.  It  was  inflicted,  as  I  must  ever  believe,  for  the 
double  purpose  of  gratifying  private  resentment,  and  promoting 
personal  ambition.  When,  during  the  late  canvass,  he  came  for- 
ward in  the  public  prints,  under  his  proper  name,  with  his  charge 
against  me,  and  summoned  before  the  public  tribunal  his  friend 
and  his  only  witness,  (Mr.  Buchanan,)  to  establish  it,  the  anxious 
attention  of  the  whole  American  people  was  directed  to  the  testi- 
mony which  that  witness  might  render.  He  promptly  obeyed  the 
call,  and  testified  to  what  he  knew.  He  could  say  nothing,  and  he 
said  nothing-  which  cast  the  slighest  shade  upon  my  honor  or  integ- 
rity. What  he  did  say  was  the  reverse  of  any  implication  of  me. 
Then  all  just  and  impartial  men,  and  all  who  had  faith  in  the 
magnanimity  of  my  accuser,  believed  that  he  would  make  a  public 
acknowledgement  of  his  error.  How  far  this  reasonable  expecta- 
tion has  been  fulfilled,  let  his  persevering  and  stubborn  silence 
attest.  But  my  relations  to  that  citizen,  by  a  recent  event,-are  now 
changed.  He  is  the  chief  magistrate  of  my  country,  invested  with 
large  and  extensive  powers,  the  administration  of  which  may  con- 
duce to  its  prosperity,  or  occasion  its  adversity.  Patriotism  enjoins 
as  a  duty,  that  while  he  is  in  that  exalted  station  he  should  be 
treated  with  decorum,  and  his  official  acts  be  judged  of  in  a  spirit 
of  candor.' 

The  rancor  of  his  enemies  had  pursued  Mr.  Clay  as  though  he 
had  been  a  devastating  monster,  laying  waste  the  fair  and  fertile 
fields  of  his  country,  instead  of  enriching  them  by  his  toils.  It. 
overstepped,  not  only  the  bounds  of  prudence,  but  of  propriety 
and  decency.  It  followed  him  to  the  sanctuary  of  his  home,  and 
violated  that.     In  a  letter  written  in  May,  1828,  he  thus  speaks  of 


152  LIFE     OF      HENRY     CLAY. 

their  attempts  to  destroy  his  pecuniary  credit.  '  The  variety  in 
their  modes  of  attack,  and  the  industry  of  my  enemies,  are  remark- 
able, if  not  always  commendable.  I  observe  that  some  of  them 
about  Lexington,  have  carefully  searched  the  records  of  Fayette, 
and  extracted  from  them  a  formidable  list  of  mortgages,  which  are 
paraded  as  evidence  of  my  bankruptcy.  The  fairness  of  this  pro- 
ceeding, in  my  absence  on  arduous  public  service,  and  without 
inquiry  into  the  fact  whether  the  mortgages  be  extinguished  or  not, 
is  submitted  to  my  fellow  citizens  of  Fayette.  I  do  not  consider, 
that  a  man  who  honestly  fulfils  his  pecuniary  engagements,  is  enti- 
tled to  any  special  praise,  or  I  would  not  observe,  that  I  can  confi- 
dently appeal  to  all  with  whom  I  ever  had  pecuniary  transactions, 
to  bear  testimony  to  the  fidelity  with  which  I  have  discharged 
mine.  I  invite  the  severest  scrutiny  into  my  conduct  in  that 
respect,  and  request  a  comparison  of  it  with  that  of  any  one  of 
those  who  now  assail  me.  I  never  was  sued  in  my  life,  for  an 
uncontested  debt ;  indeed,  I  have  no  recollection  at  this  time  of 
having  ever  been  sued  for  any  ascertained  debt,  contested  or 
uncontested,  and  whether  I  was  principal  or  endorser.  I  am  not 
free  absolutely  from  debt.  I  am  not  rich.  I  never  coveted  riches. 
But  my  estate  would  even  now  be  estimated  at  not  much  less  than 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars.  Whatever  it  may  be  worth,  it  is  a 
gratification  to  me  to  know,  that  it  is  the  produce  of  my  own  honest 
labor,  no  part  of  it  being  hereditary,  except  one  slave,  who  would 
oblige  me  very  much  if  he  would  accept  his  freedom.  It  is  suffi- 
cient, after  paying  all  my  debts,  to  leave  my  family  above  want,  if 
I  should  be  separated  from  them.  It  is  a  matter,  also,  of  consola- 
tion to  me,  to  know  that  this  wanton  exposure  of  my  private  affairs 
can  do  me  no  pecuniary  prejudice.  My  few  creditors  will  not 
allow  their  confidence  in  me  to  be  shaken  by  it.  It  has,  indeed,  led 
to  one  incident,  which  was  at  the  same  time  a  source  of  pleasure 
and  pain.  A  friend  lately  called  on  me,  at  the  instance  of  another 
friend,  and  informed  me  that  they  were  apprehensive  that  my 
private  affairs  were  embarrassed,  and  that  I  allowed  their  embar- 
rassment to  prey  upon  my  mind.  He  came,  therefore,  with  their 
authority,  to  tell  me  that  they  would  contribute  any  sum  that  I 
might  want,  to  relieve  me.  The  emotions  which  such  a  proposi- 
tion excited,  can  be  conceived  by  honorable  men.  I  felt  most 
happy  to  be  able  to  undeceive  them,  and  to  decline  their  benevo- 
lent proposition.' 

Though  Mr.  Clay's  enemies  were  greatly  gratified  at  his  eject- 
ment from  office,  they  were  more  disappointed  and  chagrined  at 
the  fortitude,  and  humor,  even,  with  which  he  bore  it.  They  had 
prepared  a  rich  feast  of  enjoyment  over  his  anticipated  sorrow,  on 
the  occurrence  of  that  event,  which  was  spoiled  by  him,  in  not 
complying  with  the  conditions  that  would  make  it  palatable.  In- 
stead of  being  sad,  he  was  merry.     At  the  time  of  his  departure 


LIFE     OP     HENRY     CLAY.  153 

from  Washington  for  Kentucky,  the  roads  were  very  bad,  which 
induced  him  to  send  his  private  conveyance  in  advance,  and  resort 
to  the  stage-coach.  On  one  occasion,  the  roughness  of  them 
caused  him  to  take  a  seat  beside  the  driver,  which  he  occupied  on 
entering  Uniontown,  in  Pennsylvania,  at  which  his  friends  in  that 
place  expressed  great  surprise,  to  which  he  replied,  '  gentlemen, 
although  I  am  with  the  outs,  yet  I  can  assure  you  that  the  ins 
behind  me,  have  much  the  worst  of  it.'  His  health,  which  had 
become  much  enfeebled  by  his  arduous  duties,  improved  rapidly 
during  his  journey  home,  and  the  flow  of  his  exuberant  spirits  more 
than  kept  pace  with  it.  The  most  kindly  receptions  greeted  him 
at  every  stage  of  it ;  indeed,  in  the  expressions  of  regard  for  his 
character  and  services,  there  was  scarcely  any  cessation,  from  the 
time  he  left  the  seat  of  government  until  he  reached  his  home,  to 
which  he  was  welcomed  by  one  of  those  warm,  spontaneous,  and 
eloquent  outbursts  of  Kentuckian  feeling,  which,  to  be  known, 
must  be  witnessed,  for  no  description  can  do  it  justice.  Hardly 
had  he  disrobed  himself  of  his  travelling  garments,  and  become 
seated  in  his  residence  at  Ashland,  before  he  was  importuned  to 
exchange  it  for  one  in  congress,  or  in  the  legislature  of  Kentucky; 
but  ill  health,  and  a  desire  for  temporal  repose,  caused  him  to 
decline.  Scarcely  a  day  passed  away  which  did  not  bring  to  his 
abode  testimonials  of  regard  and  affection,  from  his  friends  in  all 
parts  of  the  country.  He  was  urged  repeatedly  to  participate  in 
their  hospitality,  which  had  he  complied  with  to  the  extent  in 
which  it  was  proffered,  the  strength  of  a  thousand  men  would 
have  been  requisite  to  carry  him  uninjured  through  it.  These 
invitations  were  prompted  by  a  consciousness  of  his  worth,  and  a 
desire  to  gather  his  opinions  and  sentiments,  in  relation  to  national 
policy.  This  desire  was  always  gratified,  at  those  which  he 
accepted.  In  May,  1829,  he  was  honored  by  a  public  dinner, 
served  up  at  Fowler's  garden,  at  which  about  three  thousand  sat 
down.  His  presence  called  forth  the  following  toast:  'our 
distinguished  guest,  friend,  and  neighbor,  Henry  Clay  —  with 
increased  proofs  of  his  worth,  we  delight  to  renew  the  assurance 
of  our  confidence  in  his  patriotism,  talents,  and  incorruptibility  — 
may  health  and  happiness  attend  him  in  retirement,  and  a  grateful 
nation  do  justice  to  his  virtues.'  After  its  announcement,  he  spoke 
for  the  space  of  one  hour  and  a  half,  with  more  than  his  usual 
eloquence  and  energy.  He  reviewed  somewhat  minutely  his  public 
career,  the  administration  of  Mr.  Adams,  and  spoke  in  terms  of 
deserved  censure  of  the  means  resorted  to,  by  his  enemies,  to  put 
him  down.  He  animadverted  severely  upon  the  course  pursued 
by  general  Jackson,  in  removing  faithful  public  officers,  and  con- 
sidered his  conduct,  in  that  respect,  unjustifiable,  and  as  calculated 
to  establish  a  dangerous  precedent.  His  sentiments  concerning  the 
principles  which  ought  to  govern  public  servants,  are  worthy  of  all 
vol.  i.  20 


154  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

acceptance,  and  should  be  inscribed  in  letters  of  gold  on  the 
phylacteries  of  all  office-holders  and  office-seekers.  He  closed  by 
saying,  '  in  the  presence  of  my  God,  and  of  this  assembled  multi- 
tude, I  can  and  I  will  say,  that  I  have  honestly  and  faithfully 
served  my  country,  that  I  have  never  wronged  it,  and  that,  however 
unprepared  I  lament  that  I  am,  to  appear  in  the  Divine  presence 
on  other  accounts,  I  invoke  the  stern  justice  of  His  judgment  on 
my  public  conduct,  without  the  smallest  apprehension  of  His 
displeasure.' 

Mr.  Clay  never  attempted  concealment  either  of  his  sentiments  or 
his  actions  in  relation  to  public  matters ;  on  the  contrary,  he  invited 
the  most  searching  scrutiny,  conscious  that  in  the  maintenance  of 
the  former,  and  the  performance  of  the  latter,  he  was  actuated  by 
upright  motives. 

In  1829-30  he  visited  various  parts  of  Kentucky,  loaded  with 
favors  wherever  he  came  ;  upholding  those  measures  which  were 
truly  national,  and  denouncing,  without  any  reserve,  those  that  were 
of  an  opposite  character.  Of  this  description  he  found  many  connect- 
ed with  the  administration  of  general  Jackson,  neither  did  he  allow 
himself  to  be  deterred  from  expressing  his  views  freely  in  relation 
to  them,  from  any  motives  of  a  personal  consideration.  Mr.  Clay 
was  not  the  man  to  shrink  from  the  duty  of  directing  the  attention 
of  the  country  to  measures  whose  tendency  he  believed  was  det- 
rimental to  its  interests.  He  would  not  hesitate  to  lift  his  warning 
voice,  though  it  would  be  at  the  expense  of  his  hard-earned  fame, 
when  he  saw  means  employing  to  jeopard  its  safety.  He  visited 
New  Orleans  at  the  commencement  of  1830,  where,  if  possible,  the 
attentions  bestowed  upon  him  exceeded  those  which  he  received 
from  his  own  constituents.  Although  his  visit  was  occasioned  by 
business  of  a  private  character,  he  was  continually  thronged  by  the 
people,  of  all  parties,  tendering  him  the  mede  of  honor  due  his  dis- 
tinguished eminence.  It  was  with  difficulty  he  could  resist  their 
warm  importunity  to  accept  a  public  dinner.  He  left  for  Natchez, 
Mississippi,  on  the  ninth  of  March,  amid  an  immense  concourse  of 
people,  assembled  to  witness  his  departure.  The  levee,  tops  of 
steamboats,  and  houses,  were  completely  covered  by  them,  who  rent 
the  air  with  their  enthusiastic  cheering.  As  the  steamer  that  bore  him 
moved  from  the  pier,  they  were  almost  deafening,  which,  with  the 
waving  of  banners  and  handkerchiefs,  and  firing  of  cannon,  made 
it  appear  more  like  the  departure  of  a  mighty  conqueror,  than  of  a 
private  citizen.  At  Natchez,  his  arrival  was  anticipated,  by  the 
congregating  of  individuals  from  all  parts  of  Mississippi,  comprising 
the  elite  of  her  distinguished  men,  irrespective  of  partisanship,  who 
thronged  the  wharf,  waiting  to  receive  him.  On  the  arrival  of  the 
boat,  the  rush  into  it  was  so  great  as  to  excite  alarm,  and  the  mul- 
titude environing  it  was  so  large  and  dense,  that  some  time  was 
consumed  in  making  an  opening  through  it.      Mr.  Clay  found  it 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  155 

easier  to  accept  an  invitation  to  a  public  dinner,  than  to  resist  the 
importunity  with  which  it  was  tendered.  The  guests  were  numer- 
ous. Says  one  who  witnessed  the  assembly,  '  it  was  no  partisan 
gathering.  The  warmest  political  opponents,  set  down  face  to  face 
with  each  other,  united  in  one  subject  at  least — the  desire  to  do 
honor  to  their  distinguished  guest — to  one  whose  patriotic  motives 
none  of  them  could  doubt,  however  much  they  might  differ  from  his 
principles.  In  his  remarks,  he  was  interrupted  more  than  once  by  the 
deep,  involuntary  murmurs  of  applause,  which  burst  forth  around 
him.  Every  word  which  he  uttered,  went  down  and  rested  upon  the 
hearts  of  his  auditors,  like  the  kind  tones  of  some  blessed  visitant. 
It  was  a  proud  moment  for  Henry  Clay.  The  dark  elements  of 
faction  sank  down  into  quietude  before  him.  Men  who  had  been 
arrayed  for  years  in  political  contention,  who  had  hitherto  met  each 
other  with  the  compressed  lip  and  knitted  brow  of  hatred,  gave  back, 
on  this  occasion,  the  smiles  of  one  another. 

1  Mr.  Clay  commenced  by  an  acknowledgment  of  his  gratitude 
for  the  honors  bestowed  upon  him.  ■  There  is  nothing  in  life,'  said 
he,  '  half  so  delightful  to  the  heart,  as  to  know  that,  notwithstanding 
the  conflicts  that  arise  among  men — the  wThirlwind  and  madness 
of  party  feeling — there  yet  are  times,  as  on  the  present  occasion, 
when  passion  and  prejudice  slumber — moments,  when  old  differ- 
ences cease  from  troubling,  and  when  all  that  is  turbulent,  and  all 
that  is  distrustful,  are  sacrificed  to  the  generous  and  social  dictates 
of  humanity.' 

'  He  spoke  of  general  Jackson.  He  spoke  of  his  great  battle. 
Darkly  as  he  had  been  traduced,  deeply  as  he  had  been  injured  by 
that  man,  he  yet  hesitated  not  to  bestow  upon  him  his  full  measure  of 
patriotic  encomium.  His  feelings  rose  with  the  subject.  His  eye 
kindled.  There  was  a  moral  grandeur  in  his  look ;  and  all  who 
saw  it  felt  that  it  was  the  visible  manifestation  of  the  triumph  of 
his  nobler  feelings  over  the  dark  sense  of  wrong. 

'  At  that  moment  I  would  have  given  my  right  hand,  to  have  seen 
general  Jackson  confronted  before  his  magnanimous  opponent — 
face  to  face  with  the  man  whom  he  had  so  foully  injured.  Had  he  been 
there  —  under  the  eye  of  that  noble-hearted  speaker — every  word  of 
commendation,  every  generous  acknowledgment  of  his  services, 
would  have  fallen  upon  his  head  like  a  rain  of  fire.'  In  every  town 
which  he  visited,  the  citizens  gathered  round  him,  and  wherever  he 
turned,  a  hundred  hands  were  extended  to  clasp  his  own.  Public 
feeling  flowed  after  him  as  the  tides  of  the  ocean  follow  the  moving 
moon.  Passing  through  Donaldsonville,  where  the  legislature 
of  Louisiana  was  in  session,  he  unexpectedly  entered  the  hall 
of  the  house  of  representatives,  when  that  body,  including  speaker, 
and  members  of  both  parties,  simultaneously  rose  to  receive  him. 
In  the  summer  of  1830,  business  called  him  to  Columbus,  the  cap- 
ital of  Ohio.     At  the  time,  a  celebration  was  had  by  the  mechanics 


156  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

of  the  place  and  vicinity,  at  which  the  following  honorary  toast  was 
given  :  '  our  inestimable  guest,  Henry  Clay.  An  efficient  laborer 
in  support  of  the  industry  of  the  country.  Farmers  and  mechanics 
know  kow  to  appreciate  his  services'' — to  which  he  responded,  in  a 
speech  which  embraced  allusions  to  his  favorite  theme,  internal 
improvements,  in  connection  with  the  hostility  of  general  Jackson  to 
them,  as  evinced  in  his  veto  of  acts  passed  by  congress,  expressive 
of  its  views  of  that  system,  and  the  established  policy  of  the  nation. 
He  vindicated  their  action,  and  proved  its  accordance  with  the 
provisions  of  the  constitution.  The  operation  of  the  tariff  he  also 
considered,  and  showed  it  salutary.  In  his  concluding  remarks  he 
adverted  to  his  own  circumstances.  *  Why,'  said  he,  *  were  the  fires  of 
unabated  persecution  kindled  around  him?  Why  was  the  artillery 
of  the  press  incessantly  levelled  upon  him?  WThat  had  he  done  ? 
The  history  of  his  past  life  was  before  the  people.  If  he  had  erred 
in  any  of  his  endeavors  to  subserve  the  best  interests  of  the  public, 
he  regretted  it.  His  conscience,  at  least,  did  not  reproach  him. 
And  what  was  he  doing  to  draw  upon  him  the  maledictions  of  his 
countrymen?  He  was  a  private  citizen.  He  could  exercise 
authority  over  none,  nor  had  he  any  engine  of  governmental 
patronage,  to  pervert  and  make  subservient  to  purposes  of  personal 
aggrandizement.' 

At  this  meeting  he  exposed  the  turpitude  of  the  odious  doctrines 
of  nullification,  which  had  begun  to  be  agitated  at  the  south. 

On  the  seventeenth  of  December,  1S29,  Mr.  Clay  delivered  an 
address  before  the  Colonization  Society,  of  Kentucky,  at  Frankfort, 
in  which  the  principles  and  objects  of  that  humane  institution  were 
ably  and  eloquently  supported.  In  it,  he  alluded  pointedly  to  the 
subject  of  slavery,  surveyed  the  numerous  train  of  evils  consequent 
upon  it,  and  expressed  his  hearty  desire  to  cooperate  with  any 
society  which  would  mitigate,  lessen,  or  remove  them.  He  lin- 
gered, with  peculiar  pleasure,  upon  the  success  which  had  unex- 
pectedly crowned  the  efforts  of  the  American  Colonization  Society, 
and  declared  his  sincere  conviction,  that  it  had  most  abundant  en- 
couragement to  persevere  and  endeavor  to  redouble  its  exertions. 
*  We  may  boldly  challenge  the  annals  of  human  nature,'  said  he, 
'for  the  record  of  any  human  plan  for  the  melioration  of  the  con- 
dition or  the  advancement  of  our  race,  which  promises  more 
unmixed  good,  in  comprehensive  benevolence,  than  that  of  the 
Colonization  Society,  if  carried  into  full  operation.  Its  benevolent 
purposes  are  not  confined  to  the  limits  of  one  continent — not  to  the 
prosperity  of  a  solitary  race.  They  embrace  the  largest  two  portions 
of  the  earth,  with  the  peace  and  happiness  of  both  descriptions  of 
their  present  inhabitants,  and  the  countless  millions  of  their  poster- 
ity. The  colonists,  reared  in  the  bosom  of  this  republic,  with  a 
knowledge  of  the  blessings  which  liberty  imparts,  although  now 
unable  to  share  them,  will  carry  a  recollection  of  them  to  benighted 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  157 

Africa,  and  light  up,  in  time,  her  immense  territory.  And  may  we 
not  indulge  the  hope,  thai,  in  a  period  of  time  not  surpassing  in 
duration  that  of  our  own  colonial  and  national  existence,  we  shall 
behold  a  confederation  of  republican  states  on  the  western  shores 
of  Africa,  with  their  congress,  and  their  annual  legislatures,  thun- 
dering forth  in  behalf  of  the  rights  of  man,  and  causing  tyrants  to 
tremble  on  their  thrones ! ' 

Mr.  Clay  regarded  the  society,  if  judiciously  managed,  compe- 
tent to  diffuse  the  light  and  blessings  of  civilization  and  Christian- 
ity, under  the  guidance  of  Providence,  through  the  entire  vast 
regions  of  Africa ;  saying,  that  it  proposed  'to  send,  not  one  or  two 
pious  members  of  Christianity,  into  a  foreign  land,  among  a  differ- 
ent and  perhaps  a  suspicious  race,  of  another  complexion,  but  to 
transport  annually,  for  an  indefinite  number  of  years,  thousands 
of  efficient  missionaries,  of  the  descendants  of  Africa  itself,  with 
the  same  interests,  sympathies,  and  constitutions  of  the  natives,  to 
communicate  the  benefits  of  our  holy  religion,  and  of  the  arts  of 
civilization.  And  this  colony  of  missionaries  is  to  operate,  not 
alone  by  preaching  the  words  of  truth  and  revelation,  which,  how- 
ever delightful  to  the  ears  of  the  faithful  and  intelligent,  are  not 
always  comprehended  by  untutored  savages,  but  also  by  works  of 
occular  demonstration.  It  will  open  the  great  forest,  it  will  build 
up  cities,  erect  temples  for  christian  worship,  and  thus  practically 
exhibit  to  the  native  sons  of  Africa,  the  beautiful  moral  spectacle, 
and  the  superior  advantages,  of  our  religious  and  social  systems. 
In  this  unexaggerated  view  of  the  subject,  the  African  colony, 
compared  with  other  missionary  plans,  presents  the  force  and 
grandeur  of  the  noble  steamer  majestically  ascending,  and  with 
ease  subduing  the  current  of  the  Mississippi,  in  comparison  with 
the  feeble  and  tottering  canoe,  moving  slowly  among  the  reeds 
which  fringe  its  shores.  It  holds  up  the  image  of  the  resistless 
power  of  the  Mississippi  itself,  rushing  down  from  the  summit 
of  the  Rocky  mountains,  and  making  its  deep  and  broad  and  rapid 
course  through  the  heart  of  this  continent,  thousands  of  miles,  to 
the  gulf  of  Mexico,  in  comparison  with  that  of  an  obscure  rivulet, 
winding  its  undiscernable  way  through  dark  and  dense  forests  or 
luxuriant  prairies,  where  it  is  quickly  and  forever  lost. 

1  Confiding  in  the  approving  judgment  of  Divine  Providence, 
and  conscious  of  the  purity  and  benevolence  of  our  intentions,  we 
may  fearlessly  advance  in  our  great  work.  And  when  we  shall, 
as  soon  we  must,  be  translated  from  this  into  another  existence, 
is  the  hope  presumptuous,  that  we  shall  then  behold  the  common 
Father  of  the  white  and  the  black,  the  Ruler  of  the  universe,  cast 
his  all-seeing  eye  upon  civilized  and  regenerated  Africa,  its  culti- 
vated fields,  its  coasts  studded  with  numerous  cities,  and  adorned 
with  temples  dedicated  to  the  religion  of  his  redeeming  Son,  its 
far-famed  Niger,  and  all  its  great  rivers,  lined  with  flourishing 


158  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

villages,  and  navigated  by  that  wonderful  power  which  American 
genius  first  applied ;  and  that,  after  dwelling  with  satisfaction  upon 
the  glorious  spectacle,  he  will  deign  to  look  with  approbation  upon 
us,  his  humble  instruments,  who  have  contributed  to  produce  it.' 

Mr.  Clay  believed  that  the  association  would  eventually  abolish 
slavery,  whose  existence  how  deeply  he  deplored,  may  be  gathered 
from  the  following  language.  'If  I  could  be  instrumental  in 
eradicating  this  deepest  stain  upon  the  character  of  our  country, 
and  removing  all  cause  of  reproach  on  account  of  it,  by  foreign 
nations;  if  I  could  only  be  instrumental  in  ridding  of  this  foul 
blot  that  revered  state  that  gave  me  birth,  or  that  not  less  beloved 
state  which  kindly  adopted  me  as  her  son,  I  would  not  exchange 
the  proud  satisfaction  which  I  should  enjoy,  for  the  honor  of  all  the 
triumphs  ever  decreed  to  the  most  successful  conqueror? 

Mr.  Clay  was  elected  to  the  United  States  senate,  by  the  legisla- 
ture of  Kentucky,  in  the  autumn  of  1S31.  About  the  same  time, 
in  a  national  convention,  at  Baltimore,  he  was  nominated  to  the 
presidency,  in  opposition  to  general  Jackson. 

Soon  after  taking  his  seat  in  the  senate,  the  subject  of  the  tariff 
came  up  for  consideration,  to  which  he  gave  his  most  efficient  aid. 
The  president  avowed  his  hostility  to  protective  measures,  and  in 
consequence  of  his  great  influence  in  congress,  there  was  great 
danger  that  they  would  be  frittered  away,  so  as  to  impair  very  ma- 
terially their  utility,  or  be  entirely  destroyed.  The  south  began  to 
murmur  their  enmity  towards  them,  which  they  believed  operated 
against  their  interests.  They  were  violently  opposed  to  the  policy 
of  imposing  duties  on  cotton  fabrics,  which  were  imported  into  the 
United  States  from  Great  Britain,  the  principal  consumer  of  her 
staple  production.  From  the  attitude  which  she  began  to  assume, 
in  relation  to  the  protective  system,  just  ground  of  alarm  for  its 
safety  was  apprehended,  and  furnished  an  occasion  sufficiently 
critical  to  call  forth  one  of  Mr.  Clay's  mightiest  efforts.  He  en- 
deavored to  conciliate  the  south,  and  cause,  if  possible,  their  views 
to  harmonize  with  the  north.  On  the  ninth  of  January,  183.2,  he 
introduced  a  resolution,  providing  that  the  existing  duties  upon 
articles  imported  from  foreign  countries,  and  not  coming  into  com- 
petition with  similar  articles  made  or  produced  in  the  United 
States,  ought  to  be  forthwith  abolished,  except  the  duties  on  wines 
and  silks,  and  that  they  ought  to  be  reduced,  and  that  the  commit- 
tee on  finance  be  instructed  to  report  a  bill  accordingly.  In  de- 
fence of  this  resolution,  he  made  a  speech,  powerfully  illustrating 
the  importance  to  the  whole  country  of  protective  enactments. 
He  was  followed  by  Mr.  Hayne,  of  South  Carolina,  in  reply. 
The  discussion  was  continued  several  days,  during  which,  Mr. 
Clay  made  his  brilliant  speech,  in  which  he  signally  sustained  the 
American  system  against  the  British  colonial  system.  Its  delivery 
occupied  several  days,  and  when  he  ceased,  this  masterly  produc- 


LIFE     OF      HENRY     CLAY.  159 

tion  of  sound  and  argumentative  reasoning,  logical  deduction,  and 
legitimate  inference,  presented  to  the  delighted  view  of  the  friends 
of  that  system,  a  mighty  monument,  destined  to  perpetuate  its 
practical  utility,  in  connection  with  the  fame  of  the  founder,  while, 
to  the  enemies  of  that  system,  it  presented  the  impregnable  bul- 
wark of  its  defence.  Mr.  Clay's  speech,  on  this  occasion,  may  be 
justly  regarded  as  a  complete  text-book,  where  every  thing  requisite 
for  the  defence  of  protection  and  internal  improvement  may  be 
found. 

On  the  thirteenth  of  March,  Mr.  Dickerson,  from  the  committee 
on  manufactures,  reported  a  bill,  framed  in  accordance  with  the 
suggestions  of  Mr.  Clay's  resolution.  This  was  opposed,  on  the 
ground  that  it  did  not  embrace  the  whole  subject  of  the  tariff, 
because  the  duties  on  articles  which  were  protected,  were  not 
reduced.  Upon  this  bill  a  sharp  debate  followed,  which  resulted  in 
its  being  laid  upon  the  table.  After  being  amended,  and  variously 
altered,  it  passed  both  houses,  and  became  a  law  in  July,  1832. 

This  bill  preserved  all  the  essential  features  and  characteristics  of 
the  protective  system  unimpaired ;  too  much,  indeed,  to  please  the 
south.  Violently  opposed  to  any  measures  of  protection  which 
made  the  slightest  encroachment  upon  their  sectional  interests,  they 
regarded  the  provisions  of  this  bill  with  the  most  bitter  hatred.  The 
leaven  of  nullification,  which  was  rapidly  spreading  itself  at  the 
south,  gloated  over  these,  and  derived  new  strength  to  go  forth  and 
disseminate  its  invalidating  dogmas.  Its  aspect  grew  more  and 
more  menacing  every  day,  until,  at  last,  indubitable  evidences  of  an 
organized  opposition  to  this  bill  began  to  appear.  In  this,  South 
Carolina  took  the  lead.  The  legislature  of  that  state  ratified  an  or- 
dinance, passed  by  a  state  convention  at  Columbus,  in  November, 
1832,  declaring  the  tariff  acts  unconstitutional,  and  utterly  null  and 
void.  The  most  decided  determination  was  expressed,  to  disregard 
them,  and  not  a  few  were  found  insisting  upon  the  right  to  do  so. 
Measures  were  devised  to  resist  their  enforcement,  and  munitions 
of  war  procured,  and  warlike  preparations  made  ;  the  other  southern 
states  were  invited  to  join  her  ;  reports  were  put  in  circulation,  that 
Great  Britain  was  about  to  become  her  fast  and  firm  ally ;  and  the 
lovers  of  liberty  began  to  tremble  for  the  result.  The  anti-republi- 
cans began  to  chuckle  over  the  fancied  prospect,  that  their  predic- 
tions were  about  to  be  verified  —  that  our  liberties,  our  institutions, 
and  our  union,  were  about  to  be  overwhelmed  in  utter  destruction, 
by  the  all-devouring  jaws  of  civil  war.  President  Jackson  prompt- 
ly issued  his  proclamation,  denouncing  the  doctrines  of  nullifica- 
tion, and  declared  that  the  entire  military  force  of  the  United  States, 
if  necessary,  should  be  employed  to  put  down  all  attempts  to 
oppose  or  resist  any  enactment  of  the  general  government.  He 
remonstrated  with  the  people  of  South  Carolina,  and  urged  them  to 
submit  to  the  laws  of  the  United  States.      His  wishes,  however, 


180  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

were  not  heeded.  The  governor  ( Mr.  Hayne)  immediately  issued  a 
counter  proclamation,  setting  forth  the  arbitrary  measures  which  the 
federal  executive  sought  to  subject  them  to,  and  counselling  thern 
to  resist  these,  even  by  force  of  arms,  if  necessary.  The  danger 
that  impended  increased  every  hour,  notwithstanding  the  bold  and 
decided  stand,  which  the  president  took  by  the  side  of  the  laws  of 
the  union.  In  this  respect  his  conduct  is  entitled  to  all  praise.  But 
it  was  not  occasioned  by  any  good  or  friendly  feeling  towards  the 
protective  system,  nor  by  any  diminution  of  his  hostility  towards  this. 
He  gave  increasing  evidence  of  his  willingness  to  contribute  to  its 
destruction,  by  yielding  to  the  rebellious  state  all  she  desired,  in 
abandoning  the  principle  of  protection.  This  had  been  distinctly 
avowed,  in  the  report  of  the  secretary  of  the  treasury,  recommend- 
ing the  reduction  of  duties  to  a  revenue  standard,  and  on  the  twenty- 
seventh  of  December,  Mr.  Verplanck,  from  the  committee  on  '  ways 
and  means,'  reported  a  bill  which,  in  accordance  with  the  recommen- 
dation of  the  secretary's  report,  proposed  to  reduce  the  duties  on  im- 
ported goods,  to  an  average  of  about  fifteen  per  cent,  upon  the  foreign 
valuation.  This  bill  was  designed  to  take  immediate  effect,  and  to 
make  a  further  redaction  of  duties,  on  all  protected  articles,  in  March, 
1834.  Thus  the  administration  came  over  to  the  ground  which  the 
nullifiers  desired  it  to  occupy.  After  the  bill  had  been  discussed 
about  a  week,  the  president  transmitted  a  message  to  congress,  togeth- 
er with  the  abrogating  enactments  of  South  Carolina,  and  recom- 
mended the  course  he  deemed  proper  to  be  pursued  in  relation  to 
them.  A  bill  to  enforce  the  collection  of  the  revenue,  was  brought 
before  the  senate  a  few  days  subsequent,  directing  coercive  measures 
to  be  employed,  in  case  of  resistance.  Matters  seemed  fast  coming  to 
extremities.  The  disorganizers,  though  in  a  state  of  readiness,  took 
no  decisive  steps,  but  seemed  to  be  looking  for  an  adjustment  of 
the  subject  occasioning  their  disquietude,  in  a  way  to  suit  their 
peculiar  views.  But  the  prospect  that  this  would  be  accomplished, 
grew  every  day  fainter.  At  this  critical  juncture,  when  no  source 
of  help  was  visible,  when  the  political  heavens  were  continually 
gathering  blackness,  and  the  thunder  of  insurgency  fell  with  appal- 
ling plainness  upon  the  ear,  Mr.  Clay  stepped  forth  to  disperse  the 
gloom,  and  clothe  with  the  garments  of  peace,  an  almost  distracted 
people.  He  clearly  saw,  that,  to  heal  the  breach  which  had  been 
made,  and  which  was  continually  widening,  it  was  necessary  to 
make  a  partial  retrocession  from  the  vantage  ground,  which  by  toil 
and  strife  he  had  gained,  in  relation  to  the  American  system.  To 
yield  an  inch  of  this,  of  such  vital  importance  did  he  conceive  it  to 
be  to  the  country,  was  like  allowing  the  sources  of  his  own  existence 
to  be  annihilated,  one  by  one.  But  the  salvation  of  it  depended, 
at  this  crisis,  on  making  this  retrogade  movement,  as  well  as  the 
peace,  and  perhaps  life,  of  no  inconsiderable  portion  of  the  people. 
Under  these  circumstances,  he  did  not  hesitate  as  to  the  course  he 


LIFE      OF     HE  21  RY     CLAY.  161 

ought  to  pursue.  It  seemed  as  though  he  had,  some  time  previous, 
cast  his  solicitous  eyes  over  the  whole  ground  ;  that  he  had  foreseen 
while  in  embryo  the  dark  elements  of  faction  and  resistance,  and 
nullification,  and  foresaw  that  they  would  commingle,  and  ferment, 
and  finally  originate  just  such  an  emergency,  as  that  which  reared 
its  horrid  front  before  him.  Something  like  compromise  had  sug- 
gested itself  to  him,  some  weeks  previous,  while  spending  a  season 
of  leisure  with  a  relative  in  Philadelphia.  He  then  gave  the  sub- 
ject considerable  consideration,  and  digested  a  plan  suited  to  the 
extremity,  which  he  knew  would,  sooner  or  later,  arrive.  It  had 
come,  bringing  in  its  train,  remote  though  they  might  be,  consequen- 
ces which  no  patriot,  no  well-wisher  to  his  country,  could  contem- 
plate, without  standing  aghast.  To  avert  these,  Mr.  Clay  deemed 
it  not  only  desirable,  but  highly  obligatory  upon  those  who  were 
the  recipients  of  the  blessings  of  freedom.  Having  completed  his 
remedial  plan,  he  spread  it  before  the  senate  on  the  eleventh  of 
February,  1833,  in  the  form  of  a  compromise  bill.  This  was  the 
result  of  mature  deliberation  and  much  consultation,  both  with  the 
friends  and  enemies  of  protection.  He  thought  it  expedient  to 
ascertain,  not  only  the  manner  of  its  reception,  but  of  its  operation. 
Many  of  those  wThom  he  consulted  did  not  approve  of  his  plan. 
Among  ihese  was  Mr.  Webster.  With  him  Mr.  Clay  discussed  the 
provisions  thoroughly,  and  though  partially  convinced  of  its  utility, 
he  did  not  yield  it  his  entire  confidence.  Mr.  Webster's  opinion, 
carrying  with  it  great  weight,  tended  to  gather  a  pretty  formidable 
opposition  around  him  at  the  north,  while  nullification  at  the  south 
contributed  its  share.  Mr.  Clay,  therefore,  found  it  necessary  to 
advance  with  great  caution ;  to  survey  carefully  every  inch  of  ground 
he  intended  to  occupy,  previous  to  setting  foot  upon  it.  Never, 
perhaps,  was  a  bill  brought  before  congress  under  such  peculiar 
circumstances,  or  when  greater  talent  and  skill  were  needed.  The 
south  was  willing  to  be  conciliated,  but  somewhat  inclined  to 
dictate  terms.  A  hair-breadth  deviation  from  the  line  which  her  pre- 
dilection designated,  might  prove  fatal  to  his  scheme,  and  cause  the 
gathering  storm  to  pour  its  desolating  strength  upon  the  land.  As 
far  as  practicable,  Mr.  Clay  ascertained  the  feelings  of  this  section 
in  relation  to  it,  and  had  several  interviews  with  Mr.  Calhoun,  and 
o:her  influential  members  from  the  south.  The  proclamation  of 
the  president  had  temporarily  diverted  their  enmity  from  the  system 
of  protection,  towards  him.  To  the  summary  and  stern  manner 
in  which  generd  Jackson  proposed,  and  even  seemed  anxious, 
to  settle  existing  difficulties,  there  was  a  great  and  growing  repug- 
nance at  the  norlh,  and  which  operated  favorably  in  disposing  the 
south  to  embrace  any  plan  that  might  be  proposed,  though  it  should 
not  embody  all  the  peculiarities  of  their  views. 

Mr.  Clayton,  of  Delaware,  zealously  cooperated  with   Mr.  Clay, 
incessantly  exerting  himself  to  propagate  his  views,  and,  in  conse- 
vol.  i.  21 


162  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

quence  of  his  commanding  influence,  his  efforts  were  crowned 
with  gratifying  success.  He  was  strongly  attached  to  Mr.  Calhoun, 
and  many  other  southern  members,  and  would  often  express  his 
admiration  of  their  distinguished  talents  and  noble  qualities,  and 
a  desire  to  see  them  retained  in  the  service  of  their  and  his  country. 
'  Noble  fellows,  Clay !  noble  fellows ! '  he  would  say.  '  We  must 
save  them,  if  possible ;  it  will  not  do  to  let  general  Jackson  hang 
them ;  the  country  needs  them ;  she  cannot  spare  them  yet ! ' 
Southern  members  generally  took  sides  with  South  Carolina,  so 
far  as  to  consult  her  wishes  in  selecting  such  measures  as  would 
satisfy  her.  The  principle  of  home  valuation,  which  Mr.  Clay 
and  his  friends  insisted  upon  incorporating  with  his  compromise 
bill,  they  opposed  at  first,'  but  finally  most  of  them  agreed  to  it, 
among  whom  was  Mr.  Calhoun.  When  the  bill  was  taken  up  by 
the  senate,  he,  for  the  first  time,  signified  his  assent  to  that  principle, 
and  paid  a  handsome  tribute  to  the  patriotism  and  motives  of  Mr. 
Clay.  He  intimated,  plainly,  that  Mr.  Clay's  bill  was  calculated  to 
heal  the  wound  which  the  confederacy  had  received,  and  expressed 
the  strongest  anxiety  that  this  would  be  accomplished  without 
abandoning  a  tittle  of  the  constitutional  right  of  protection.  In  a 
debate,  which  was  protracted  several  days,  the  enemies  of  the  bill 
arrayed  against  it  all  their  power.  Mr.  Webster,  with  the  mighty 
weapons  which  his  giant  intellect  was  capable  of  forging,  assaulted 
it  with  tremendous  vehemence.  Its  defeat  was  considered  at  one 
stage  of  the  discussion  as  certain.  Said  Mr.  Forsyth,  tauntingly, 
4  the  tariff  is  at  its  last  gasp;  no  hellebore  can  cure  it.1  i  It  contains 
nothing  but  protection,  from  beginning  to  end,1  said  Mr.  Smith,  of 
Maryland,  '  and  therefore  I  oppose  iV 

During  the  debate,  a  personal  difficulty  occurred  between  Mr. 
Poindexter,  of  Mississippi,  and  Mr.  Webster,  which  threatened  to 
lead  to  something  serious.  Mr.  Clay,  by  his  generous  interference, 
pacificated  the  parties,  by  bringing  about  a  satisfactory  explanation. 

The  compromise  bill  finally  was  adopted  in  the  house,  by  a 
vote  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  to  eighty-four,  and  in  the  senate, 
by  a  vote  of  twenty-nine  to  sixteen,  and  received  the  president's 
signature,  in  March,  1833.  And  thus  the  country  once  more 
breathed  freely ;  the  good  and  benevolent,  who  had  clad  themselves 
in  sackcloth,  and,  in  a  posture  of  the  deepest  humiliation  and  grief, 
sat  supplicating  a  kind  Providence  to  shield  her,  in  this  her  hour 
of  imminent  peril,  and  guide  her  safely  through  it,  arose  and 
poured  out  to  Him  the  libations  of  their  gratitude.  Neither  did 
they  forget  the  instrument  which  he  had  deigned  to  employ  in 
accomplishing  her  deliverance.  Both  friends  and  foes  acknowl- 
edged his  agency  in  this.  As  in  the  settlement  of  the  Missouri 
question,  so  in  this,  he  was  hailed  as  the  liberator  of  a  nalion  from 
the  jaws  of  impending  danger,  and  perhaps  of  ruin.  The  tide  of 
popular  praise  and  profound  regard  set  towards  him  from  all  parts 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  163 

of  it,  like  the  streams  of  gravitation  towards  the  centre  of  the 
earth.  Men  of  all  parties  contributed  to  swell  this.  Those  who 
rarely  spoke  of  him,  except  in  detracting  terms,  now  joined  heartily 
in  the  popular  cry  of  approval.  Said  the  present  chief  magistrate, 
several  years  subsequent  to  the  passage  of  Mr.  Clay's  bill,  in  view 
of  his  agency  in  carrying  it  through  congress,  '  in  my  deliberate 
opinion,  there  was  but  one  man  who  could  have  arrested  the  then 
course  of  things  (the  tendency  of  nullification  to  dissolve  the  union), 
and  that  man  was  Henry  Clay.  It  rarely  happens  to  the  most  gifted 
and  talented  and  patriotic,  to  record  their  names  upon  the  page  of 
history,  in  characters  indelible  and  enduring.  But  if  to  have 
rescued  his  country  from  civil  war — if  to  have  preserved  the  con- 
stitution and  union  from  hazard  and  total  wreck  —  constitute  any 
ground  for  an  immortal  and  undying  name  among  men,  then  do  I 
believe  that  he  has  won  for  himself  that  high  renown.  I  speak 
what  I  do  know,  for  I  was  an  actor  in  the  scenes  of  that  perilous 
period.  When  he  rose  in  the  senate  chamber,  and  held  in  his 
hand  the  olive  branch  of  peace,  I,  who  had  not  known  what  envy 
was  before,  envied  him.  I  was  proud  of  him  as  my  fellow  coun- 
tryman, and  still  prouder  that  the  slashes  of  Hanover^  within  the 
limit  of  my  old  district,  gave  him  birth.' 

The  above  is  a  fair  sample  of  the  expressions  of  praise  and 
regard,  for  his  eminent  services  rendered,  in  connection  with  intro- 
ducing those  wise  and  sanative  provisions  which  poured  the  balm 
of  peace  into  the  lacerated  hearts  of  an  afflicted  people.  Probably 
they  were  never  more  united  in  any  one  measure,  than  in  that  of 
expressing  their  gratitude  to  Mr.  Clay,  for  his  successful  interfer- 
ence. And  well  did  he  merit  it.  The  task  which  he  performed 
was  no  easy  one.  It  cost  an  amount  of  mental  labor  which  can- 
not be  easily  estimated.  Many  sleepless  nights  were  passed  in 
exhausting  thought,  in  revolving  in  his  mind  the  subject,  in  all  its 
aspects  and  details,  with  an  anxiety  to  devise  some  remedy  that 
would  meet  the  exigencies  of  the  case,  that  drank  up  the  very 
sources  of  his  existence.  It  required  the  mightiest  effort  of  his 
great  and  varied  powers,  to  prevent  its  strangulation  at  its  incep- 
tion. While  in  the  hands  of  the  committee,  its  enemies  endeav- 
ored to  cause  the  impression  to  be  received,  that  the  bill,  as  designed 
by  Mr.  Clay,  could  not  pass  ;  that  there  was  not  the  slightest  chance 
of  its  success ;  and  several  members  of  the  committee  were  deter- 
mined that  it  should  not  be  reported  to  the  senate  in  any  form,  and 
were  more  than  once  on  the  point  of  abandoning  their  places  to 
secure  this.  '  Gentlemen,'  Mr.  Clay  would  say,  '  this  subject  has 
been  committed  to  us,  and  we  must  not  dismiss  it  in  this  manner ; 
it  is  our  duty  to  report  it  in  some  shape,  and  it  shall,  at  all  events, 
be  reported.'  It  appeared  subsequently,  from  the  testimony  of  Mr. 
Hugh  L.  White,  on  whom  the  duty  of  selecting  the  committee 
devolved,  that  general  Jackson  had,  in  person,  urged  him  to  choose 


164  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

such  members  as  were  friendly  to  Mr.  Verplanctt  s  bill,  and  conse- 
quently hostile  to  Mr.  Clay's.  It  is  matter  of  great  surprise,  that, 
under  such  circumstances,  it  should  have  passed  at  all,  except  with 
the  entire  abandonment  of  protection.  More  than  sleepless  vigi- 
lance was  requisite,  to  bring  it  safely  out  from  beneath  the  uplifted 
arms  of  a  powerful  party,  led  on  by  the  executive  himself,  arid 
place  it  on  the  statute  book  of  the  nation.  Columbus  hardly 
encountered  fiercer  storms,  or  braved  greater  dangers,  in  discovering 
America,  than  Mr.  Clay  in  originating,  sustaining,  and  con- 
summating, a  measure  that  resulted  in  the  preservation  of  a  great 
portion  of  it  from  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  worst  of  all  human 
enemies,  civil  war.  Well  did  he  deserve,  then,  the  meed  of  praise 
which  its  inhabitants  unanimously  accorded  to  him.  Most  right- 
eous was  their  decision,  in  relation  to  his  motives  —  that  they  were 
unimpeachably  pure.  In  these  days  of  political  degeneracy,  it  is 
refreshing  to  look  back  and  suffer  one's  vision  to  rest  upon  that 
spot  on  which  he  planted  his  feet,  and  fought  his  glorious,  patriotic 
battle ;  their  prints  are  still  seen ;  they  have  gathered  greenness 
with  the  lapse  of  years,  presaging  that  the  floods  and  storms  of 
time  will  never  obliterate  or  mar  them. 

We  have  before  alluded  to  Mr.  Clay's  indomitable  adhesion  to 
principle,  that  no  party  or  selfish  consideration  could  induce  him 
for  a  moment  to  swerve  from  it.  This  led  him  to  act  for  the  good 
of  his  whole  country,  and  never  to  act,  while  a  member  of  her 
councils,  unless  an  occasion  when  that  was  at  stake  arose.  We 
have  searched  long,  but  in  vain,  for  evidence  to  the  contrary.  We 
have  examined,  with  great  care,  his  public  character,  as  spread  out 
upon  the  records  of  the  nation,  and  solemnly  declare  our  belief, 
that  none,  either  expressed  or  implied,  exists.  If,  in  relation  to  his 
public  career,  we  were  asked, (  what  is  its  most  prominent  character- 
istic ? '  we  should  unhesitatingly  reply,  purity  of  motive.  We  believe, 
in  reference  to  this,  that  he  stands  on  a  moral  eminence,  high 
enough  to  command  a  view  of  the  globe.  So  prominent  does 
this  appear,  the  more  it  is  examined,  the  conviction  cannot  be 
resisted,  that,  in  all  his  public  action,  of  which  his  country  was  the 
object,  his  desire  to  act  right  was  stronger  than  that  of  life  itself. 
Says  one  of  his  personal  friends,  *  on  one  occasion  he  did  me  the 
honor  to  send  for  and  consult  with  me,  in  reference  to  a  step  he 
was  about  to  take.  After  stating  what  he  proposed,  I  suggested, 
whether  there  would  not  be  danger  in  it,  whether  such  a  course 
would  not  injure  his  own  prospects,  as  well  as  those  of  the  whig 
party  in  general.'  His  reply  was,  '  I  did  not  send  for  you  to  ask 
what  might  be  the  effects  of  the  proposed  movement  on  my  pros- 
pects, but  whether  it  is  right;  i"  would  rather  be  right  than 
be  president?  A  noble  sentiment !  and  would  it  were  more  com- 
mon among  politicians. 

The  compromise  act  was  intended  to  expire  in  1842,  to  which 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  165 

time  it  provided  for  a  gradual  reduction  of  duties,  when  twenty 
per  centum  should  be  the  rate  until  otherwise  regulated  by  law. 

Soon  after  the  adjournment  of  congress,  accompanied  by  a  por- 
tion of  his  family,  Mr.  Clay  took  a  long-contemplated  tour  to  the 
eastern  cities.     This  gave  the  people  an  opportunity  of  beholding 
the  great  and  successful  champion  of  their  rights,  and  in  many 
instances  of  tendering  to  him  their  thanks.     His  whole  route  was 
like  the  movement  of  some  mighty  conqueror  —  almost  one  un- 
broken   triumphal    procession.     He  was  taken    into    the  arms  of 
popular  favor,   as  soon  as  he   stepped  from  the    threshold  of  his 
dwelling,  and  hardly  suffered  to  alight,  until  they  had  returned  him 
thilher.^     He  was  escorted  into  all  the  principal  places  through 
which  he  passed,  with  the  highest  possible  respect.     At  New  York, 
every  demonstration    of  gratitude    and  rejoicing  welcomed   him. 
An  immense  throng  of  gentlemen  on  horseback,  escorted  him  to 
his  lodgings.      The  governor's  room  in  the  city  hall,  was  appro- 
priated to  his  use,  and  was  crowded  by  a  constant  succession  of 
visiters.      All  parties  seemed  to  vie  with  each  other  in  devising 
and  presenting  the  most  fitting  testimonials  of  regard.     Through 
the  eastern  states,  his  reception  was  marked  with  every  token  of 
esteem  ;  their  inhabitants  rose  up  from  their  occupations,  almost 
like  one  person,  to  do  him  homage.     For  a  season,  their  spindles, 
shuttles,  and  manufacturing  establishments,  ceased    operation,  in 
honor  of  the  presence  of  their  defender.     Arrived  at  Boston,  whose 
population  had  been  anticipating  and  preparing  for  his  arrival,  the 
enthusiasm  which  had  been  swelling  and  increasing  and  accom- 
panying  his   progress,  was  given   back  from    Faneuil   hall   and 
Bunker  hill,  in  echoes  that  reverberated  to  the  remotest  parts  of  the 
country.      The  young  men  of  that  city  presented  him  a  pair  of 
superb  silver  pitchers,  weighing  one  hundred  and  fifty  ounces  ; 
committees   waited   on    and  addressed   him ;    and   invitations   to 
public  festivals   on    his    account  were  numerous.     On  his  return, 
after  visiting  Troy  and  Albany,  his  reception  at  New  York,  Phila- 
delphia, Baltimore,  and  other  places,  was,  if  possible,  more  enthusi- 
astic than  it  was  when  he  passed  through  them  on  his  way  east. 
He   was   released   from  the   'bondage'  of  the  people's   favor,  in 
season  for  him  to  renew  his  efforts  in  vindicating  their  privileges 
and  their  liberties. 

The  policy  advocated  by  Mr.  Clay  in  disposing  of  the  public 
lands,  rendered  him  a  fit  subject  for  the  continuance  of  that  favor 
which  the  people  had  lavished  so  unsparingly  upon  him,  and  a 
target  for  his  enemies  to  give  fresh  specimens  of  their  skill  in  archery. 
The  question  came  up  in  this  manner.     Mr.  Bibb,  of  Kentucky, 

*  In  one  of  the  many  speeches  which  he  made  during  his  journey,  he  thus  alludes 
to  the  tenderness  with  which  he  was  treated.  '  I  was  taken  into  custody,  made 
captive  of,  but  placed  withal  in  such  delightful  bondage,  that  I  could  find  no  strength  and 
no  desire  to  break  away  from  it.' 


166  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

on  the  twenty-second  of  March,  1832,  moved  to  reduce  the  price 
of  public  lands,  and  Mr.  Robinson,  of  Illinois,  the  propriety  of 
ceding  them  to  the  several  states  in  which  they  were  located.  The 
administration  party  managed  to  have  this  question  referred 
(though  with  manifest,  impropriety)  to  the  committee  on  manufac- 
tures. This  they  did  with  the  obvious  intent  of  perplexing  Mr. 
Clay,  who  was  a  member  of  that  committee.  They  knew  his 
prompt  and  decided  manner ;  that  he  would  not  dismiss  the  ques- 
tion, without  taking  some  definite  action.  They  knew,  also,  that 
local  prejudices  and  interests  were  so  deeply  involved  in  it,  as  to 
make  its  consideration  peculiarly  difficult,  and  to  bring  down 
upon  the  agent  of  its  adjustment,  the  loud  displeasure  of  that 
section,  whose  interests  must,  in  a  measure,  from  its  very  nature, 
be  sacrificed.  Their  only  motive  was  to  impair  his  popularity 
with  the  east,  if  he  suffered  their  interest  to  be  transferred  to 
the  west,  and  with  the  latter,  if  he  made  provision  for  its 
maintenance.  To  a  narrow-minded  politician,  this  subject  would 
have  presented  a  dilemma,  but  to  Mr.  Clay  none  at  all.  He  gave 
his  enemies  fresh  and  most  overwhelming  evidence,  of  the  utter 
fruitlessness  of  appealing  to  what  scarcely  existed  within  him  — 
to  his  cupidity.  He  would  not  deviate  a  hair  from  the  path  of 
rectitude,  to  accept  the  highest  gift  which  the  nation  could  confer. 
Its  reference  to  the  committee  on  manufactures  he  knew  to  be, 
and  pronounced,  highly  irregular,  as  well  as  improper,  yet  it 
had  been  made,  and  for  one  he  was  resolved  not  to  shrink  from 
the  duty  of  examining  it.  He  therefore  took  up  the  subject,  and 
according  to  his  notion  of  equity  and  justice  to  all  in  any  way 
interested  in  the  disposal  of  the  public  domain,  framed  his  noted 
4  land  bill,'  of  which  the  following  is  a  synopsis.  It  provided,  that, 
after  the  thirty-first  day  of  December,  1832,  twelve  and  a  half  per 
centum  of  the  net  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  the  public  lands  within 
Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Alabama,  Missouri,  and  Mississippi,  should 
be  paid  to  them  independent  of  what  they  were  entitled  to  according 
to  the  terms  of  their  admission  into  the  confederacy.  This  was  to 
be  appropriated  for  purposes  of  internal  improvement  and  educa- 
tion, under  the  supervision  of  their  several  legislatures.  The 
remainder  of  the  proceeds  was  to  be  distributed  among  all  the 
states  in  proportion  to  their  representative  population,  for  similar 
purposes,  and  under  similar  control,  or  in  liquidation  of  any 
debt  contracted  in  making  internal  improvement. 

The  act  was  to  continue  five  years,  except  in  case  of  war. 
Additional  provisions  were  to  be  made  for  any  new  state  that 
might  be  admitted  during  its  continuance. 

The  minimum  price  of  the  lands  was  not  to  be  increased,  and 
not  less  than  eighty  thousand  dollars  per  annum  to  be  applied  in 
completing  the  public  surveys.  Land  offices  were  to  be  discon- 
tinued, where  the  net  proceeds  of  the  sales  in  them  should  not  be 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  167 

sufficient  to  defray  the  expense  of  their  continuance,  and  that 
certain  designated  quantities  of  land  should  be  granted  to  six  of 
the  new  states,  not  to  be  sold  at  a  less  than  the  minimum  price  of 
lands  sold  by  the  United  States. 

Such  was  the  bill  introduced  by  Mr.  Clay,  and  great  was  the 
astonishment  of  the  administration  party  in  view  of  its  munificent 
provisions,  and  that  exemplary  impartiality,  which  consulted  the 
interests  of  all  sections  of  the  country  alike.  Being  a  candidate 
for  the  presidency,  they  had  confidently  expected  that  he  would 
make  such  a  disposition  of  the  question  as  to  secure  the  support 
of  all  the  western  states,  or,  at  least,  so  manage  as  to  make  it  bear 
favorably  on  his  election.  Great,  therefore,  was  their  astonish- 
ment, in  subjecting  his  bill  to  their  microscopic  scrutiny,  in  not 
being  able  to  find  the  remotest  reference  to  self,  not  the  slightest 
looking  towards  the  presidency,  and  great  was  their  disappointment 
also.  They  had  tried  various  schemes  to  destroy  his  popularity, 
without  success,  and,  thinking  that  he  would  reason  on  this  subject 
as  they  themselves,  concluded  that  he  would  become  entangled  in 
their  snare.  They  almost  began  to  chuckle  over  the  anticipated 
cry  of  'bargain'  and  'corruption,'  with  which  they  should  be  able 
to  fill  the  land,  on  the  appearance  of  his  bill.  Great  was  their 
disappointment,  therefore,  when  his  sterling  integrity,  his  purity  of 
intention,  appeared  in  their  place. 

On  the  twentieth  of  June,  Mr.  Clay's  land  bill  was  taken  up  by 
the  senate.  He  exerted  himself  nobly  in  its  defence,  and  was 
opposed  by  Mr.  Benton,  who,  together  with  other  administration 
men,  strenuously  supported  the  policy  of  reducing  the  price  of  a 
part  of  the  public  lands,  and  of  surrendering  the  remainder  to  the 
states  in  which  they  lie. 

Efforts  were  made  to  postpone  and  amend  the  bill,  but  it  was  so 
ably  enforced,  and  the  objections  to  it  so  completely  refuted,  that  it 
passed  the  senate  by  a  vote  of  twenty  to  eighteen,  on  the  third  of 
July.  The  house,  in  regard  to  some  of  its  provisions,  disagreed, 
and  this  circumstance  enabled  its  enemies  to  postpone  its  consider- 
ation, until  December,  next  following,  by  a  vote  of  ninety-one 
to  eighty-eight.  At  the  next  session  it  was  taken  up  and  passed, 
by  votes  of  twenty-four  to  twenty  in  the  senate,  and  ninety-six  to 
forty  in  the  house,  and  sent  to  the  president  for  his  signature. 
Had  he  returned  it  immediately,  even  with  his  veto,  it  would  have 
become  a  law,  according  to  the  constitution,  requiring  a  vote  of  two 
thirds ;  but,  unfortunately  for  the  country,  the  president's  constitu- 
tional privilege  of  retaining  bills  a  designated  length  of  time,  did 
not  expire  until  after  the  adjournment  of  congress,  which  gave 
general  Jackson  an  opportunity  of  taking  the  business  of  legisla- 
tion out  of  the  hands  of  the  people,  which  he  eagerly  embraced — 
to  trample  this  bill,  as  Mr.  Benton  exultingly  said,  'under  his  big 
foot,'  although  he  knew  it  expressed  the  obvious  wishes  of  the 


168  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

people.  He,  therefore,  kept  the  bill,  until  the  commencement  of 
the  next  session,  (fifth  of  December,  1833,)  when  he  returned  it  to 
the  house,  with  his  objections.  He  regarded  Mr.  Clay's  proposition 
of  giving  a  certain  per  centage  of  the  sales  of  the  public  lands 
to  the  states  in  which  they  were  located,  as  an  'indirect  and 
undisguised  violation  of  the  pledge  given  by  congress  to  the  states 
before  a  single  cession  was  made,  abrogating  the  condition  on 
which  some  of  the  states  came  into  the  union,  and  setting  at 
nought  the  terms  of  cession  spread  upon  the  face  of  every  grant, 
under  which  the  title  of  that  portion  of  the  public  lands  are  held 
by  the  federal  government.'  In  close  connection  with  his  objection 
to  surrendering  a  part  of  the  public  domain  to  the  several  states, 
as  mentioned,  came  his  proposal  to  yield  them  the  whole.  To 
grant  them  a  part,  would  be  unconstitutional ;  but  to  grant  them 
the  whole,  would  be  constitutional.  This  reasoning  is  perfectly 
sui  generis ;  presenting  a  singular  specimen  of  logic  and  consis- 
tency united.  It  behoved  the  president  to  support  his  veto  by 
some  prop,  but  no  person  supposed  he  would  select  such  a  crooked 
and  frail  one.  The  fact  that  he  did,  shows  how  long  and  tedious 
must  have  been  his  wanderings  through  the  political  forest,  with  his 
executive  axe  upon  his  shoulder,  in  search  of  a  straight  and  firm 
one.  '  The  truth  of  the  whole  matter  probably  is,  that  the  veto 
originated  more  from  his  personal  hostility  to  Mr.  Clay  himself, 
than  from  any  valid  constitutional  objection  to  his  land  bill.  This 
view  of  the  subject  receives  strong  confirmation,  by  a  reference  to 
his  message  of  December  fourth,  1832.  In  this,  the  president 
specifically  recommended  the  basis  of  just  such  a  bill  as  that  intro- 
duced by  Mr.  Clay.  Stubborn  facts  justify  us  in  saying,  that  if 
the  same  bill,  containing  the  same  provisions,  had  been  introduced 
and  advocated  by  Mr.  Benton,  or  Mr.  Buchanan,  or  indeed  by  any 
ardent  supporter  of  the  administration,  the  veto  never  would  have 
been  thought  of.  But  it  was  presented  by  a  hated  hand ;  a  hand, 
that,  in  the  estimation  of  the  president,  polluted  every  thing  it 
touched,  and  he  indignantly  spurned  its  contents  to  the  dust;  a 
hand  respecting  which  he  was  always  ready  to  ask,  'can  any 
good  thing  come  out  of  it?'  There  is  too  much  truth  in  the 
remark  that  has  been  made  of  him,  both  by  his  friends  and  foes, 
thousands  of  times  —  '■lie  would  have  every  thing  his  own  way? 

But,  though  defeated  by  the  despotic  will  of  one  man,  Mr.  Clay 
was  not,  and  could  not  be,  silenced  by  it.  While  he  had  strength 
to  stand  up  in  the  councils  of  his  country,  he  resolved  to  stand  firmly 
by  the  side  of  her  rights,  and  paralyze,  if  possible,  the  hand  uplift- 
ed to  infringe  them.  Though  not  a  participator  in  those  scenes  of 
blood  and  carnage,  in  which  her  broad  and  beautiful  fields  were 
won,  yet  his  sympathizing  heart  too  vividly  portrayed  the  floods  of 
tears,  and  treasure,  and  anguish,  which  the  eastern  states  poured  out 
in  perfecting  their  title  papers,  to  sit  tamely  down   and  see  them 


,       LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  169 

defrauded  of  their  interest  in  these.  The  tombs  of  their  heroes  who 
fell  in  these  struggles,  would  cry  aloud  for  vengeance,  if  he  sealed  his 
mouth,  and  hid  himself,  when  he  saw  the  robber  approaching.  No ! 
Henry  Clay  was  not  the  man  to  act  thus ;  his  country's  rights  were 
his  rights,  her  wishes  his  wishes,  and  he  would  maintain  the  former, 
and  consult  the  latter,  at  any  cost.  The  '  big  foot,'  therefore,  of 
general  Jackson,  though  it  ruthlessly  'trampled'  on  his  work,  dared 
not '  trample '  on  him,  and  he  vigorously  set  about  exposing  the 
fallacy,  and  puerility,  even,  of  the  president's  reasons  for  his  veto. 
This  he  did  in  a  report  which  he  submitted  to  the  senate,  from  the 
committee  on  public  lands,  May  second,  1834,  with  special  reference 
to  the  return  of  the  land  bill.  Subsequently,  from  time  to  time, 
during  several  years,  efforts  were  made  to  wrest  the  public  domain 
from  its  rightful  owners,  which  Mr.  Clay  successfully  resisted,  and 
finally  succeeded  in  placing  it  beyond  the  reach  of  those  who  were 
bent  upon  its  plunder,  giving  to  each  section  of  the  country  its 
equitable  share  in  it.  His  exertions  in  accomplishing  this  have 
established  a  foundation  for  his  fame  to  rest  upon,  as  immovable 
as  the  hills  which  they  protected,  and  which  shall  endure  as  long 
as  the  verdure  which  clothes  them  shall  be  an  object  of  grateful 
contemplation. 

In  1831-32,  Mr.  Van  Buren's  nomination  as  minister  to  England 
came  before  the  senate  for  confirmation.  Mr.  Clay  opposed  it,  on 
the  ground  of  that  gentleman's  anti-republican  conduct  in  giving, 
while  secretary  of  state,  instructions  to  Mr.  McLane.  In  these  he 
not  only  manifested  a  desire  to  attach  unnecessary  blame  to  the 
United  States,  in  their  intercourse  with  Great  Britain,  but  unjustly 
disparaged,  in  the  eyes  of  that  power,  the  preceding  administration. 
He  stated,  that  its  acts  had  induced  England  to  withhold  from  them 
certain  privileges,  which  it  otherwise  would  have  extended  to  them. 
On  the  objectionable  portions  of  these  instructions,  Mr.  Clay  ani- 
madverted with  merited  severity.  '  According  to  Mr.  Van  Buren,' 
said  he,  'on  our  side  all  was  vjrong- — on  the  British  side  all  was 
right.  We  brought  forward  nothing  but  claims  and  pretensions  ; 
the  British  government  asserted,  on  the  other  hand,  a  clear  and 
incontestible  right.  We  erred,  in  too  tenaciously  and  too  long 
insisting  upon  our  pretensions,  and  not  yielding  at  once  to  the  force 
of  just  demands.  And  Mr.  McLane  was  commanded,  to  avail 
himself  of  all  the  circumstances  in  his  power  to  mitigate  our  offence, 
and  to  dissuade  the  British  government  from  allowing  their  feelings, 
justly  incurred  by  the  past  conduct  of  the  party  driven  from  power, 
to  have  an  adverse  influence  towards  the  American  party  now  in 
power.  Sir,  was  that  becoming  language,  from  one  independent 
nation  to  another  ?  Was  it  proper  in  the  mouth  of  an  American 
minister?  Was  it  in  conformity  with  the  high,  unsullied,  and 
dignified  character  of  our  previous  diplomacy?  Was  it  not,  on 
the  contrary,  the  language  of  an  humble  vassal  to  a  proud  and 
vol.  i.         22 


170  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

haughty  lord  ?     Was  it  not  prostrating  and  degrading  the  American 
eagle  before  the  British  lion  ? ' 

The  nomination  was  rejected  in  the  senate  by  the  casting  vote 
of  Mr.  Calhoun,  the  vice  president.  Mr.  Clay's  opposition  to  it 
was  based  upon  grounds  purely  national  —  on  a  desire  to  maintain 
the  dignity  and  honor  of  his  country's  character.  It  was  fair  for 
him,  and  for  every  one,  to  infer,  that  the  spirit  of  cringing  obsequious- 
ness which  Mr.  Van  Buren  evinced,  in  framing  instructions  for  a 
foreign  minister,  would  display  itself  before  the  court  of  St.  James, 
in  acts  as  humiliating  to  her  feelings  as  derogatory  to  her  honor ; 
in  a  word,  that  he  would  take  the  low  attitude  of  the  parasite,  and 
not  the  erect  position  of  the  high-minded  representative  of  an 
independent  and  mighty  nation.  How  could  Mr.  Clay's  course 
have  been  otherwise  ?  Viewed  with  the  eye  of  a  partisan,  it  may 
be  deemed  impolitic;  it  may  have  contributed  more  than  any 
thing  else  to  elevate  Mr.  Van  Buren  to  the  presidency,  by  recom- 
mending him  more  strongly  to  the  favor  of  his  party,  as  the  victim 
of  political  persecution.  Party  politics,  however,  had  nothing  to 
do  in  determining  Mr.  Clay's  action ;  this  was  not  the  result  of  the 
consultations  of  any  clique,  nor  the  product  of  any  party  machinery ; 
it  was  the  offspring  of  his  prompt,  spontaneous,  and  unqualified 
obedience  to  his  country's  mandate.  He  was  never  found 
grovelling  among  the  dingy  kennels  and  filthy  sewers  of  party 
cabal,  seeking  the  performance  of  some  dirty  job  ;  for  his  country, 
his  whole  country,  gave  him  too  much  and  too  honorable  employ- 
ment to  allow  him  any  leisure  for  this,  had  he  been  thus  inclined. 
We  have  seen  that  it  was  his  ardent  desire  to  develope  the  resour- 
ces of  his  country  to  their  greatest  possible  extent,  and  to  cause 
the  tide  of  prosperity  to  flow  unremittingly  into  the  depositaries  of 
her  treasures ;  and  he  possessed  the  abilities  requisite  to  accomplish 
both,  if  these  could  have  been  suitably  directed.  Unfortunately, 
however,  circumstances  rendered  it  necessary  for  them  to  be  almost 
constantly  employed  in  beating  off  those  who  were  determined  to 
lay  violent  hands  on  her  facilities  and  riches.  Instead,  therefore, 
of  erecting  new  political  edifices,  his  time  was  incessantly  occupied 
in  preventing  her  enemies  from  tearing  down  those  that  were 
already  established.  These,  he  fought  and  belabored  to  the  last, 
and  plucked  from  their  ravenous  jaws  many  fair  portions  of  his 
country's  possessions.  But  it  needed  more  than  human  aid  to 
overthrow  their  now  combined  and  embattled  forces.  We  have 
reached  the  period  rendered  memorable  by  their  ruthless  ravages, 
the  darkest  and  most  disgraceful  of  our  history  —  chronicling  the 
vilest  acts  of  those  in  power,  and  the  noblest  deeds  of  those  out  of 
power.  Hitherto,  in  tracing  the  public  career  of  Mr.  Clay,  our 
path  has  been,  for  the  most  part,  smooth  and  flowery ;  but  now  it 
is  to  become  rugged  and  thorny,  for  we  have  arrived  at  the  border 
of  the  great  desert  of  our  political  annals  —  a  region  of  ruin, 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  171 

covered  with  the  black  monuments  of  political  depravity  and 
unprincipled  faction  —  a  region  we  would  gladly  avoid,  did  not 
our  path  lead  across  it,  which  we  enter  reluctantly,  and  with  feelings 
not  unlike  those  of  the  traveller  who  has  journeyed  through 
an  enlightened  country,  beautified  by  art,  literature,  and  science, 
and  is  about  to  pass  into  one  destitute  of  the  conveniences  and 
necessaries  of  civilization.  As  he  pauses  and  turns  to  take  a  last 
look  of  the  beauty  of  the  former,  before  he  plunges  into  the  gloom 
and  dreariness  of  the  latter,  so  let  us  cast  a  glance  at  the  bright 
region  behind,  before  entering  the  dismal  one  before  us.  The 
vision  is  cheered  by  a  vast  country,  basking  in  the  sunshine  of 
high  prosperity,  with  its  various  departments  organized  and 
governed  with  the  most  scrupulous  fidelity,  and  with  strict  regard 
for  the  interests  of  those  for  whom  they  were  established.  No 
evils  are  seen  to  exist,  except  such  as  are  incident  to  the  most 
wisely  regulated  human  institutions.  On  all  sides  we  behold  a 
population  harmonious  and  happy,  pursuing  their  different  voca- 
tions without  clashing  or  defection,  or  rejoicing  over  the  rewards 
of  honest  and  judicious  industry.  The  great  sources  of  their  thrift, 
and  most  conspicuous  features  of  their  country,  are  the  broad, 
deep,  and  crystalline  streams  of  agriculture,  commerce,  currency, 
and  domestic  manufactures,  with  its  noble  tributary,  internal  im- 
provement. These  meander  throughout  its  whole  extent,  deposit 
their  sweet  waters  at  every  man's  dwelling,  and  make  the  whole 
land  vocal  with  innocent  mirth  and  pure  enjoyment.  Such  was 
the  condition  of  the  country  through  which  we  have  just  journeyed, 
and,  had  we  leisure,  would  gladly  linger  to  enumerate  more  partic- 
ularly the  benefits  and  blessings  which  the  enriching  influences  of 
those  magnificent  streams  generated ;  but  we  must  hasten  to  trace 
their  progress  in  the  country  before  us.  Previously,  however,  to 
commencing  our  cheerless  march,  let  us,  from  our  lofty  position, 
survey  their  appearance,  after  they  enter  its  lonely  wilds  and  bar- 
rens. According  to  a  universal  and  fundamental  law  of  nature, 
their  magnitude  should  be  greatly  increased,  but  they  present  an 
instance  of  its  suspension,  for  some  have  dwindled  to  mere  rills, 
and  some  have  entirely  disappeared,  while  others,  encountering 
some  unnatural  impediments,  have  become  dammed  up,  and 
inundated  immense  tracts  with  their  waters,  which  stagnate  and 
pollute  the  atmosphere  with  noxious  vapors.  The  appearance  of 
the  country  and  its  inhabitants,  is  sickening  to  behold.  The 
former,  broken,  uncouth,  and  uncultivated,  looks  as  though  it 
were  laboring  under  an  attack  of  delirium  tremens.  Among  the 
latter,  commotion,  confusion,  and  disorder,  prevail.  There  is  an 
abundance  of  action,  but  it  is  that  of  desperation  and  excitement, 
but  it  is  perfectly  veneficial.  A  noble  few  seem  to  be  struggling 
virtuously  against  a  tide  of  ruin  and  excess ;  but  the  great  mass 
appear  to  be  in  the  hot  pursuit  of  the  wildest  schemes  that  human 


172  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

imagination  ever  invented,  trampling  upon  all  order  and  restraint, 
diffusing  the  wildest  intoxication  through  every  department  of 
public  and  private  life,  and  making  them  the  rendezvous  of  the 
worst  evils  known  or  named  among  men.  The  causes  of  these 
singular  phenomena,  a  brief  recital  of  facts,  as  connected  with 
the  subject  of  our  memoir,  will  explain ;  to  gather  which,  we  must 
enter  the  territory  whose  condition  we  have  been  anticipating. 
The  first  that  we  notice  is  the  policy  of  general  Jackson  towards 
the  bank  of  the  United  States  —  an  institution  which  he  found  in 
most  prosperous  circumstances,  and  answering  every  expectation 
that  could  be  reasonably  entertained  in  relation  to  such  an  estab- 
lishment, and  pronounced  by  the  best  financiers  sound  and  safe. 
Nevertheless,  soon  after  entering  upon  his  official  duties,  he  com- 
menced his  ' humble  efforts'  at  improving  its  condition,  which, 
however,  aimed  at  nothing  more  nor  less  than  making  it  subservient 
to  party  interests.  Attempts  were  made  to  accomplish  this,  which, 
however,  proved  utterly  abortive ;  the  president  of  the  bank  reply- 
ing to  them,  that  its  management  should  not  be  in  any  way 
connected  with  politics,  and  that  the  position  which  it  should 
maintain,  would  be  that  of  a  faithful  and  impartial  friend  to  the 
government,  and  not  that  of  a  party  or  government  politician. 
Enticement  proving  unsuccessful,  resort  was  then  had  to  threats, 
which,  however,  failed  of  their  effect.  President  Jackson,  in  his 
first  message,  commenced  paving  the  way  for  the  destruction  of 
the  bank,  by  causing  the  impression  to  be  received  that  it  was 
unsound,  and  that  the  people  questioned  the  constitutionality  and 
expediency  of  the  law  by  which  it  was  established.  In  his  second 
message  he  intimates  the  same,  and  makes  such  allusions  to  the 
veto  power  as  to  show  that  he  designed  to  employ  it,  unless  his 
own  peculiar  views  should  be  consulted  in  renewing  the  charter  of 
the  bank.  In  his  third  message  he  takes  similar  ground  in  relation 
to  it,  but  says  he  c  leaves  the  subject  to  the  investigation  of  the 
people  and  their  representatives.'  This  was  promptly  made,  and 
resulted  in  rechartering  the  bank,  by  a  vote  of  one  hundred 
and  seven  to  eighty-five  in  the  house,  which  was  as  promptly  vetoed 
by  him.  In  his  veto  message  is  the  following  remarkable  passage. 
1  If  the  executive  had  been  called  on  to  furnish  the  project  of  a 
national  bank,  the  duty  would  have  been  cheerfully  performed? 

In  the  senate,  Mr.  Clay  met  the  veto  in  a  becoming  manner, 
and  denounced  its  absurd  doctrines  in  the  most  faithful  manner. 
On  this  occasion  he  gave  a  full  expose  of  his  views  respecting  it ; 
proving  its  spirit  at  variance  with  our  institutions,  and  expressed 
himself  decidedly  in  favor  of  permanently  limiting  its  exercise. 
The  most  absurd  of  its  dogmas  related  to  expounding  the  consti- 
tution, which  declared  that  every  public  officer  might  interpret  it 
as  he  pleased.  This  called  forth  one  of  Mr.  Clay's  most  impetuous 
bursts  of  eloquence.     '  I  conceive,'  said  he,  *  with  great  deference, 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  173 

that  the  president  has  mistaken  the  purport  of  the  oath  to 
support  the  constitution  of  the  United  States.  No  one  swears  to 
support  it  as  he  understands  it,  but  to  support  it  simply  as  it  is  in 
truth.  All  men  are  bound  to  obey  the  laws  —  of  which  the  consti- 
tution is  supreme  —  but  must  they  obey  them  as  they  understand 
them,  or  as  they  are  ?  If  the  obligation  of  obedience  is  limited 
and  controlled  by  the  measure  of  information  — in  other  words,  if 
the  party  is  bound  to  obey  the  constitution  only  as  he  understands 
it  —  what  would  be  the  consequence  ?  There  would  be  general 
disorder  and  confusion  throughout  every  branch  of  administration, 
from  the  highest  to  the  lowest  offices  —  universal  nullification? 

The  insinuations  and  charges  of  the  president  led  to  a  rigid 
examination  of  the  affairs  of  the  bank,  which  showed  its  assets  to 
exceed  its  liabilities,  by  more  than  forty  millions  of  dollars.  So 
perfectly  safe  did  congress  consider  the  public  deposits  in  its  vaults, 
that  the  house  passed  a  vote,  of  one  hundred  and  nine  to  forty-six, 
expressive  of  their  belief  of  their  safety.  Not  the  shadow  of 
evidence  was  adduced,  to  give  the  slightest  coloring  of  truth  to  the 
assumptions  of  the  president,  or  that  there  was  any  necessity  for 
augmenting  the  f  limited  powers '  (as  he'  termed  them)  of  the 
secretary  of  the  treasury  over  the  public  money.  But  general 
Jackson  had  declared  its  continuance  in  the  bank  dangerous, 
and  he  seemed  determined  on  acting  as  though  it  were  in  fact  the 
case.  It  was  requisite  for  him  to  have  some  justifying  pretext  for 
the  arbitrary  measure  he  designed  to  adopt,  in  subverting  that 
noble  institution;  hence,  his  hints  of  the  unconstitutionality  and 
inexpediency  of  its  existence,  and  the  unsafety  of  the  people's 
money  in  its  vaults;  but  these  were  now  merged  in  direct  attack. 
He  succeeded  in  withdrawing  from  them  the  public  deposits  — 
an  act  that  spread  panic,  embarrassment,  and  unparalleled  distress, 
through  the  country,  and  was  the  great  prolific  cause  of  causes,  of 
all  the  evils  with  which  it  was  subsequently  visited.  This  act,  to 
all  intents  and  purposes,  was  the  president's,  although  it  was  per- 
formed through  the  instrumentality  of  Mr.  Taney,  the  secretary  of 
the  treasury,  who  executed  the  unconstitutional  bidding  of  the 
president,  for  decidedly  refusing  to  execute  which,  two  previous 
secretaries,  Messrs.  McLane  and  Duane,  he  had  removed.  Indeed, 
in  his  message  of  1833,  he  distinctly  avowed,  that  he  urged  the 
removal  of  the  public  money. 

Mr.  Clay  introduced  resolutions  to  the  senate,  calling  for  a  copy 
of  the  documents  in  which  the  secretary  pretended  to  find  prece- 
dents, justifying  the  course  he  had  pursued,  which  passed  the 
senate,  and,  on  the  thirteenth  of  December,  Mr.  Taney  placed  in 
the  hands  of  that  body,  a  communication,  which  contained,  how- 
ever, nothing  satisfactory,  or  contemplated  by  the  resolutions.  Mr. 
Clay  declared  the  ground  which  the  secretary  assumed,  untenable, 
and,  on  the  twenty-sixth  of  December,  introduced  resolutions  to 


174  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

the  senate,  pronouncing  his  reasons  for  removing  the  deposits,  as 
communicated  to  congress,  unsatisfactory  and  insufficient,  and  that 
the  president,  in  dismissing  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  because 
he  would  not,  in  violation  of  his  sense  of  duty,  remove,  as  directed, 
the  public  money,  had  assumed  the  exercise  of  a  power  over  the 
treasury  of  the  United  States,  not  granted  by  the  constitution  and 
laws,  and  dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  the  people.  In  defence  of 
these,  Mr.  Clay  made  one  of  his  ablest  speeches,  and  forcibly 
demonstrated  the  unconstitutionality  and  illegality  of  the  pro- 
cedure of  the  president  and  secretary.  He  foretold,  with  prophetic 
accuracy,  the  fatal  consequences  which  would  flow  from  it,  and 
depicted  in  glowing  colors  the  dangers  that  threatened  the  best 
interests  of  the  nation.  These  resolutions  passed  the  senate,  and, 
on  the  seventeenth  of  April,  1833,  the  president  communicated  to 
the  senate  his  celebrated  protest — a  document  perfectly  character- 
istic of  him,  replete  with  the  most  arrogant  assumptions  and 
declarations.  This  led  to  a  warm  and  protracted  debate,  in  which 
Messrs.  Clay,  Poindexter,  Sprague,  Frelinghuysen,  and  Southard, 
joined,  whose  powerful  arguments  drove  the  president  from  the 
last  vestige  of  the  fallacious  grounds  he  had  assumed,  and 
scattered  the  doctrines  of  his  protest  to  the  winds.  The  senate,  by 
a  vote  of  twenty-seven  to  sixteen,  excluded  it  from  the  journals, 
and  maintained  that  the  president  possessed  no  right  to  protest 
against  any  of  its  proceedings.  During  the  discussion,  Mr.  Leigh, 
of  Virginia,  paid  Mr.  Clay  a  rich  and  merited  compliment,  for  his 
services  in  allaying  the  spirit  of  nullification  at  the  south,  in  1832 
and  1833.  '  I  cannot  but  remember,'  said  he,  'when  all  men  were 
trembling  under  the  apprehension  of  civil  war  —  trembling  from 
the  conviction,  that  if  such  a  contest  should  arise,  let  it  terminate 
how  it  might,  it  would  put  our  present  institutions  in  jeopardy,  and 
end  either  in  consolidation  or  disunion ;  for  I  am  persuaded  that 
the  first  drop  of  blood  which  shall  be  shed  in  a  civil  strife  between 
the  federal  government  and  any  state,  will  flow  from  an  irreme- 
diable wound,  that  none  may  ever  hope  to  see  healed.  I  cannot 
but  remember,  that  the  president,  though  weilding  such  a  vast 
power  and  influence,  never  contributed  the  least  aid  to  bring  about 
the  compromise  that  saved  us  from  the  evils  which  all  men,  I 
believe,  and  I,  certainly,  so  much  dreaded.  The  men  are  not 
present  to  whom  we  are  chiefly  indebted  for  that  compromise  ;  and 
I  am  glad  they  are  absent,  since  it  enables  me  to  speak  of  their 
conduct,  as  I  feel  I  might  not  without,  from  a  sense  of  delicacy.  I 
raise  my  humble  voice  in  gratitude  for  that  service,  to  Henry  C/ay, 
of  the  senate,  and  Robert  P.  Letcher,  of  the  house  of  representatives.' 
At  the  time  of  introducing  resolutions  pronouncing  secretary 
Taney's  reasons  insufficient,  Mr.  Clay  took  occasion  to  refute  an 
assertion  which  a  prominent  person  had  made  in  relation  to  his 
(Mr.    Clay's)    connection   with   the    United    States   bank,   which 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  175 

intimated  that  it  was  dishonorable.  He  declared  that  he  did  not 
owe  the  bank,  nor  any  of  its  branches,  a  cent ;  that  he  had  never 
received  a  gratuity  from  it,  in  any  form ;  that  he  had  acted  as 
counsel,  and  transacted  a  vast  amount  of  business  for  it,  in  Ohio, 
and  received  only  the  customary  fees ;  and  that,  in  consequence  of 
endorsing  for  a  friend,  he  had  become  indebted  to  the  bank,  to  a 
considerable  amount,  but  that,  by  establishing  a  system  of  rigid 
economy,  he  had  entirely  liquidated  it. 

Immediately  after  the  passage  of  the  resolutions  excluding  the 
protest,  Mr.  Clay  introduced  others,  providing  for  the  restoration  of 
the  deposits,  and  reiterating  the  insufficiency  of  the  secretary's 
reasons  for  removing  them,  and  remarked,  that  whatever  might  be 
the  fate  of  the  resolutions  at  the  other  end  of  the  capitol,  or  in  any 
other  building,  that  consideration  ought  not  to  influence,  in  any 
degree,  their  action.  They  passed  the  senate,  but,  as  had  been 
expected,  were  laid  on  the  table  in  the  house. 

During  the  celebrated  session,  of  1833-34,  known  as  the  panic 
session,  Mr.  Clay  performed  an  amount  of  labor  seldom  equalled. 
He  let  no  suitable  occasion  pass,  without  opposing  the  despotic 
proceedings  of  the  president,  and  raising  his  warning  voice  against 
his  suicidal  policy.  The  distress  caused  by  the  removal  of  the 
deposits,  and  consequent  curtailment  of  the  issues  of  the  United 
States  bank,  called  forth  memorials  from  the  people,  which  poured 
into  congress  continually,  denouncing  the  president's  financial 
experiment,  and  calling  for  relief.  Many  of  these  were  presented 
by  Mr.  Clay,  who  generally  accompanied  them  by  a  brief  speech. 
One,  which  he  made  in  presenting  a  memorial  from  Kentucky, 
and  one  from  Troy,  contains  an  accurate  and  faithful  picture  of 
the  condition  of  the  country  at  that  period.  The  evils  of  the  '  pet 
bank  system,'  soon  began  to  develope  themselves.  On  one 
occasion,  in  alluding  to  it,  Mr.  Clay  remarked  as  follows.  '  The 
idea  of  uniting  thirty  or  forty  local  banks  for  the  establishment 
and  security  of  an  equal  currency,  could  never  be  realized.  As 
well  might  the  crew  of  a  national  vessel  be  put  on  board  thirty  or 
forty  bark  canoes,  tied  together  by  a  grape  vine,  and  sent  out  upon 
the  troubled  ocean,  while  the  billows  were  rising  mountains  high, 
and  the  tempest  was  exhausting  its  rage  on  the  foaming  elements, 
in  the  hope  that  they  might  weather  the  storm,  and  reach  their 
distant  destination  in  safety.  The  people  would  be  contented  by 
no  such  fleet  of  bark  canoes,  with  admiral  Taney  in  their  com- 
mand. They  would  be  heard  again  calling  out  for  old  Ironsides, 
which  had  never  failed  them  in  the  hour  of  trial,  whether  amidst 
the  ocean  storm,  or  in  the  hour  of  battle.' 

The  session  terminated  the  last  of  June,  when  Mr.  Clay  set  out 
for  Kentucky.  While  travelling  in  the  stage-coach  from  Charles- 
town  to  Winchester,  Virginia,  he  narrowly  escaped  death,  by  its 
upsetting,  a  young  gentleman  being  instantly  killed  by  his  side. 


176  LIFE     OF      HENRY     CLAY. 

In  1834-35,  the  subject  of  French  spoliations  came  before 
congress,  in  considering  which,  Mr.  Clay  rendered  valuable  services. 
A  treaty  had  been  concluded  with  France,  stipulating  for  indemni- 
fication, the  first  instalment  of  which  was  not  promptly  paid, 
whereupon  the  president,  with  injudicious  precipitancy,  recom- 
mended the  passage  of  a  law  authorizing  reprisals  upon  French 
property,  unless  at  the  next  session  of  the  French  chamber  provi- 
sion should  be  made  for  its  payment.  The  tendency  of  this 
recommendation  was  most  deleterious  upon  our  commercial 
interests.  The  subject  was  referred  to  the  committee  on  foreign 
relations,  at  the  head  of  which  the  senate  had  placed  Mr.  Clay. 
On  the  sixth  of  January,  1835,  he  read  a  lengthy  and  most  able 
report,  which  detailed,  with  great  minuteness  and  perspicuity,  the 
facts  connected  with  the  subject  of  the  spoliations,  which  was 
'received  with  great  applause,  and  twenty  thousand  copies  printed 
and  circulated  through  the  country,  which  soon  restored  commer- 
cial confidence.  The  doctrines  of  the  report  were  such  as  com- 
mended themselves  to  every  patriotic  heart  —  simple,  just,  exacting 
to  the  last  tithe  our  demands  on  France,  but  yet  deprecating  rash- 
ness in  obtaining  them.  The  committee  did  not  doubt  the  power 
of  the  United  States  to  enforce  payment,  but  deemed  it  inexpedi- 
ent to  exercise  it,  until  other  means  had  been  exhausted.  They 
coincided  with  the  president  in  a  determination  to  have  the  treaty 
fulfilled,  but  desired  to  avoid  too  great  haste.  They  concluded  by 
recommending  the  senate  to  adopt  a  resolution,  declaring  it '  inex- 
pedient to  pass,  at  this  time,  any  law  vesting  in  the  president 
authority  for  making  reprisals  upon  French  property,  in  the  contin- 
gency of  provision  not  being  made  for  paying  to  the  United  States 
the  indemnity  stipulated  by  the  treaty  of  1831,  during  the  present 
session  of  the  French  chambers.' 

On  the  fourteenth  of  January,  in  accordance  with  previous 
arrangement,  Mr.  Clay  called  for  the  consideration  of  the  report 
and  its  accompanying  resolution.  It  being  expected  that  he  would 
address  the  senate,  the  members  of  the  house  generally  left  their 
seats  to  listen  to  him,  nor  were  they  disappointed ;  for  he  spoke 
nearly  an  hour,  in  strains  of  eloquence  that  thrilled  the  hearts  of 
all  who  listened  to  him.  After  being  slightly  modified,  the  resolu- 
tion passed  the  senate  unanimously,  and  thus,  mainly  through  the 
efforts  of  Mr.  Clay,  a  hostile  collision  with  France  was  averted, 
and  that  pacific  intercourse  which  had  previously  existed  between 
her  and  the  United  States  reestablished,  and  the  consummation  of 
the  treaty  greatly  accelerated.  As  he  justly  deserved,  his  country 
awarded  him  sincere  praise,  for  his  magnanimous  course  in  achiev- 
ing this. 

Soon  after  the  president's  recommendation  of  reprisals,  the 
French  minister  was  recalled  from  Washington,  and  passports 
presented  to  our  minister  at  Paris,  by  the  order  of  Louis  Philippe, 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  177 

the  French  king,  in  anticipation  of  a  rupture  with  the  United 
States.  In  consequence  of  these  proceedings,  Mr.  Clay,  near  the 
close  of  the  session,  made  a  short  report  from  the  committee  on 
foreign  relations,  recommending  that  the  senate  adhere  to  the  resolu- 
tion previously  adopted,  await  the  result  of  another  appeal  to  the 
French  chambers,  and  hold  itself  in  readiness  for  whatever  exigency 
might  arise.  The  advice  of  the  committee  was  adopted  by  the 
senate,  and  thus  terminated  the  consideration  of  the  subject. 

On  the  fourth  of  February,  1835,  an  occasion  occurred  favorable 
for  the  exercise  of  Mr.  Clay's  philanthropic  feelings,  which  he 
promptly  embraced.  He  had  received  a  memorial  from  certain 
Indians  of  the  Cherokee  tribe,  setting  forth  their  condition,  griev- 
ances, wants,  and  rigid  and  cruel  policy  pursued  towards  them 
by  the  state  of  Georgia.  A  portion  desired  to  remain  where  they 
were,  and  a  portion  to  remove  beyond  the  Mississippi.  In  present- 
ing their  petition,  Mr.  Clay  made  remarks  which  came  burning 
with  pathos  and  eloquence  from  his  inmost  soul.  He  manifested 
the  deepest  feeling,  as  he  dwelt  upon  the  story  of  their  wrongs, 
and  their  downtrodden  state.  This  he  represented  as  worse  than 
that  of  the  slave,  for  his  master  cared  for  and  fed  him,  '  but  what 
human  being,1  said  he,  '  is  there,  to  care  for  the  unfortunate  Indian?' 
Mr.  Clay  alluded  to  the  numerous  solemn  treaties,  in  which  the 
United  States  pledged  their  faith  towards  the  red  man,  to  allow  him 
the  unmolested  occupancy  of  his  hunting  grounds.  He  was  much 
affected,  and  many  of  his  audience  were  bathed  in  tears.  Mr. 
Clay's  sympathetic  feelings  flow  forth  unbidden,  and  unchecked 
by  selfish  considerations,  whenever  he  beholds  suffering  humanity, 
and  no  class  have  participated  more  largely  in  them  than  the  poor, 
friendless  aborigines.  He  has  always  advocated  their  claims,  and 
a  full  redress  of  their  grievances.  The  presence  of  a  Cherokee 
chief  and  a  female  of  the  tribe  greatly  enhanced  the  interest  of  the 
occasion,  who  seemed  to  hang  upon  the  lips  of  the  benevolent 
speaker,  and  drink  in  every  word  as  though  it  had  been  water  to 
their  thirsty  souls.  In  conclusion,  Mr.  Clay  submitted  a  resolution, 
directing  the  committee  on  the  judiciary  to  inquire  into  the  expe- 
diency of  making  further  provision,  by  law,  to  enable  Indian  tribes 
to  whom  lands  have  been  secured  by  treaty,  to  defend  and  main- 
tain their  rights  to  such  lands,  in  the  courts  of  the  United  States. 
Also,  a  resolution  directing  the  committee  on  Indian  affairs,  to 
inquire  into  the  expediency  of  setting  apart  a  district  of  country 
west  of  the  Mississippi,  for  such  of  the  Cherokee  nations  as  were 
disposed  to  emigrate,  and  for  securing  in  perpetuity  their  peaceful 
enjoyment  thereof,  to  themselves  and  their  descendants. 

A  bill  was  reported  to  the  senate,  abating  executive  patronage, 
which  Mr.  Clay  supported  by  a  speech,  on  the  eighteenth  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1835,  embodying  an  accurate  account  of  the  multifarious 
evils  resulting  from  the  selfish  and  arbitrary  course  pursued  by  the 
vol.  i.  23 


178  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

chief  magistrate  —  evils  which  no  lover  of  his  country  and  her 
liberties  could  contemplate  but  with  apprehensions  of  terror.  He 
also  spoke  in  favor  of  making  an  appropriation  for  continuing  the 
construction  of  the  Cumberland  road,  and  against  surrendering  it 
to  the  control  of  the  states  through  which  it  passed. 

During  the  session  of  1835-6,  a  further  consideration  of  the 
subject  of  French  spoliations  was  had.  Mr.  Clay,  being  again 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  committee  on  foreign  relations,  on  the 
eleventh  of  January,  1836,  introduced  a  resolution  to  the  senate, 
calling  on  the  president  for  information  relative  to  our  affairs  with 
France.  Three  weeks  subsequently,  he  introduced  another,  calling 
for  the  expose  which  accompanied  the  French  bill  of  indemnity, 
for  certain  notes  which  passed  between  the  Due  de  Broglie,  and 
our  charge,  Mr.  Barton,  and  those  between  our  minister,  Mr.  Liv- 
ingston, and  the  French  minister  of  foreign  affairs.  With  some 
modifications,  these  resolutions  were  adopted. 

On  the  announcement  of  the  president,  February  eighth,  1836, 
that  Great  Britain  had  offered  her  mediation  between  the  United 
States  and  France,  Mr.  Clay  took  occasion  to  remark  that  he  could 
not  withhold  the  expressions  of  his  congratulations  to  the  senate, 
for  the  agency  it  had  in  producing  the  happy  termination  of  our 
difficulties  with  France.  If  the  senate  had  not,  by  its  unanimous 
vote  of  last  September/declared  that  it  was  inexpedient  to  adopt 
any  legislative  action  upon  the  subject  of  our  relations  with  France, 
if  it  had  yielded  to  the  recommendations  of  the  executive,  in 
ordering  reprisals  against  that  power,  it  could  not  be  doubted  but 
that  war  would  have  existed,  at  that  moment,  in  its  most  serious 
state. 

On  the  fourteenth  of  April,  Mr.  Clay's  land  bill  was  taken  up 
in  the  senate,  and  discussed  at  length,  for  several  days,  during 
which  he  ably  and  faithfully  defended  it.  On  the  twenty-sixth,  he 
made  a  speech  in  its  behalf,  which  was  not  far  behind  his  most 
brilliant  efforts.  In  reference  to  it  says  the  National  Intelligencer, 
'  we  thought,  after  hearing  the  able  and  comprehensive  arguments 
of  Messrs.  Ewing,  Southard,  and  White,  in  favor  of  this  benefi- 
cent measure,  that  the  subject  was  exhausted ;  that,  at  any  rate,  but 
little  new  could  be  urged  in  its  defence.  Mr.  Clay,  however,  in 
one  of  the  most  luminous  and  forcible  arguments  which  we  have 
ever  heard  him  deliver,  placed  the  subject  in  new  lights,  and  gave 
to  it  new  claims  to  favor.  The  whole  train  of  his  reasoning 
appeared  to  us  a  series  of  demonstrations.' 

By  a  vote  of  twenty-five  to  twenty,  it  passed  the  senate,  May 
fourth,  1836,  in  the  same  form,  substantially,  as  that  vetoed  by 
general  Jackson  ;  but  in  the  house  his  influence  was  too  powerful 
to  admit  of  its  passage  there  at  that  time. 

On  the  right  of  petition,  Mr.  Clay  stated  his  views,  which  sup- 
ported the  belief  that  the  servants  of  the  people  ought  to  examine, 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  179 

deliberate,  and  decide,  either  to  grant  or  refuse  the  prayer  of  a 
petition,  giving  the  reasons  for  such  decision ;  and  that  such  was 
the  best  mode  of  putting  an  end  to  the  agitation  of  the  public  on 
the  subject.  The  right  of  congress  to  abolish  slavery  in  the 
District  of  Columbia,  he  thought,  existed,  but  seemed  inclined  to 
question  the  expediency  of  exercising  it,  under  the  circumstances 
then  existing. 

The  condition  of  the  deposit  banks  was  made  the  subject  of  a 
report  by  the  secretary  of  the  treasury,  on  the  seventeenth  of  March, 
1836,  when  Mr.  Clay  demonstrated  the  insecurity  of  the  public 
monies  in  their  keeping,  and  foretold,  with  astonishing  accuracy, 
the  crisis  which  in  1837  occurred. 

The  recognition  of  the  independence  of  Texas,  was  effected  by 
the  exertions  of  Mr.  Clay,  on  ascertaining  that  it  had  a  civil 
government  in  successful  operation.  Up  to  the  close  of  the  session, 
(July  fourth,  1836,)  Mr.  Clay's  vigilance  and  activity  in  the  service 
of  his  country  did  not  abate  in  the  least.  The  fortification  bill, 
reduction  of  duties  on  articles  not  coming  in  collision  with  the 
manufacturing  interests,  and  various  other  questions  of  national 
importance,  engaged  his  attention. 

On  returning  to  Kentucky,  a  dinner  was  tendered  him,  by  the 
citizens  of  Woodford  county,  at  which  he  reviewed,  in  a  masterly 
manner,  the  doings  of  the  administration,  and  expressed  his  deter- 
mination to  withdraw  from  public  life,  and  even  went  so  far  as  to 
declare  his  wish  that  the  state  would  look  for  some  other  individual 
to  fill  the  station  then  occupied  by  him,  but  which  would  soon  be 
vacant  by  the  expiration  of  his  term. 

While  surveying  his  cattle,  in  the  autumn  of  1836,  he  narrowly 
escaped  death,  by  a  furious  bull,  which  rushed  towards  him,  plung- 
ing his  horns  into  the  horse  on  which  he  was  seated,  killing  him 
suddenly,  and  throwing  Mr.  Clay  several  feet.  He,  however, 
escaped  with  a  slight  contusion. 

In  1836,  Mr.  Clay  accepted  the  appointment  of  president  of  the 
American  Colonization  Society,  in  the  place  of  ex-president 
Madison,  deceased. 

Being  strongly  importuned  from  a  variety  of  sources,  Mr.  Clay 
consented  to  become  a  candidate  for  the  senatorship  again,  and 
was  reelected.  Immediately  after  the  convening  of  congress,  he 
once  more  brought  forward  his  land  bill.  After  being  read  twice, 
it  was  referred  to  the  appropriate  committee,  at  the  head  of  which 
was  Mr.  Walker,  of  Mississippi,  who  said,  that  he  had  been 
instructed  by  it  to  move  the  indefinite  postponement  of  the  bill, 
whenever  it  should  come  up  for  consideration.  A  few  days  after, 
he  introduced  his  own  bill,  proposing  to  restrict  the  sales  of  lands 
to  actual  settlers.  On  the  ninth  of  February,  1837,  Mr.  Calhoun 
introduced  his  bill,  which  ostensibly  sold,  but  in  reality  gave  to  the 
new  state?,  the  public  lands.     This  plan  was  vigorously  denounced 


180  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

by  Mr.  Clay,  who  expressed  himself  opposed  to  all  schemes  of 
disposing  of  the  national  domain  which  would  deprive  the  old 
states  of  their  rightful  interest  in  it,  and  that,  while  he  had  strength 
to  stand  and  speak,  he  would  employ  it  in  protesting  against 
their  adoption.  He  implored  the  senate  not  to  appeal  to  the 
cupidity  of  the  new  states  from  party  inducements,  and  exhorted 
a  faithful  adhesion  to  equity  and  justice  in  apportioning  the  public 
lands. 

On  a  bill,  originating  with  the  committee  on  finance,  which 
contained  provisions  conflicting  with  the  compromise  act,  Mr.  Clay 
spoke  at  considerable  length ;  also  on  a  resolution  introduced  by 
Mr.  Ewing,  rescinding  the  specie  circular,  which  required  ail 
payments  for  public  lands  to  be  in  specie. 

On  the  sixteenth  of  January,  Mr.  Clay  discussed  the  question  of 
expunging  from  the  records  of  the  senate,  for  1834,  his  resolution 
censuring  general  Jackson  for  removing  the  deposits  unconstitu- 
tionally; Mr.  Benton  having  introduced  a  resolution  requiring  its 
erasure.  In  his  speech,  Mr.  Clay  so  blended  indignant  invective, 
sarcasm,  scorn,  humor,  and  argument,  as  to  make  it  one  of  the 
most  withering  rebukes  ever  administered.  'What  patriotic 
purpose,'  said  he,  'is  to  be  accomplished  by  this  expunging 
resolution  ?  Can  you  make  that  not  to  be,  which  has  been  ? 
Can  you  eradicate  from  memory,  and  from  history,  the  fact,  that 
in  March,  1834,  a  majority  of  the  senate  of  the  United  States 
passed  the  resolution  which  excites  your  enmity?  Is  it  your  vain 
and  wicked  object  to  arrogate  to  yourself  that  power  of  annihilating 
the  past,  which  has  been  denied  to  omnipotence  itself?  Do  you 
intend  to  thrust  your  hands  into  our  hearts,  and  to  pluck  out  the 
deeply  rooted  convictions  wiiich  are  there  ?  Or  is  it  your  design 
merely  to  stigmatize  us  ?     You  cannot  stigmatize  us. 

•  Ne'er  yet  did  base  dishonor  blur  our  name.' 

'  Standing  securely  upon  our  conscious  rectitude,  and  bearing 
aloft  the  shield  of  the  constitution  of  our  country,  your  puny 
efforts  are  impotent,  and  we  defy  all  your  power.  Put  the 
majority  of  1834  in  one  scale,  and  that  by  which  this  expunging 
resolution  is  to  be  carried  in  the  other,  and  let  truth  and  justice  in 
heaven  above  and  on  earth  below,  and  liberty  and  patriotism, 
decide  the  preponderance. 

'  What  patriotic  purpose  is  to  be  accomplished  by  this  expunging 
resolution?  Is  it  to  appease  the  wrath,  and  heal  the  wounded 
pride,  of  the  chief  magistrate?  If  he  be  really  the  hero  that  his 
friends  represent  him,  he  must  despise  all  mean  condescension, 
all  grovelling  sycophancy,  all  self-degradation  and  self-abasement. 
He  would  reject  with  scorn  and  contempt,  as  unworthy  of  his 
fame,  your  black  scratches  and  your  baby  lines,  in  the  fair  records 
of  his  country.' 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  181 

The  expunging  resolution,  however,  passed,  and  thus  the  just 
resolution  of  Mr.  Clay  was  stricken  from  the  national  records, 
but  not  from  the  record  of  memory;  there  will  it  live  until  her 
functions  cease,  the  memento  of  a  patriotic  purpose  to  place  the 
signet  of  a  nation's  displeasure  upon  as  unprincipled  an  act  as  any 
ruler  of  that  nation  ever  perpetrated. 

In  the  autumn  of  1836,  the  presidential  election  took  place, 
which  resulted  in  elevating  Mr.  Van  Buren  to  the  chair  of  the 
chief  magistracy,  by  one  hundred  and  seventy  of  the  two  hundred 
and  ninety-four  electoral  votes.  At  the  time  he  entered  upon  the 
discharge  of  his  official  duties,  the  situation  of  the  country  was 
deplorable  in  the  extreme.  She  was  reaping  the  bitter  fruits,  which 
Mr.  Clay  had  again  and  again  predicted  general  Jackson  would 
bring  back  from  his  experimental  crusade  and  thrust  down  her 
throat.  From  Maine  to  Florida,  her  population  were  eating  them, 
and  gnashing  their  teeth  with  rage,  when  they  contrasted  their 
present  lamentable  condition,  with  what  it  was  during  the  halcyon 
and  equitable  administration  of  Mr.  Adams.  Then,  there  was 
every  thing  to  admire,  and  nothing  to  deprecate ;  now,  there  was 
nothing  to  admire  and  every  thing  to  deprecate ;  then,  the  most 
devoted  patriot,  as  he  cast  his  eyes  over  his  country,  discovered 
abundant  evidence  of  health,  and  the  existence  of  few  evils,  and 
those  medicable,  or,  if  not,  easily  patible ;  now,  wounds  and  bruises 
and  putrescence,  disfiguring  it,  he  beheld  at  every  stage  of  his 
survey,  and  ills  of  untold  magnitude  and  enormity,  for  which  no 
remedy  could  be  devised.  But  there  is  no  necessity  for  specifica- 
tion ;  it  is  sufficient  to  say,  that  when  general  Jackson  took  up  the 
reins  of  government,  he  found  the  country  prosperous  and  happy, 
and  that  when  he  laid  them  down,  its  condition  was  just  the  reverse. 
For  every  good  which  he  found,  its  opposite  evil  had  been  substi- 
tuted; for  solvency,  insolvency;  for  confidence,  suspicion;  for 
credit,  discredit;  for  a  sound  and  safe  currency,  one,  if  possible, 
worse  than  unsound  and  unsafe;  for  honesty,  dishonesty;  for 
purity,  corruption ;  for  justice,  injustice;  for  frankness  and  candor, 
intrigue  and  duplicity;  for  order,  disorder;  for  quiet,  turmoil;  for 
fidelity,  infidelity  ;  for  enterprise,  indolence ;  for  wealth,  poverty  ; 
for  patient,  industry,  wild  speculation ;  for  republican  simplicity, 
haughty  aristocracy ;  for  wisdom,  folly ;  for  health,  disease ;  for 
happiness,  misery ;  for  hope,  despair ;  and  for  life,  death.  This 
substitution,  Mr.  Clay  clearly  foresaw  would  be  made  ;  he  predicted 
it,  and  forewarned  the  country  of  it.  Such  was  the  condition  of 
the  country,  when  Mr.  Van  Buren  attempted  to  'walk  in  the  foot- 
steps of  his  illustrious  predecessor.'  Soon  after  his  inauguration, 
he  issued  his  proclamation,  ordering  an  extra  session  of  congress, 
to  commence  the  first  Monday  in  September.  Pursuant  to  this, 
congress  met  to  prescribe  some  mode  of  relief.  In  his  message, 
the  president  recommended  the  sub-treasury  system  for  the  deposit, 


182  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

transfer,  and  disbursement  of  the  public  revenue.  This  was  the 
engrossing  topic  of  the  session,  and  which  Mr.  Clay  combated 
and  denounced  unsparingly.  He  detected  in  it,  and  lucidly  exposed, 
that  which  was  calculated,  not  only  to  perpetuate  the  excesses  and 
abuses  under  which  the  land  was  then  groaning,  but  to  superin- 
duce fresh  ones.  He  saw  in  it  the  grand  link  of  that  chain, 
destined  to  bind  the  resources  and  patronage  of  the  government 
to  the  car  of  party,  which  for  eight  long  years  Mr.  Van  Buren's 
predecessor  had  been  so  busily  engaged  in  forging.  Mr.  Clay's 
speech  on  this  occasion  is  an  inimitable  specimen  of  close  argu- 
mentative reasoning.  After  exposing  the  defects,  absurdities,  and 
danger  of  the  sub-treasury  scheme,  he  declared  his  decided  convic- 
tion, that  the  only  practicable  measure  for  restoring  a  sound, 
safe,  and  uniform  currency  to  the  United  States,  was  a  properly 
organized  United  States  bank,  but  that  it  would  be  unwise  to 
propose  such  an  institution,  until  the  conviction  of  its  necessity 
should  become  permanently  impressed  upon  the  minds  of  the 
people.  The  sub-treasury  bill  passed  the  senate  by  a  vote  of 
twenty-five  to  twenty,  but  in  the  house  was  laid  on  the  table  by 
a  vote  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  to  one  hundred  and  seven. 

Petitions  for  the  erection  of  a  national  bank  poured  into  con- 
gress incessantly,  quite  too  fast  to  please  the  administration,  which 
began  to  tremble  for  the  safety  of  its  darling  projects.  Mr.  Wright, 
from  the  committee  on  finance,  moved  that  the  prayer  of  the 
memorialists  ought  not.  to  be  granted.  Mr.  Clay  said,  if  the  honorable 
senator  persisted  in  his  opposition,  he  should  feel  constrained  to 
move  to  strike  out  all  after  resolved,  and  substitute  '  that  it  will  be 
expedient  to  establish  a  bank  of  the  United  States,  whenever  it 
shall  be  manifest,  that  a  clear  majority  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States  desire  such  an  institution.' 

On  the  nineteenth  of  February,  1838,  Mr.  Clay  once  more 
addressed  the  senate  in  opposition  to  the  sub-treasury  plan,  in  one 
of  the  longest  speeches  he  ever  delivered,  and  made  a  complete 
expose  of  the  ulterior  intentions  of  the  present  and  previous 
administrations,  which  were,  to  subvert  the  whole  banking  system, 
and  build  upon  its  ruins  a  mighty  government,  treasury  bank,  to  be 
mainly  organized  and  controlled  by  the  executive  department. 

During  the  session,  Mr.  Clay,  in  presenting  a  petition  for  the 
establishment  of  a  national  bank,  communicated  some  of  his  own 
views  in  relation  to  such  an  institution.  He  desired,  first,  that  its 
capital  should  not  be  enormously  large — about  fifty  millions  of 
dollars  —  and  its  stock  divided  between  the  general  government,  the 
states,  and  individual  subscribers  ;  secondly,  that  in  its  organiza- 
tion, reference  should  be  had  to  public  and  private  control,  public 
and  private  interests,  and  to  the  exclusion  of  foreign  influence ; 
thirdly,  that  a  portion  of  its  capital  should  be  set  apart,  and 
placed  in  permanent  security,  adequate  to  meet  any  contingency 


LIFE     OF      HENRY     CLAY.  183 

that  might  arise  in  connection  with  the  issues  of  the  bank; 
fourthly,  perfect  publicity  in  relation  to  all  its  affairs ;  fifthly,  that 
its  dividends  should  be  limited  to  a  certain  per  centum ;  sixthly, 
a  prospective  reduction  in  the  rate  of  interest  to  six,  and,  if  practi- 
cable, to  five  per  centum  ;  seventhly,  that  there  should  be  a  restric- 
tion upon  the  premium  demanded  upon  post  notes  and  checks 
"used  for  remittance,  to  about  one  and  a  half  per  centum  as  the 
maximum  between  the  most  remote  points  of  the  union,  thereby 
regulating  domestic  exchanges;  eighthly,  that  effective  provisions 
should  be  made  against  executive  interference  with  the  bank,  and 
of  it  with  the  elections  of  the  country.  Such  a  public  banking 
institution  Mr.  Clay  advocated,  from  the  conviction  that  it  would 
perform  every  thing  requisite  in  furnishing  a  good  currency.  The 
question  of  its  constitutionality,  he  considered  as  satisfactorily 
settled  by  the  fact,  that  the  people  during  forty  years  had  cherished 
the  bank,  that  it  had  been  approved  by  Washington,  the  father 
of  his  country,  by  Madison,  the  father  of  the  constitution,  and  by 
Marshall,  the  father  of  the  judiciary. 

The  subject  of  abolition  was  introduced  into  the  senate,  which 
Mr.  Clay  approached,  and  freely  discussed,  although  urged  to  avoid 
it  by  his  friends.  He  considered  it,  as  it  might  be  expected  he  would, 
in  the  true  spirit  of  philanthropy,  benevolence,  and  patriotism.  His 
sentiments  were  conceived  and  uttered  in  such  a  noble,  liberal, 
and  magnanimous  manner,  as  to  elicit  expressions  of  approbation 
and  of  commendation  even  from  both  anti  and  pro  slavery  men. 
Mr.  Calhoun  admitted  the  correctness  of  his  sentiments,  and  the 
entire  security  which  their  adoption  would  promise  to  the  union. 
As  a  matter  in  course,  the  enemies  of  Mr.  Clay  strove  to  cause  the 
impression  to  be  received,  that,  in  his  thus  advocating  the  right  of 
petition,  he  was  actuated  by  motives  of  a  personal  nature,  by  a 
desire  to  render  himself  popular  with  abolitionists.  His  advocacy 
of  this  right  did  render  him  popular,  not  only  with  that  class  of 
individuals,  but  with  all  who  revere  and  love  the  immutable  and 
eternal  principles  of  truth  and  justice,  and  rejoice  to  see  the  out- 
pourings of  sympathy  towards  a  worthy  object. 

During  the  summer  of  1839,  in  his  return  from  a  northeastern 
tour,  he  visited  the  city  of  New  York,  where  his  reception  was  as 
gratifying  to  his  feelings  as  it  was  spontaneous  and  brilliant  on  the 
part  of  those  who  gave  it.  The  whole  city  joined  in  it,  and  it  may 
well  be  questioned,  whether  any  individual  ever  entered  the  city, 
attended  by  such  enthusiastic  tokens  of  popular  favor.  He 
approached  it  in  the  steamer  James  Madison,  at  the  foot  of  Ham- 
mond street,  Greenwich,  early  in  the  afternoon.  As  he  stepped 
on  the  wharf,  the  air  was  rent  by  the  welcoming  acclamations  of 
an  immense  multitude  assembled  there,  which  were  taken  up  and 
continued  by  similar  collections  of  people  lining  his  whole  route 
(a  distance  of  three  miles)  to  the   Astor  House,  where  lodgings 


184  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

had  been  prepared  for  him.  He  sat  in  an  open  barouche,  preceded 
by  a  band  of  music,  and  followed  by  an  immense  concourse  of 
citizens  in  carriages.  The  streets  through  which  he  passed  were 
crowded  with  one  dense  mass  of  people,  and  the  houses  were 
covered  with  them*  At  all  the  principal  places  in  his  route,  bands 
of  music  were  stationed,  that,  as  he  approached,  sent  forth  their 
spirit-stirring  peals,  which,  with  the  vociferous  shouts  of  thousands 
on  thousands,  and  waving  of  handkerchiefs,  flags,  and  banners, 
rendered  his  march  like  that  of  an  oriental  pageant.  When  he 
reached  the  Park,  the  shouting  was  almost  deafening,  which  went 
up  like  the  roar  of  the  sea.  The  most  interesting  feature  of  this 
grand  reception,  was  its  spontaneousness.  It  wras  not ' got  up?  but 
it  was  the  unprovided  for,  the  unsolicited,  and  voluntary  act  of 
the  people,  tendering  to  their  best,  their  most  devoted  friend,  their 
sincere  and  heart-felt  greetings  and  gratulations.  Mr.  Clay  had 
greatly  endeared  himself  to  all  capable  of  appreciating  lofty  and 
disinterested  action,  who,  as  Mr.  Van  Buren's  presidential  term 
drew  to  a  close,  began  to  be  mentioned  continually  as  the  most 
suitable  whig  candidate  for  president.  On  the  fourth  of  Decem- 
ber, 1839,  the  democratic  whig  convention  met  at  Harrisburgh 
to  nominate  one.  Not  a  doubt  was  entertained  that  Mr.  Clay 
was  the  man  of  their  choice,  when  they  assembled,  and  that  his 
selection  would  have  been  the  result  of  their  assembling,  had  not 
the  most  dishonorable  means  been  employed  to  defeat  it. 

On  the  fifth  of  December,  the  convention  was  organized,  Hon. 
James  Barbour  being  appointed  president.  The  committee 
appointed  to  report  a  candidate,  after  a  session  of  two  days,  during 
which  the  intriguers  were  busy  in  circulating  their  falsehoods,  and 
reading  letters  pretended  to  have  been  received  from  distinguished 
individuals  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  and  which  were  filled 
with  false  assertions  of  Mr.  Clay's  unpopularity,  finally  decided 
upon  William  Henry  Harrison.  Their  decision  was  received  by 
those  of  Mr.  Clay's  friends  who  stood  by  him  to  the  last,  without 
a  murmur,  although  with  melancholy  looks,  and  silent  disappoint- 
ment. Mr.  Banks,  one  of  the  delegation  from  Kentucky,  was  the 
first  to  rise  and  express  their  cordial  concurrence  in  the  nomination 
made.  Mr.  Preston  expressed  himself  similarly,  and  desired  that 
a  letter  from  Mr.  Clay,  which  had  been  in  the  possession  of  a 
delegate  several  days,  should  be  read  to  the  convention,  and  which 
had  not  been  previously  shown,  lest  the  motives  for  its  exhibition 
should  have  been  misconstrued.  It  was  read  by  colonel  Coombs, 
of  Kentucky.  In  this,  Mr.  Clay  says,  'with  a  just  and  proper 
sense  of  the  high  honor  of  being  called  to  the  office  of  president 
of  the  United  States,  by  a  great,  free,  and  enlightened  people,  and 
profoundly  grateful  to  those  of  my  fellow  citizens  who  are  desirous 
to  see  me  placed  in  that  exalted  and  responsible  station,  I  must 
nevertheless  say,  in  entire  truth  and  sincerity,  that,  if  the  delibera- 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  185 

tions  of  the  convention  shall  lead  them  to  the  choice  of  another,  as 
the  candidate  of  the  opposition,  far  from  feeling  any  discontent, 
the  nomination  will  have  my  best  wishes,  and  receive  my  cordial 
support.'  He  then  exhorted  the  delegation  from  Kentucky  to  think 
not  of  him,  but  of  their  bleeding,  prostrate  country,  and  to  cooperate 
with  the  convention  in  selecting  such  an  individual  as  should  seem 
most  competent  to  deliver  her  from  the  perils  and  dangers  with 
which  she  was  environed. 

The  reading  of  this  remarkable  communication,  sent  a  thrill  of 
astonishment  and  admiration  through  the  hearts  of  all  who  listened  to 
it.  Many  were  affected  to  tears.  Mr.  Barbour  said,  after  assenting 
to  the  determination  of  the  convention,  that  he  had  been  on  terms 
of  intimacy  with  Mr.  Clay  for  thirty  years,  and  that  a  more  devoted 
or  purer  patriot  and  statesman  never  breathed,  and  that  during  that 
period  he  had  never  heard  him  give  utterance  to  a  single  sentiment 
unworthy  this  character;  that  there  was  no  place  in  his  heart  for 
one  petty  or  selfish  consideration.  Mr.  Leigh,  of  Virginia,  said, 
he  never  thought  that  Mr.  Clay  needed  the  office,  but  that  the 
country  needed  him.  That  office  could  confer  no  dignity  or  honor 
on  Henry  Clay.  The  measure  of  his  fame  was  full,  and  whenever 
the  tomb  should  close  over  him,  it  w^ould  cover  the  loftiest  intellect 
and  the  noblest  heart  that  this  age  had  produced  or  known.  '  I 
envy  Kentucky,  for  when  he  dies  she  will  have  his  ashes  /'  said  the 
venerable  Peter  R.  Livingston,  of  New  York. 

In  selecting  a  candidate  for  the  vice  presidency,  it  was  thought 
that  a  suitable  one  was  found  in  John  Tyler,  of  Virginia,  who  was 
accordingly  chosen. 

Mr.  Clay  concurred,  cheerfully  and  nobly,  in  the  nomination  of 
general  Harrison,  and  exerted  himself  manfully  in  promoting  his 
election.  Mr.  Clay  did  not  evince  the  slightest  disappointment  at 
the  result  of  the  nominating  convention,  but  seemed  to  rejoice  over 
it.  In  the  presidential  canvass,  preceding  the  election  of  general 
Harrison,  Mr.  Clay  took  a  prominent  part.  In  advocating  the 
claims  of  general  Harrison  to  the  presidency,  he  labored  sedulously, 
also,  to  procure  the  adoption  of  those  principles  which  he  consid- 
ered ought  to  constitute  the  rule  of  action  to  all  virtuous  politicians. 
Averse  to  every  thing  like  concealment  himself,  respecting  his 
political  sentiments,  he  ascertained,  'accurately,  those  of  general 
Harrison,  and  then  faithfully  exhibited  them.  The  contest  resulted 
in  the  election  of  general  Harrison,  who  received  two  hundred  and 
thirty-four  of  the  two  hundred  and  ninety-four  electoral  votes  cast. 
By  the  same  vote  Mr.  Tyler  was  elected  to  the  vice  presidency. 

Mr.  Clay  continued,  with  unrelaxing  energy,  his  services  during 
the  session  of  1839-40.  The  land  bill  came  up  again,  and  a 
warm  debate  ensued  between  him  and  Mr.  Calhoun,  and  some- 
what harsh  language  passed  between  them.  The  latter  insinuated, 
that,  at  a  certain  time,  he  had  the  ascendency  over  Mr.  Clay  in 
vol.  i.  24 


186  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

debale — that  he  was  his  (Mr.  Clay's)  master.  In  reply,  Mr.  Clay 
said,  that  so  far  from  admitting  Mr.  Calhoun  to  be  his  master,  he 
would  not  own  him  for  a  slave.  Mr.  Clay,  however,  was  not  the 
man  to  harbor  hard  feelings  towards  any  one,  especially  towards  a 
political  opponent.  Soon  after  retiring  from  the  senate  in  1842,  he 
met  Mr.  Calhoun  as  he  was  passing  out  of  the  senate  chamber, 
and  exchanged  with  him  cordial  salutations,  while  tears  came  to 
the  eyes  of  both. 

On  a  variety  of  questions  of  public  interest,  Mr.  Clay  spoke, 
the  principal  of  which  were,  that  of  the  abolition  of  slavery,  the 
Maine  boundary  line,  the  navy  appropriation  bill,  branch  mints, 
expenditures  of  government,  Cumberland  road,  and  internal  im- 
provements. On  the  twentieth  of  January,  1840,  he  delivered  a 
speech  of  rare  ability  on  the  sub-treasury,  now  called  the  indepen- 
dent treasury  bill,  which  he  denominated  a  government  bank  in 
disguise. 

On  all  suitable  occasions  Mr.  Clay  frankly  avowed  his  political 
faith,  but  never,  perhaps,  more  minutely  or  explicitly,  than  at  a 
dinner  given  to  him  at  Taylorsville,  in  June,  1840.  His  speech  at 
that  time  is  a  storehouse  of  sound  political  tenets,  among  which 
we  find  the  following. 

First.  That  there  should  be  a  provision  to  render  a  person 
ineligible  to  the  office  of  president  of  the  United  States,  after  a 
service  of  one  term. 

Second.  That  the  veto  power  should  be  more  precisely  defined, 
and  be  subjected  to  further  limitations  and  qualifications. 

Third.  That  the  power  of  dismission  from  office  should  be 
restricted,  and  the  exercise  of  it  rendered  responsible. 

Fourth.  That  the  control  over  the  treasury  of  the  United  States 
should  be  confided  and  confined  exclusively  to  congress ;  and  all 
authority  of  the  president  over  it,  by  means  of  dismissing  the 
secretary  of  the  treasury,  or  other  persons  having  the  immediate 
charge  of  it,  be  rigorously  precluded. 

Fifth.  That  the  appointment  of  members  of  congress  to  any 
office,  or  any  but  a  few  specific  offices,  during  their  continuance  in 
office,  and  for  one  year  thereafter,  be  prohibited. 

General  Harrison,  previously  to  commencing  his  journey  to 
Washington,  visiled  Mr.  Clay,  and  tendered  him  any  office  in  the 
president's  gift,  but  he  courteously,  yet  firmly,  declined  accepting 
one,  and  expressed  his  unalterable  resolution  to  withdraw  from 
public  life,  as  soon  as  he  should  see  those  fundamental  measures, 
for  which  he  had  been  so  long  and  so  ardently  struggling,  put  in  a 
train  of  accomplishment.  To  the  very  last  of  Mr.  Van  Buren's 
administration,  he  labored  untiringly  to  place  them  in  such  a 
position.  He  was  the  strenuous  advocate  of  a  uniform  system 
of  bankruptcy.  This  was  embodied  in  a  bill  reported  to  the 
senate   by  the  judiciary   committee,  in   the    spring  of  1840,  on 


LIFE     OF     HENRY      CLAY.  187 

account  of  the  numerous  petitions  presented  in  its  favor.  It  passed 
the  senate,  by  a  vote  of  twenty-four  to  twenty-three,  but  was 
defeated  in  the  house. 

Directly  after  the  inauguration  of  general  Harrison,  he  issued 
his  proclamation  ordering  an  extra  session  of  congress,  to  com- 
mence on  the  last  Monday  in  May.  Before  that  period  arrived, 
the  president  was  no  more.  He  died  just  one  month  after  his 
introduction  to  office.  The  intelligence  of  his  death  filled  the 
nation  with  sadness,  yet  no  serious  grounds  of  fear  were  enter- 
tained, because  it  was  believed  that  Mr.  Tyler  would  discharge 
the  duties  of  the  presidency  with  fidelity.  Congress  assembled  in 
accordance  with  the  proclamation  of  the  late  lamented  Harrison. 
Mr.  Clay  commenced  the  public  business  with  vigor  and  alacrity. 
The  subjects  which  he  deemed  of  pressing  importance,  and  should 
engage  the  immediate  attention  of  the  senate,  were, 

First,  the  repeal  of  the  sub-treasury  law. 

Secondly,  the  incorporation  of  a  bank  adapted  to  the  wrants  of 
the  people  and  government. 

Thirdly,  the  provision  of  an  adequate  revenue,  by  the  imposition 
of  duties,  and  including  an  authority  to  contract  a  temporary  loan 
to  cover  the  public  debt  created  by  the  last  administration. 

Fourthly,  the  prospective  distribution  of  the  proceeds  of  the 
public  lands. 

Fifthly,  the  passage  of  necessary  appropriation  bills. 

Sixthly,  some  modification  in  the  banking  system  of  the  District 
of  Columbia,  for  the  benefit  of  the  people  of  the  district. 

From  the  head  of  the  committee  on  finance,  Mr.  Clay  moved 
the  appointment  of  a  select  committee,  to  take  into  consideration 
the  bank  question,  of  which  he  was  made  chairman. 

In  June,  Mr.  Clay  reported  a  plan  for  a  national  bank,  which, 
after  an  animated  discussion,  was  adopted  by  both  houses,  which, 
on  the  sixteenth  of  August,  was  vetoed  by  president  Tyler.  The 
return  of  the  bill  was  hailed  with  mingled  surprise,  sorrow, 
and  alarm,  in  the  senate,  which  was  addressed  on  the  subject  of 
the  veto,  by  Mr.  Clay,  in  strains  of  lofty  eloquence,  almost 
surpassing  himself.  Another  bill  was  then  framed  with  special 
reference  to  the  objections  of  the  president ;  in  other  words,  it  was 
just  such  a  bill  as  he  had  recommended.  The  surprise  and 
indignation  were  overwhelming,  when  it  was  known  that  this  bill 
had  encountered  the  fate  of  its  predecessor.  Mr.  Clay  did  not 
scruple  to  denounce  the  exercise  of  the  veto,  as  he  had  denounced 
it  in  the  case  of  general  Jackson,  as  unjustifiable,  and  as  involving 
a  manifest  encroachment  upon  the  liberties  of  the  people. 

With  the  solitary  exception  of  Mr.  Webster,  the  cabinet  resigned 
their  seats,  and  the  feeling  of  indignation,  enkindled  at  Washing- 
ton, spread  through  and  lit  up  the  whole  country  into  a  glow  of 
wrath,  at  the  uncalled  for  and  unexpected  procedure  of  Mr.  Tyler. 


188  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

Although  baffled,  and  in  a  measure  defeated,  by  the  despotism 
of  one  man,  still  Mr.  Clay  did  not  slacken  his  exertions  to  render 
relief  to  his  suffering  and  distracted  country.  He  was  at  the  head 
of  two  important  committees,  and  performed  an  amount  of  labor 
truly  surprising.  He  had  the  gratification  of  witnessing  the  repeal 
of  the  abominable  sub-treasury  scheme,  the  passage  of  the 
bankrupt  law,  and  his  land  bill. 

An  attempt  to  adjust  the  tariff  was  made,  which  occasioned 
another  veto  from  the  president.  This  was  directed  mainly  against 
the  distribution  clause,  which  was  finally  surrendered  to  accom- 
modate the  views  of  the  president.  The  tariff  bill  at  length 
became  a  law. 

I  On  the  thirty-first  of  March,  1842,  Mr.  Clay  executed  his  long 
and  fondly  cherished  design  of  retiring  to  the  quiet  of  private 
life.  Pie  resigned  his  seat  in  the  senate,  and  presented  to  that 
body  the  credentials  of  Mr.  Crittenden,  his  friend,  and  successor. 
The  scene  which  ensued  when  he  tendered  his  resignation,  was 
indescribably  thrilling.  It  was  not  unlike  that,  when  the  father  of 
his  country,  surrounded  by  his  companions  in  arms,  pronounced 
his  farewell  address,  as  they  were  about  to  disband  and  enter  upon 
the  possession  and  enjoyment  of  that  independence  which  their 
invincible  arms  had  won.  Had  the  guardian  genius  of  congress 
and  the  nation  been  about  to  take  his  departure,  and  giving  his 
parting  admonitions,  deeper  feeling  could  hardly  have  been  mani- 
fested, than  when  Mr.  Clay  rose  to  address,  for  the  last  time,  his 
congressional  compeers.  An  individual  witnessing  the  breathless 
silence  that  pervaded  the  densely  crowded  senate  chamber,  and 
the  tears  flowing  freely  and  copiously  from  the  eyes  of  all.  would 
have  said,  that  wherever  else  Mr.  Clay  might  have  enemies,  he  had 
none  in  that  assembly.  In  those  who  were  politically  opposed, 
and  in  those  who  were  personally  hostile  to  him,  the  movings  of 
the  best  principles  of  our  being  were  not  subjected  to  the  cruel 
control  of  selfishness  or  envy,  but  permitted  to  respond  to  the 
voice  of  nature,  calling  them  in  her  most  enticing  tones  to  unite 
with  his  devoted  friends,  in  bearing  appropriate  testimony  to  his 
public  worth.  The  former  no  less  than  the  latter,  manifested  the 
most  sincere  regret  at  the  prospect  of  his  departure.  All  felt  that 
a  master  spirit  was  bidding  them  adieu  —  that  the  pride  and  orna- 
ment of  the  senate  and  the  glory  of  the  nation  was  being  removed, 
and  all  grieved  in  view  of  the  void  that  would  be  made.  He 
spoke  as  it  might  be  expected  the  patriot  warrior  of  a  thousand 
victorious  battles  would  speak,  standing  on  the  field  where  they 
were  fought  —  the  living,  burning,  sublime  sentiments  of  patriot- 
ism. His  feelings  often  overpowered  him.  His  voice,  naturally 
musical,  seemed  the  very  refinement  of  sweetness  and  pathos, 
whose  honied  accents  sank  into  the  hearts  of  his  hearers,  like 
heaven's  benediction.     When  Mr.  Clay  closed,  the  most  intense 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  189 

emotion  agitated  the  senate.  Mr.  Preston  rose,  and  remarked,  in 
view  of  it,  that  he  presumed  there  would  be  little  disposition  to 
transact  business;  that  the  event  that  had  just  occurred,  was  an 
epoch  in  the  legislative  history  of  the  nation,  and  that  therefore  he 
would  move  that  the  senate  adjourn.  The  motion  was  adopted 
unanimously. 

Thus  terminated  the  senatorial  career  of  one  of  the  greatest 
statesmen  of  this  or  any  other  age  —  a  career  disfigured  with  as 
few  imperfections,  and  adorned  with  as  many  ornaments  of  genius 
and  intellect,  as  that  of  any  one  who  ever  lived.  A  career  achieved 
in  the  service  of,  and  bequeathed  to  the  people,  they  will  regard  it 
as  a  precious  legacy,  and  derive  from  it  ample  aliment  for  the 
sustenance  of  patriotic  and  philanthropic  principle,  to  the  end  of 
time.  It  shall  be  the  favorite  resort  of  the  worshippers  of  liberty 
from  all  lands,  who,  with  astonishment,  admiration,  and  pure 
delight,  will  trace  it,  dwell  with  feelings  of  moral  grandeur  upon 
its  scenes  of  political  sublimity  and  disinterested  patriotism,  and, 
amid  their  rejoicings  over  its  beauties  and  excellencies,  will  envy  the 
nation  to  which  it  belongs.  We  take  our  leave  of  Mr.  Clay's  public 
life,  to  notice,  briefly,  some  incidents  connected  more  particularly 
with  his  private  history.  The  personal  appearance  of  Mr.  Clay  is 
imposing  and  prepossessing.  He  is  tall,  and  somewhat  thin,  but 
very  muscular,  exhibiting  lofty  and  dignified  grace  and  ease  in  his 
deportment  and  carriage,  and  an  entire  absence  of  every  thing  like 
stiffness  or  haughtiness.  His  manner  is  cordial  and  kind,  inviting 
rather  than  repelling  approach.  His  countenance  is  open  and 
bland,  on  which  his  soul  may  be  said  to  sit,  so  faithfully  does  it 
mirror  its  feelings.  It  is  impossible  to  describe  its  varying  expres- 
sions. His  eyes  are  of  a  blue,  or  dark  gray  color,  small,  and  when 
he  is  animated  flash  with  unearthly  vividness.  His  forehead  is 
high  and  broad.  His  mouth  is  large,  but  strikingly  indicative  of 
genius  and  energy.  His  voice  is  exceedingly  silvery,  deep  toned, 
and  most  exquisitely  modulated — a  fit  organ  to  herald  forth  to 
the  world,  the  noble  sentiments  of  a  noble  heart.  It  may  be 
regarded  as  no  unimportant  element  of  his  fame,  inseparably  and 
imperishably  interwoven  with  his  course.  When  speaking,  he 
possesses  the  rare  faculty  of  not  only  throwing  his  own  soul  wholly 
into  his  subject,  but  of  carrying  along  with  it  the  souls  of  his 
hearers,  and,  as  it  were,  making  them  take  a  part  in  its  considera- 
tion, assenting  or  dissenting  as  he  did.  His  action  is  peculiarly 
graceful  and  appropriate,  harmonizing  admirably  with  the  charac- 
ter of  the  sentiments  uttered. 

We  shall  not  attempt  an  analysis  of  his  mind,  conscious  of  our 
inability  to  do  it  justice.  Its  powers  are  so  numerous  and  so  great, 
as  to  make  the  task  no  light  one.  Its  most  prominent  attribute  is 
patriotism.  This  is  the  sun  of  its  lofty  faculties,  which  revolve 
about  it  in  the  order  of  satellites.     Every  thing  is  subordinate  to, 


L90  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

or  absorbed  by  it.  This  is  seen  in  every  part  of  his  career,  tower- 
ing magnificently  upwards,  like  a  mighty  mountain  to  bathe  its 
head  in  everlasting  sunshine,  and  forms  its  loveliest  and.  most 
attractive  feature.  With  Mr.  Clay,  patriotism  was  no  unmeaning 
word.  He  made  it  the  grand  test  of  both  principle  and  measure, 
and  the  main-spring  of  action.  His  devotion  to  it  is  most 
remarkable  ;  so  exclusive,  as  to  lead  him  to  sacrifice  every  other 
consideration  upon  its  altar.  On  one  occasion,  acting  under  its 
influence,  he  said  to  Mr.  Grundy,  '  tell  general  Jackson,  that  if  he 
will  sign  that  bill  (the  land  bill),  I  will  pledge  myself  to  retire  from 
congress,  and  never  enter  public  life  again;''  of  such  vital  impor- 
tance did  he  consider  that  bill  to  the  welfare  of  his  beloved  country. 
One  cannot  avoid  breaking  out  in  exclamations  of  admiration,  and 
reverence,  even,  in  view  of  such  self-immolating  political  purity,  as 
this  sincere  declaration  evinces.  My  country,  my  country,  seems 
to  have  been  the  constant  apex  of  his  thoughts  and  wishes.  This 
attribute  gives  to  his  commanding  eloquence  its  invincible  power, 
and  is  the  rocky  pedestal  on  which  he  has  reared  the  temple  of  his 
immortal  fame. 

Political  consistency  is  another  prominent  characteristic  of  Mr. 
Clay.  This,  like  a  line  of  light,  is  traceable  through  all  his  public 
life.  The  soundness  of  his  judgment  is  worthy  of  note,  by  which 
he  is  enabled  to  predict,  with  almost  prophetic  accuracy,  the  effect 
of  the  adoption  of  certain  measures.  As  a  writer,  Mr.  Clay's 
style  is  nervous,  perspicuous,  and  concise,  evincing  the  freshness 
and  beauty  of  originality,  usually  moving  on  in  a  deep  and  quiet 
current,  but  at  times  rushing  like  the  mountain  torrent,  overthrow- 
ing all  obstacles.  He  is  peculiarly  qualified  for  the  regions  of 
argument  and  close  investigation,  yet  he  can  soar  into  that  of 
imagination,  and  whenever  he  does,  it  is  the  flight  of  the  eagle 
towards  heaven.  His  power  of  illustration  is  felicitous,  demon- 
strating an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  secret  springs  of  the 
soul,  and  a  sagacious  knowledge  of  its  mysterious  movements. 
His  conversational  faculties  are  striking,  and  exceedingly  versatile, 
enabling  him  to  accommodate  himself  to  the  capacities  of  all,  to 
the  humblest,  as  well  as  to  the  loftiest  intellect.  It  was  remarked 
of  Mr.  Burke,  by  Dr  Johnson,  that  if  a  tempest,  or  any  other 
occurrence,  should  cause  him  to  take  shelter  under  the  roof  of  a 
peasant,  he  would  find  sufficient  topics  to  employ  his  conversa- 
tional powers,  and  would  so  employ  them  as  to  leave  indelibly 
impressed  upon  the  mind  of  its  lowly  occupant,  the  belief,  that  he 
was  listening  to  no  ordinary  man.  This  would  be  emphatically 
true  of  Mr.  Clay,  who  possesses,  in  an  eminent  degree,  the  faculty 
attributed  to  Mr.  Burke.  It  is  the  exercise  of  this,  that  has  so 
endeared  him  to  all  who  have  been  privileged  to  come  within  the 
sphere  of  its  influence,  and  which  invests  his  domestic  and  social 
relations  with  their  greatest  charms. 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  191 

In  private  life,  Mr.  Clay  exhibits  the  noblest  characteristics  of 
human  nature,  which  may  be  expressed  by  one  word  —  open- 
heartedness.  He  is  kind  and  liberal  to  a  fault.  Says  one  who  is 
intimate  with  him,  '  his  door  and  his  purse  are  alike  open  to  the 
friendless  stranger  and  the  unfortunate  neighbor.  Frank,  open, 
and  above  the  meanness  of  deception  himself,  and  consequently 
never  searching  for  duplicity  and  treachery  in  those  around  him,  he 
has  more  than  once  suffered  from  the  vile  ingratitude  of  men  who 
have  been  cherished  by  his  bounty  and  upheld  by  his  influence. 

'  The  curse  of  aristocracy  has  never  chilled  the  warm  flow  of  his 
natural  feelings.     His  heart  is  as  warm,  his  hand  is  as  free,  and  his  I 
smile  as  familiar  as   they  were  forty  years   ago,  when,  without  \ 
friends  and  without  influence,  he  first  responded  to  the  hearty  ! 
welcome  of  the   Kentuckian.     His  feelings  have  never  changed 
with  his  fortunes.' 

Mr.  Clay  is  admirably  qualified  for  the  interchange  of  social  and 
friendly  feelings,  in  which  he  indulges  most  judiciously.  His 
convivial  interviews  are  enlivened  by  enjoyments  of  a  marked 
intellectual  character.  His  readiness  at  repartee,  and  aptitude  foi 
reply,  are  conspicuous  features  in  his  character.  No  emergency, 
however  sudden  or  unexpected,  finds  him  unprepared,  or  disarms 
him.  He  perceives  the  bearing  of  remarks,  with  the  quickness  of 
intuition,  however  vague  or  ambiguous  they  may  be,  and  with  the 
suddenness  of  thought  frames  and  utters  a  suitable  reply.  An 
instance,  illustrative  of  this  rare  attribute,  occurred  not  long  after 
his  return  from  Ghent.  It  grew  out  of  the  subjects  of  the  fisheries, 
and  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  river,  which  came  before  the 
commissioners  during  their  negotiations  at  that  place,  two  of 
whom,  on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  were  Messrs.  Clay  and 
Adams.  It  is  well  known  that  Mr.  Adams,  whose  constituents 
were  deeply  interested  in  the  fisheries,  insisted  strenuously  upon 
their  preservation,  and  seemed  disposed  to  grant  to  Great  Britain 
the  equivalent  which  she  demanded  for  them  —  the  right  to  navi- 
gate the  Mississippi.  It  is  equally  well  known  that  Mr.  Clay  as 
strenuously  opposed  the  granting  of  that  right  to  her,  even  if  the 
loss  of  the  fisheries  in  question  should  be  the  price  of  the  refusal 
to  grant  it.  Soon  after  the  return  of  the  commissioners,  Mr. 
Adams  received  a  huge  Codfish,  probably  from  some  person  or 
persons  concerned  in  the  fisheries,  as  a  testimonial  of  appreciation 
of  his  services  in  advocating  their  maintenance.  The  fish  was  an 
enormous  one,  weighing  something  like  eighty  pounds ;  indeed, 
it  wa&  so  large  that  no  dish  could  be  found  sufficiently  capacious 
to  contain  the  monster  when  cooked,  as  Mr.  Adams  desired  it  to 
be  whole.  Consequently  he  was  under  the  necessity  of  getting  one 
constructed  suited  to  the  dimensions  of  his  fishship.  After  he  had 
completed  his  arrangements  for  having  it  served  up  according  to 
hi3  fancy,  taking  special  care  in  ordering  it  to  be  placed  in  the 


192  LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

most  conspicuous  part  of  the  dining-table,  that  its  appearance 
might  be  as  imposing  as  possible,  he  invited  several  of  his  personal 
friends  to  dine  with  him,  among  whom  was  Mr.  Clay.  When 
dinner  was  announced,  Mr.  Adams  led  the  way  to  the  dining 
room,  closely  followed  by  Mr.  Clay,  who,  on  beholding  the  huge 
fish,  started  back,  with  the  exclamation  of  '  what  on  earth  is  that, 
Mr.  Adams!'  '  I1  hat,  sir?'  replied  Mr.  Adams,  Hhat  is  a  codfish, 
from  my  constituents  of  Marblehead!'  'I  will  not  touch  it,'  said 
the  facetious  and  witty  statesman ;  '  I  will  not  touch  it!'  '  Why  not 
sir — why  notV  was  the  very  natural  inquiry.  l  Because,''  said  he, 
*  every  bone  of  it  would  stick  in  my  throat  like  a  Mississippi  Snag.' 
>The  most  exemplary  accuracy  and  fidelity  characterizes  all  Mr. 
Clay's  business  habits.  He  makes  it  a  point  never  to  be  indebted 
♦to  any  man ;  to  live  within  his  income,  and  to  maintain  strict 
punctuality  in  all  his  engagements.  It  is  his  habitual  usage, 
whenever  he  receives  a  communication,  to  return  an  answer 
instantly.  All  his  papers  are  filed  and  arranged  in  the  utmost 
neatness  and  order.  He  rises  early,  and  observes  such  method  in 
the  divison  of  his  time  and  distribution  of  his  business  plans,  as 
to  enable  him  to  accomplish  an  amount  of  labor  truly  surprising. 

That  Mr.  Clay  has  faults,  we  do  not  pretend  to  deny;  this  would 
be  asserting  of  human  nature  that  from  which  it  never  was,  and 
never  will  be,  exempt;  but  they  are  such  as  originated  in  early 
life,  in  his  ardent  temperament,  leading  him  to  seek  scenes  of 
excitement,  where  he  was  frequently  betrayed  into  errors  and 
indiscretions.  To  the  vice  of  gambling  he  is  said  to  have  been 
considerably  addicted  in  early  life  —  a  vice  which  no  one  more 
sincerely  deprecates  than  himself,  as  the  following  anecdote  will 
.show. 

In  the  spring  of  1819,  we  had  the  pleasure  of  being  a  fellow 
passenger  with  Mr.  Clay,  from  New  Orleans  to  Louisville.  After 
a  general  acquaintance  had  been  established  among  the  cabin 
passengers,  to  pass  away  the  time  more  agreeably  it  was  proposed 
to  have  a  game  of  cards,  in  which  one  of  the  number  was  requested 
to  invite  Mr.  Clay  to  join.  When  the  invitation  was  given,  he 
inquired  what  game  was  proposed.  The  reply  was,  '  Bragg-.' 
The  sudden  compression  of  the  lips,  and  the  change  from  easy 
politeness  to  the  dignified  deportment  of  one  entitled  to  give 
advice,  evinced,  at  once,  a  determination  not  to  engage  in  the 
game.  '  Excuse  me,  gentlemen,'  said  he,  '  I  have  not  played  a 
game  of  any  kind  of  hazard  for  more  than  twelve  years,  and  I 
take  this  occasion  to  warn  you  all  to  avoid  a  practice  destructive 
of  a  good  name,  and  drawing  after  it  evil  consequences  of  incal- 
culable magnitude.  In  earlier  days  it  was  my  misfortune,  owing 
to  a  lively  and  ardent  temperament,  to  fall  into  this  vice,  and  to  a 
considerable  extent,  and  no  one  can  lament  more  sincerely  the  evil 
and  the  consequences  of  it,  than  I  do.     These  have  followed  me 


LIFE     OF     HENRY     CLAY.  193 

into  nearly  all  the  walks  of  life,  and  though  I  have  long  since 
abandoned  the  pernicious  practice  which  led  to  them,  it  seems  that 
they  will  never  abandon  me.'  We  remarked,  that  it  was  reported 
'you  won  large  sums  of  the  British  commissioners,  at  Ghent.' 
'  So  the  papers  reported,'  said  he,  '  but  not  truly.  The  only  game 
played  at  Ghent  was  whist,  and  that  not  over  a  guinea  a  corner.' 
Whatever  may  be  Mr.  Clay's  defects,  we  are  happy  to  be  able 
to  state,  that  they  do  not  grow  out  of  principle,  but  that  they  are 
referable  to  the  sanguineous  nature  of  his  constitution,  rendering 
him  easily  excitable  and  irritable ;  in  other  words,  his  errors  are 
those  of  feeling,  and  venial  ones,  if  any  are.  Our  surprise  is,  not 
that  he  occasionally  suffered  its  impetuous  tide  to  control  his 
judgment,  momentarily,  but  our  astonishment,  on  the  other  hand, 
is,  that  this  was  not  borne  entirely  away  by  it,  and  stranded  among 
the  quicksands  of  folly  and  violence,  set  upon,  as  he  was,  at  every 
stage  of  his  career,  by  political  harpies  and  vampyres,  and  bayed 
by  the  furious  mastiffs  of  unprincipled  and  licentious  faction,  as  if 
he  had  been  a  beast  of  prey,  prowling  through  the  land  to  devour 
its  substance.  Fatigued,  exhausted,  and  lacerated,  with  such  a 
temperament  as  he  possessed,  it  must  have  required,  if  possible, 
more  than  the  '  patience  of  Job,'  to  bear  in  silence  the  most  painful 
inflictions  which  the  ingenuity  of  his  legion  of  tormenters  could 
devise.  It  is  not  surprising  that  he  should  turn  to  the  '  quiet  shades 
of  Ashland,'  to  seek  that  repose  for  which  he  had  long  pined,  the 
enjoyment  of  which,  for  a  lengthy  period,  he  had  debarred  himself, 
that  his  country  might  receive  the  benefits  of  his  labors.  Amid 
these  shades,  we  leave  him,  in  an  attitude  interesting,  becoming, 
and  dignified,  dividing  his  time  between  the  employments  and 
enjoyments  of  agriculture  and  literature,  and  so  wisely  as  daily  to 
give  increasing  evidence  of  his  ability  to  sustain  the  threefold 
character  which  he  has  long  borne,  of  enlightened  statesman, 
devoted  patriot,  and  genuine  republican.  Heaven  grant,  the  time 
may  not  be  far  distant,  when  it  shall  be  changed  to  fourfold,  by 
the  addition  of  another  character,  which  the  people  only  can  confer; 
and  one,  which,  if  any  individual  can  merit,  at  their  hands,  by 
laborious,  lengthy,  and  most  exalted  services  in  their  behalf,  that 
individual  is  Henry  Clay. 

vol.  i.  25 


I 


SPEECHES,    &c 


ON  DOMESTIC  MANUFACTURES. 

IN  THE  SENATE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  APRIL  6,  1810. 


[  This  is  the  first  speech  on  record,  of  Mr.  Clay's  efforts  during  his  congressional 
career.  He  had  been  previously  elected  to  fill  a  vacancy  in  the  United  States  senate, 
for  a  single  session,  in  1S06,  during  which,  in  1807,  he  delivered  an  able  speech  on 
internal  improvement,  which  we  regret  has  not  been  preserved.  "In  1809,  the  legislature 
of  Kentucky  again  elected  him  a  United  States  senator,  and  in  the  following  remarks, 
fie,  avowed  himself  in  favor  of  the  policy  of  encouraging  ddfrnstic  manufactures,  which 
policy  he  had  before  advocated  in  the  legislature  of  his  own  state.  His  early  support 
of  these  two  branches  of  national  policy,  which  he  afterwards  called  '  the  American 
System,'  is  thus  shown  by  his  two  first  speeches  in  congress,  and  his  name  and 
influence  have  become  identified  with  the  cause,  of  which  he  has  always  stood  forth 
the  distinguished  champion.  ] 


Mr.  President, 

The  local  interest  of  the  quarter  of  the  country,  which  I  have  the 
honor  to  represent,  will  apologize  for  the  trouble  I  may  give  you  on 
this  occasion.  My  colleague  has  proposed  an  amendment  to  the 
bill,  before  you,  instructing  the  secretary  of  the  navy,  to  provide 
supplies  of  cordage,  sail-cloth,  hemp,  &c.  and  to  give  a  preference 
to  those  of  American  growth  and  manufacture.  It  has  been  moved 
by  the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  (Mr.  Lloyd)  to  strike  out  this 
part  of  the  amendment ;  and,  in  the  course  of  the  discussion  which 
has  arisen,  remarks  have  been  made  on  the  general  policy  of  promot- 
ing manufactures.  The  propriety  of  this  policy  is,  perhaps,  not 
very  intimately  connected  with  the  subject  before  us;  but  it  is. 
nevertheless,  within  the  legitimate  and  admissible  scope  of  debate. 
Under  this  impression  I  offer  my  sentiments. 

In  inculcating  the  advantages  of  domestic  manufactures,  it  never 
entered  the  head,  I  presume,  of  any  one,  to  change  the  habits  of 
the  nation  from  an  agricultural   to  a  manufacturing  community 


196  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

No  one,  I  am  persuaded,  ever  thought  of  converting  the  plough- 
share and  the  sickle  into  the  spindle  and  the  shuttle.  And  yet  this 
is  the  delusive  and  erroneous  view  too  often  taken  of  the  subject 
The  opponents  of  the  manufacturing  system  transport  themselves 
to  the  establishments  of  Manchester  and  Birmingham,  and,  dwell- 
ing on  the  indigence,  vice,  and  wretchedness  prevailing  there,  by 
pushing  it  to  an  extreme,  argue  that  its  introduction  into  this 
country  will  necessarily  be  attended  by  the  same  mischievous  and 
dreadful  consequences.  But  what  is  the  fact  ?  That  England  is 
the  manufacturer  of  a  great  part  of  the  world ;  and  that,  even  there, 
the  numbers  thus  employed  bear  an  inconsiderable  proportion  to 
the  whole  mass  of  population.  Were  we  to  become  the  manufac- 
turers of  other  nations,  effects  of  the  same  kind  might  result.  But 
if  we  limit  our  efforts,  by  our  own  wants,  the  evils  apprehended 
would  be  found  to  be  chimerical.  The  invention  and  improve- 
ment of  machinery,  for  which  the  present  age  is  so  remarkable, 
dispensing  in  a  great  degree  with  manual  labor  ;  and  the  employ- 
ment of  those  persons,  who,  if  we  were  engaged  in  the  pursuit  of 
agriculture  alone,  would  be  either  unproductive,  or  exposed  to 
indolence  and  immorality ;  will  enable  us  to  supply  our  wants 
without  withdrawing  our  attention  from  agriculture  —  that  first  and 
greatest  source  of  national  wealth  and  happiness.  A  judicious 
American  farmer,  in  the  household  way,  manufactures  whatever  is 
requisite  for  his  family.  He  squanders  but  little  in  the  gewgaws 
of  Europe.  He  presents  in  epitome,  what  the  nation  ought  to  be 
in  extenso.  Their  manufactories  should  bear  the  same  proportion, 
and  effect  the  same  object  in  relation  to  the  whole  community, 
which  the  part  of  his  household  employed  in  domestic  manufactur- 
ing, bears  to  the  whole  family.  Lit  is  certainly  desirable,  that  the 
exports  of  the  country  should  continue  to  be  the  surplus  production 
of  tillage,  and  not  become  those  of  manufacturing  establishments. 
But  it  is  important  to  diminish  our  imports  ;  to  furnish  ourselves 
w^ith  clothing,  made  by  our  own  industry;  and  to  cease  to  be 
dependent,  for  the  very  coats  we  wear,  upon  a  foreign  and  perhaps 
inimical  country.  The  nation  that  imports  its  clothing  from  abroad 
is  but  little  less  dependent  than  if  it  imported  its  bread.  J 

The  fallacious  course  of  reasoning  urged  against  domestic 
manufactures,  namely,  the  distress  and  servitude  produced  by  those 
of  England,  would  equally  indicate  the  propriety  of  abandoning 
agriculture  itself.  Were  you  to  cast  your  eyes  upon  the  miserable 
peasantry  of  Poland,  and  revert  to  the  days  of  feudal  vassalage, 
you  might  thence  draw  numerous  arguments,  of  the  kind  now 
under  consideration,  against  the  pursuits  of  the  husbandman! 
What  would  become  of  commerce,  the  favorite  theme  of  some 
gentlemen,  if  assailed  with  this  sort  of  weapon  ?  The  fraud, 
perjury,  cupidity,  and  corruption,  with  which  it  is  unhappily  too 
often  attended,  would  at  once  produce  its  overthrow.      In   short, 


ON     DOMESTIC     MANUFACTURES.  197 

sir,  take  the  black  side  of  the  picture,  and  every  human  occupation 
will  be  found  pregnant  with  fatal  objections. 

The  opposition  to  manufacturing  institutions  recalls  to  my 
recollection  the  case  of  a  gentleman,  of  whom  I  have  heard.  He 
had  been  in  the  habit  of  supplying  his  table  from  a  neighboring 
cook,  and  confectioner's  shop,  and  proposed  to  his  wife  a  reform, 
in  this  particular.  She  revolted  at  the  idea.  The  sight  of  a  scullion 
was  dreadful,  and  her  delicate  nerves  could  not  bear  the  clattering 
of  kitchen  furniture.  The  gentleman  persisted  in  his  design  ;  his 
table  was  thenceforth  cheaper  and  better  supplied,  and  his  neighbor, 
the  confectioner,  lost  one  of  his  best  customers.  In  like  manner 
dame  Commerce  will  oppose  domestic  manufactures.  She  is  a 
flirting,  flippant,  noisy  jade,  and  if  we  are  governed  by  her  fantasies, 
we  shall  never  put  off  the  muslins  of  India  and  the  cloths  of  Europe. 
But  I  trust  that  the  yeomanry  of  the  country,  the  true  and  genuine 
landlords  of  this  tenement,  called  the  United  States,  disregarding 
her  freaks,  will  persevere  in  reform,  until  the  whole  national  family 
is  furnished  by  itself  with  the  clothing  necessary  for  its  own  use. 

It  is  a  subject  no  less  of  curiosity  than  of  interest,  to  trace  the 
prejudices  in  favor  of  foreign  fabrics.  In  our  colonial  condition, 
we  were  in  a  complete  state  of  dependence  on  the  parent  country, 
as  it  respected  manufactures,  as  well  as  commerce.  For  many 
years  after  the  war,  such  was  the  partiality  for  her  productions,  iri 
this  country,  that  a  gentleman's  head  could  not  withstand  the 
influence  of  solar  heat,  unless  covered  with  a  London  hat;  his 
feet  could  not  bear  the  pebbles,  or  frost,  unless  protected  by 
London  shoes ;  and  the  comfort  or  ornament  of  his  person  was 
only  consulted  when  his  coat  was  cut  out  by  the  shears  of  a  tailor 
'just  from  London.'  (~At  length,  however,  the  wonderful  discovery 
has  been  made,  that  it  is  not  absolutely  beyond  the  reach  of 
American  skill  and  ingenuity,  to  provide  these  articles,  combining 
with  equal  elegance  greater  durability.  And  I  entertain  no  doubt, 
that,  in  a  short  time,  the  no  less  important  fact  will  be  developed, 
that  the  domestic  manufactories  of  the  United  States,  fostered  by 
government,  and  aided  by  household  exertions,  are  fully  competent 
to  supply  us  with  at  least  every  necessary  article  of  clothing^  I 
therefore,  sir,  for  one  (to  use  the  fashionable  cant  of  the  day),  am 
in  favor  of  encouraging  them,  not  to  the  extent  to  which  they  are 
earned  in  England,  but  to  such  an  extent  as  will  redeem  us  entirely 
from  all  dependence  on  foreign  countries.*}  There  is  a  pleasure  — 
a  pride  (if  I  may  be  allowed  the  expression,  and  I  pity  those  who 
cannot  feel  the  sentiment,)  —  in  being  clad  in  the  productions  of  our 
own  families.  Others  may  prefer  the  cloths  of  Leeds  and  of 
London,  but  give  me  those  of  Humphreysville. 

Aid  may  be  given  to  native  institutions  in  the  form  of  bounties 
and  of  protecting  duties.  But  against  bounties  it  is  urged,  lliat 
you  tax  the  whole  for  the  benefit  of  apart  only,  of  the  community  $ 


198  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY* 

and  in  opposition  to  duties  it  is  alleged,  that  you  make  the  interest 
of  one  part,  the  consumer,  bend  to  the  interest  of  another  part,  the 
manufacturer.  The  sufficiency  of  the  answer  is  not  always 
admitted,  that  the  sacrifice  is  merely  temporary,  being  ultimately 
compensated  by  the  greater  abundance  and  superiority  of  the 
article  produced  by  the  stimulus.  But,  of  all  practicable  forms  of 
encouragement,  it  might  have  been  expected,  that  the  one  under 
consideration  would  escape  opposition,  if  every  thing  proposed  in 
congress  were  not  doomed  to  experience  it.  What  is  it  ?  The 
bill  contains  two  provisions  —  one  prospective,  anticipating  the 
appropriation  for  clothing  for  the  army,  and  the  amendment 
proposes  extending  it  to  naval  supplies,  for  the  year  1811  —  and 
the  other,  directing  a  preference  to  be  given  to  home  manufactures, 
and  productions,  whenever  it  can  be  done  without  material  detriment 
to  the  public  service.  The  object  of  the  first  is,  to  authorize  contracts 
to  be  made  beforehand,  with  manufacturers,  and  by  making  ad- 
vances to  them,  under  proper  security,  to  enable  them  to  supply  the 
articles  wanted,  in  sufficient  quantity.  When  it  is  recollected  that 
they  are  frequently  men  of  limited  capitals,  it  will  be  acknowl- 
edged that  this  kind  of  assistance,  bestowed  with  prudence,  will 
be  productive  of  the  best  results.  It  is,  in  fact,  only  pursuing  a 
principle  long  acted  upon,  of  advancing  to  contractors  with  govern- 
ment, on  account  of  the  magnitude  of  their  engagements.  The 
appropriation  contemplated  to  be  made  for  the  year  1811,  may  be 
restricted  to  such  a  sum  as,  whether  we  have  peace  or  war,  we 
must  necessarily  expend.  The  discretion  is  proposed  to  be  vested 
in  officers  of  high  confidence,  who  will  be  responsible  for  its  abuse, 
and  who  are  enjoined  to  see  that  the  public  service  receives  no 
material  detriment.  It  is  stated,  that  hemp  is  now  very  high,  and 
that  contracts,  made  under  existing  circumstances,  will  be  injurious 
to  government.  But  the  amendment  creates  no  obligation  upon 
the  secretary  of  the  navy,  to  go  into  market  at  this  precise  moment 
In  fact,  by  enlarging  his  sphere  of  action,  it  admits  of  his  taking 
advantage  of  a  favorable  fluctuation,  and  getting  a  supply  below 
the  accustomed  price,  if  such  a  fall  should  occur  prior  to  the  usual 
annual  appropriation. 

I  consider  the  amendment,  under  consideration,  of  the  first 
importance,  in  point  of  principle.  It  is  evident,  that  whatever 
doubt  may  be  entertained,  as  to  the  general  policy  of  the  manufac- 
turing system,  none  can  exist,  as  to  the  propriety  of  our  being  able 
to  furnish  ourselves  with  articles  of  the  first  necessity,  in  time  of 
war.  Our  maritime  operations  ought  not,  in  such  a  state,  to 
depend  upon  the  casualties  of  foreign  supply.  It  is  not  necessary 
that  they  should.  With  very  little  encouragement  from  government, 
I  believe  we  shall  not  want  a  pound  of  Russia  hemp.  The 
increase  of  the  article  in  Kentucky  has  been  rapidly  great.  Ten 
years  ago  there  were  but  two  rope  manufactories  in  the  state.     Now 


ON     DOMESTIC     MANUFACTURES.  199 

there  are  about  twenty,  and  between  ten  and  fifteen  of  cotton 
bagging;  and  the  erection  of  new  ones  keeps  pace  with  the  annual 
augmentation  of  the  quantity  of  hemp.  Indeed,  the  western  coun- 
try, alone,  is  not  only  adequate  to  the  supply  of  whatever  of  this 
article  is  requisite  for  our  own  consumption,  but  is  capable  of 
affording  a  surplus  for  foreign  markets.  The  amendment  proposed 
possesses  the  double  recommendation  of  encouraging,  at  the  same ' 
time,  both  the  manufacture  and  the  growth  of  hemp.  For  by 
increasing  the  demand  for  the  wrought  article,  you  also  increase 
the  demand  for  the  raw  material,  and  consequently  present  new 
incentives  to  its  cultivator. 

£  The  three  great  subjects  that  claim  the  attention  of  the  national 
legislature,  are  the  interests  of  agriculture,  commerce,  and  manufac- 
tures. We  have  had  before  us,  a  proposition  to  afford  a  manly 
protection  to  the  rights  of  commerce,  and  how  has  it  been  treated  ? 
Rejected!  You  have  been  solicited  to  promote  agriculture,  by 
increasing  the  facilities  of  internal  communication,  through  the 
means  of  canals  and  roads,  and  what  has  been  done  ?  Postponed ! 
We  are  now  called  upon  to  give  a  trifling  support  to  our  domestic 
manufactures,  and  shall  we  close  the  circle  of  congressional 
inefficiency,  by  adding  this  also  to  the  catalogue  ?  1 


ON  THE  LINE  OF  THE  PEKDIDO. 

IN  THE  SENATE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  DECEMBER  25,  1810. 


[The  Perdido  is  the  name  of  a  river  and  bay,  which  form  the  boundary  line  between 
the  present  state  of  Alabama  and  Florida.  It  will  be  recollected,  that  Florida  was  a 
Spanish  colony,  previous  to  its  cession  to  the  United  States  by  Spain,  in  1S19.  It 
was  discovered  by  Juan  Ponce  de  Leon,  a  Spanish  navigator,  in  1512,  and  by  him  it 
was  called  Florida.  The  French  made  an  attempt  to  colonize  the  territory  in  1502, 
but  their  settlement  was  broken  up  by  the  Spaniards,  who  founded,  in  1505.  the  city 
of  St.  Augustine,  in  East  Florida.  Pensacola,  in  West  Florida,  was  founded  in  1099. 
Though  often  invaded  by  the  French  and  English,  Florida  remained  part  of  Spanish 
America  until  1703,  when  it  was  ceded  to  Great  Britain ;  but,  by  the  definitive  treaty 
of  1783,  it  was  receded  by  Great  Britain  to  Spain.  When  Florida  was  a  colony  of 
Spain,  and  Louisiana  of  France,  or  from  1099  to  1703,  the  Perdido  river  was  a  com- 
mon boundary,  but,  by  the  treaty  of  1703,  Louisiana  having  been  ceded  by  France  to 
Spain,  the  Spaniards  in  1709,  for  their  own  convenience,  incorporated  that  part  of 
Louisiana,  between  the  Mississippi  and  Perdido  rivers,  with  Florida.  This  act 
caused  a  controversy  between  Spain  and  the  United  States;  the  latter  having 
purchased  Louisiana  of  France,  in  1603,  to  which  power  it  had  been  ceded  by  Spain, 
in  1S00.  President  Madison,  in  1810,  took  possession  of  the  territory  in  dispute,  for 
which  act  he  was  assailed  by  the  opposition  members  in  the  senate,  particularly  by 
Mr.  Horsey,  of  Delaware ;  to  whom  Mr.  Clay  replied,  in  defence  of  the  administra- 
tion, as  follows.] 


Mr.  President, 

It  would  have  gratified  me  if  some  other  gentleman  had  under- 
taken to  reply  to  the  ingenious  argument,  which  you  have  just 
heard.  (Speech  of  Mr.  Horsey.)  But  not  perceiving  any  one 
disposed  to  do  so,  a  sense  of  duty  obliges  me,  though  very  unwell, 
to  claim  your  indulgence,  whilst  I  offer  my  sentiments  on  this 
subject,  so  interesting  to  the  union  at  large,  but  especially  to  the 
western  portion  of  it.  Allow  me,  sir,  to  express  my  admiration  at 
the  more  than  Aristidean  justice,  which,  in  a  question  of  territorial 
title  between  the  United  States  and  a  foreign  nation,  induces 
certain  gentlemen  to  espouse  the  pretensions  of  the  foreign  nation. 
Doubtless,  in  any  future  negotiations,  she  will  have  too  much 
magnanimity  to  avail  herself  of  these  spontaneous  concessions  in 
her  favor,  made  on  the  floor  of  the  senate  of  the  United  States. 

It  was  to  have  been  expected,  that,  in  a  question  like  the  present, 
gentlemen,  even  on  the  same  side,  would  have  different  views,  and 
although  arriving  at  a  common  conclusion,  would  do  so  by  various 


ONTIIE     LINE     OF     THE     PERDIDO.  201 

arguments.  And  hence  the  honorable  gentleman  from  Vermont, 
entertains  doubt  with  regard  to  our  title  against  Spain,  whilst  he 
feels  entirely  satisfied  of  it  against  France.  Believing,  as  I  do, 
that  our  title  against  both  powers  is  indisputable,  under  the  treaty 
of  St.  Ildefonso,  between  Spain  and  France,  and  the  treaty 
between  the  French  republic  and  the  United  States,  I  shall  not 
inquire  into  the  treachery,  by  which  the  king  of  Spain  is  alleged 
to  have  lost  his  crown ;  nor  shall  I  stop  to  discuss  the  question 
involved  in  the  overthrow  of  the  Spanish  monarchy,  and  how  far 
the  power  of  Spain  ought  to  be  considered  as  merged  in  that  of 
France.  I  shall  leave  the  honorable  gentleman  from  Delaware  to 
mourn  over  the  fortunes  of  the  fallen  Charles.  I  have  no  commis- 
eration for  princes.  My  sympathies  are  reserved  for  the  great 
mass  of  mankind,  and  I  own  that  the  people  of  Spain  have  them 
most  sincerely. 

I  will  adopt  the  course  suggested  by  the  nature  of  the  subject, 
and  pursued  by  other  gentlemen,  of  examining  into  our  title  to  the 
country  lying  between  the  'Mississippi  and  the  Rio  Perdido, 
(which,  to  avoid  circumlocution,  I  will  call  West  Florida,  although 
it  is  not  the  whole  of  it,)  and  the  propriety  of  the  recent  measures 
taken  for  the  occupation  of  that  territory.  Our  title,  then,  depends, 
first,  upon  the  limits  of  the  province  or  colony  of  Louisiana,  and, 
secondly,  upon  a  just  exposition  of  the  treaties  before  mentioned. 

On  this  occasion  it  is  only  necessary  to  fix  the  eastern  boundary. 
In  order  to  ascertain  this,  it  will  be  proper  to  take  a  cursory  view 
of  the  settlement  of  the  country,  because  the  basis  of  European 
title  to  colonies  in  America,  is  prior  discovery,  or  prior  occupancy. 
In  1682,  La  Salle  migrated  from  Canada,  then  owned  by  France, 
descended  the  Mississippi,  and  named  the  country  which  it  waters, 
Louisiana.  About  1698,  D' Iberville  discovered,  by  sea,  the  mouth 
of  the  Mississippi,  established  a  colony  at  the  Isle  Dauphine,  or 
Massacre,  which  lies  at  the  mouth  of  the  bay  of  Mobile,  and  one 
at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Mobile,  and  was  appointed,  by  France, 
governor  of  the  country.  In  the  year  1717,  the  famous  West 
India  Company  sent  inhabitants  to  the  Isle  Dauphine,  and  found 
some  of  those  who  had  been  settled  there  under  the  auspices  of 
D'Iberville.  About  the  same  period,  Baloxi,  near  the  Pascagoula, 
was  settled.  In  1719,  the  city  of  New  Orleans  was  laid  off,  and 
the  seat  of  government  of  Louisiana  was  established  there ;  and  in 
1736  the  French  erected  a  fort  on  Tombigbee.  These  facts  prove 
that  France  had  the  actual  possession  of  the  country  as  far  east 
as  the  Mobile,  at  least.  But  the  great  instrument  which  ascertains, 
beyond  all  doubt,  that  the  country  in  question  is  comprehended 
within  the  limits  of  Louisiana,  is  one  of  the  most  authentic  and 
solemn  character  which  the  archives  of  a  nation  can  furnish  ;  I 
mean  the  patent  granted  in  1712,  by  Louis  XIV,  to  Crozat. 
[Here  Mr.  C.  read  such  parts  of  the  patent  as  were  applicable  to 
vol.  i.  26 


202  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

the  subject.*]  According  to  this  document,  in  describing  the 
province  or  colony  of  Louisiana,  it  is  declared  to  be  bounded  by 
Carolina  on  the  east,  and  Old  and  New  Mexico  on  the  west. 
Under  this  high  record  evidence,  it  might  be  insisted  that  we  have 
a  fair  claim  to  East  as  well  as  West  Florida,  against  France,  at 
least,  unless  she  has,  by  some  convention,  or  other  obligatory  act, 
restricted  the  eastern  limit  of  the  province.  It  has,  indeed,  been 
asserted,  that,  by  a  treaty  between  France  and  Spain,  concluded  in 
the  year  1719,  the  Perdido  was  expressly  stipulated  to  be  the 
boundary  between  their  respective  provinces  of  Florida  on  the 
east,  and  Louisiana  on  the  west ;  but  as  I  have  been  unable  to  find 
any  such  treaty,  I  am  induced  to  doubt  its  existence. 

About  the  same  period,  to  wit,  towards  the  close  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  when  France  settled  the  Isle  Dauphine,  and  the 
Mobile,  Spain  erected  a  fort  at  Pensacola.  Bat  Spain  never 
pushed  her  actual  settlements,  or  conquests,  farther  west  than  the 
bay  of  Pensacola,  whilst  those  of  the  French  were  bounded  on 
the  east  by  the  Mobile.  Between  those  two  points,  a  space  of 
about  thirteen  or  fourteen  leagues,  neither  nation  had  the  exclusive 
possession.     The  Rio  Perdido,  forming  the  bay  of  the  same  name, 

*  Extract  from  the  Grant  to  Crozat,  dated  at 

1  Fontainbleau,  September  14, 1712. 
Lotus,  By  the  grace  of  God,  &c. 

'  The  care  we  have  always  had  to  procure  the  welfare  and  advantage  of  our 
subjects,  having  induced  us,  &c.  to  seek  for  all  possible  opportunities  of  enlarging 
and  extending  the  trade  of  our  American  colonies,  we  did,  in  the  year  1683,  give  our 
orders  to  undertake  a  discovery  of  the  countries  and  lands  which  are  situated  in  the 
northern  part  of  America,  between  New  France  and  New  Mexico ;  and  the  Sieur  de 
la  Salle,  to  whom  we  committed  that  enterprise,  having  had  success,  enough  to 
confirm  a  belief  that  a  communication  might  be  settled  from  New  France  to  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico,  by  means  of  large  rivers,  this  obliged  us,  immediately  after  the  peace  of 
Ryswic,  to  give  orders  for  establishing  a  colony  there,  and  maintaining  a  garrison, 
which  has  kept  and  preserved  the  possession  we  had  taken  in  the  very  year  1683,  of  the  lands, 
coasts,  and  islands,  which  are  situated  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  between  Carolina  on  the 
east,  and  old  and  new  Mexico  on  the  west.  But  a  new  war  having  broke  out  in 
Europe  shortly  after,  there  was  no  possibility,  till  now,  of  reaping  from  that  colony 
the  advantages  that  might  have  been  expected  from  thence,  &c.  And,  whereas,  upon 
the  information  we  have  received  concerning  the  disposition  and  situation  of  tie  said 
countries,  known  at  present  by  the  name  of  the  Province  of  Louisiana,  we  are  of  opinion, 
that  there  may  be  established  therein  considerable  commerce,  &c,  we  have  resolved 
to  grant  the  commerce  of  the  country  of  Louisiana  to  the  Sieur  Anthony  Crozat,  &c. 
For  these  reasons,  &c.  we,  by  these  presents  signed  by  our  hand,  have  appointed  and 
do  appoint  the  said  Sieur  Crozat,  to  carry  on  a  trade  in  all  the  lands  possessed  by  us, 
and  bounded  by  New  Mexico  and  by  the  lands  of  the  English  of  Carolina,  all  the 
establishments,  ports,  havens,  rivers,  and  principally  the  port  and  haven  of  the  Isle 
Dauphine,  heretofore  called  Massacre ;  the  river  of  St.  Louis,  heretofore  called 
Mississippi,  from  the  edge  of  the  sea  as  far  as  the  Illinois,  together  with  the  river  St. 
Philip,  heretofore  called  the  Missouri,  and  of  St.  Jerome,  heretofore  called  Onabache, 
with  all  the  countries,  territories,  and  lakes  within  land,  and  the  rivers  which  fall 
directly  or  indirectly  into  that  part  of  the  river  St.  Louis. 

'  The  Articles  —  1.  Our  pleasure  is,  that  all  the  aforesaid  lands,  countries,  streams, 
rivers,  and  islands  be,  and  remain  comprised  under  the  na?ne  of  the  government  of  Louisiana, 
which  shall  be  dependent  upon  the  general  government  of  New  France,  to  which  it 
is  subordinate;  and  further,  that  all  the  lands  which  we  possess  from  the  Illinois,  be 
united,  &c  to  the  general  government  of  New  France,  and  become  part  thereof,  &c.' 


ON    THE     LINE     OF     THE     PER  DIDO.  203 

discharges  itself  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  between  the  Mobile  and 
Pensacola,  and,  being  a  natural  and  the  most  notorious  object 
between  them,  presented  itself  as  a  suitable  boundary  between  the 
possessions  of  the  two  nations.  It  accordingly  appears  very  early 
to  have  been  adopted  as  the  boundary,  by  tacit  if  not  expressed 
consent.  The  ancient  charts  and  historians,  therefore,  of  the 
country,  so  represent  it.  Dupratz,  one  of  the  most  accurate 
historians  of  the  time,  in  point  of  fact  and  detail,  whose  work  was 
published  as  early  as  1758,  describes  the  coast  as  being  bounded 
on  the  east  by  the  Rio  Perdido.  In  truth,  sir,  no  European  nation 
whatever,  except  France,  ever  occupied  any  portion  of  West 
Florida,  prior  to  her  cession  of  it  to  England,  in  1762.  The 
gentlemen  on  the  other  side  do  not,  indeed,  strongly  controvert,  if 
they  do  not  expressly  admit,  that  Louisiana,  as  held  by  the  French 
anterior  to  her  cessions  of  it  in  1762,  extended  to  the  Perdido. 
The  only  observation  made  by  the  gentleman  from  Delaware  to 
the  contrary,  to  wit,  that  the  island  of  New  Orleans,  being  particu- 
larly mentioned,  could  not,  for  that  reason,  constitute  a  part  of 
Louisiana,  is  susceptible  of  a  very  satisfactory  answer.  That 
island  was  excepted  out  of  the  grant  to  England,  and  was  the 
only  part  of  the  province  east  of  the  river  that  was  so  excepted. 
It  formed  in  itself  one  of  the  most  prominent  and  important 
objects  of  the  cession  to  Spain  originally,  and  was  transferred  to 
her  with  the  portion  of  the  province  west  of  the  Mississippi.  It 
might  with  equal  propriety  be  urged  that  St.  Augustine  is  not  in 
East  Florida,  because  St.  Augustine  is  expressly  mentioned  by 
Spain  in  her  cession  of  that  province  to  England.  From  this  view 
of  the  subject,  I  think  it  results  that  the  province  of  Louisiana 
comprised  West  Florida,  previous  to  the  year  1762. 

What  was  done  with  it  at  this  epoch  ?  By  a  secret  convention 
of  the  third  of  November,  of  that  year,  France  ceded  the  country 
lying  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  the  island  of  New  Orleans,  to 
Spain  ;  and  by  a  contemporaneous  act,  the  articles  preliminary  to 
the  definitive  treaty  of  1763,  she  transferred  West  Florida  to 
England.  Thus,  at  the  same  instant  of  time,  she  alienated  the 
whole  province.  Posterior  to  this  grant,  Great  Britain,  having  also 
acquired  from  Spain  her  possessions  east  of  the  Mississippi, 
erected  the  country  into  two  provinces,  East  and  West  Florida. 
In  this  state  of  things  it  continued  until  the  peace  of  1783,  when 
Great  Britain,  in  consequence  of  the  events  of  the  war,  surrendered 
the  country  to  Spain,  who,  for  the  first  time,  came  into  actual 
possession  of  West  Florida.  Well,  sir,  how  does  she  dispose  of 
it?  She  reannexes  it  to  the  residue  of  Louisiana — extends  the 
jurisdiction  of  that  government  to  it,  and  subjects  the  governors,  or 
commandants,  of  the  districts  of  Baton  Rouge,  Feliciana,  Mobile, 
and  Pensacola,  to  the  authority  of  the  governor  of  Louisiana, 
residing  at.  New  Orleans ;  while  the  governor  of  East  Florida  U 


204  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

placed  wholly  without  his  control,  and  is  made  amenable  directly 
to  the  governor  of  the  Havannah.  Indeed,  sir,  I  have  been 
credibly  informed,  that  all  the  concessions,  or  grants  of  land,  made 
in  West  Florida,  under  the  authority  of  Spain,  run  in  the  name  of 
the  government  of  Louisiana.  You  cannot  have  forgotten  that, 
about  the  period  when  we  took  possession  of  New  Orleans,  under 
the  treaty  of  cession  from  France,  the  whole  country  resounded 
with  the  nefarious  speculations,  which  were  alleged  to  be  making 
in  that  city  with  the  connivance,  if  not  actual  participation,  of  the 
Spanish  authorities,  by  the  procurement  of  surreptitious  grants  of 
land,  particularly  in  the  district  of  Feliciana.  West  Florida,  then, 
not  only  as  France  had  held  it,  but  as  it  was  in  the  hands  of  Spain, 
made  a  part  of  the  province  of  Louisiana;  as  much  so  as  the 
jurisdiction  or  district  of  Baton  Rouge  constituted  a  part  of  West 
Florida. 

What,  then,  is  the  true  construction  of  the  treaties  of  St.  Ildefonso, 
and  of  April,  1803,  from  whence  our  title  is  derived?  If  an 
ambiguity  exist  in  a  grant,  the  interpretation  most  favorable  to  the 
grantee  is  preferred.  It  was  the  duty  of  the  grantor  to  have 
expressed  himself  in  plain  and  intelligible  terms.  This  is  the 
doctrine,  not  of  Coke  only,  (whose  dicta  I  admit  have  nothing  to 
do  with  the  question,)  but  of  the  code  of  universal  law.  The 
doctrine  is  entitled  to  augmented  force,  when  a  clause  only  of  the 
instrument  is  exhibited,  in  which  clause  the  ambiguity  lurks,  and 
the  residue  of  the  instrument  is  kept  back  by  the  grantor.  The 
entire  convention  of  1762,  by  which  France  transferred  Louisiana 
to  Spain,  is  concealed,  and  the  whole  of  the  treaty  of  St.  Ildefonso, 
except  a  solitary  clause.  We  are  thus  deprived  of  the  aid  which  a 
full  view  of  both  of  those  instruments  would  afford.  But  we  have 
no  occasion  to  resort  to  any  rules  of  construction,  however  reason- 
able in  themselves,  to  establish  our  title.  A  competent  knowledge 
of  the  facts  connected  with  the  case,  and  a  candid  appeal  to  the 
treaties,  are  alone  sufficient  to  manifest  our  right.  The  negotiators 
of  the  treaty  of  1803,  having  signed,  with  the  same  ceremony,  Iwo 
copies,  one  in  English  and  the  other  in  the  French  language,  it  has 
been  contended,  that  in  the  English  version  the  term  '  cede '  has 
been  erroneously  used  instead  of  'retrocede,'  which  is  the  expres- 
sion in  the  French  copy.  And  it  is  argued,  that  we  are  bound  by 
the  phraseology  of  the  French  copy,  because  it  is  declared  that  the 
treaty  was  agreed  to  in  that  language.  It  would  not  be  very  unfair 
to  inquire,  if  this  is  not  like  the  common  case  in  private  life,  where 
individuals  enter  into  a  contract  of  which  each  party  retains  a  copy, 
duly  executed.  In  such  case,  neither  has  the  preference.  We 
might  as  well  say  to  France,  we  will  cling  by  the  English  copy,  as 
she  could  insist  upon  an  adherence  to  the  French  copy;  and  if  she 
urged  ignorance  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Marbois,  her  negotiator,  of  our 
language,  we  might  with  equal  propriety  plead  ignorance,  on  the 


ON     THE     LINE     OF     THE     PERDIDO.  205 

part  of  our  negotiators,  of  her  language.  As  this,  however,  is  a 
disputable  point,  I  do  not  avail  myself  of  it;  gentlemen  shall  have 
the  full  benefit  of  the  expressions  in  the  French  copy.  According 
to  this,  then,  in  reciting  the  treaty  of  St.  Ildefonso,  it  is  declared  by 
Spain,  in  1800,  that  she  retrocedes  to  France,  the  colony  or 
province  of  Louisiana,  with  the  same  extent  which  it  then  had  in 
the  hands  of  Spain,  and  which  it  had  when  France  possessed  it, 
and  such  as  it  should  be  after  the  treaties  subsequently  entered 
into  between  Spain  and  other  states.  This  latter  member  of  the 
description  has  been  sufficiently  explained  by  my  colleague. 

It  is  said,  that  since  France,  in  1762,  ceded  to  Spain  only 
Louisiana  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  the  Island  of  New  Orleans, 
the  retrocession  comprehended  no  more  —  that  the  retrocession  ex 
vi  termini  was  commensurate  with  and  limited  by  the  direct  cession 
from  France  to  Spain.  If  this  were  true,  then  the  description,  such 
as  Spain  held  it,  that  is,  in  1800,  comprising  West  Florida,  and 
such  as  France  possessed  it,  that  is,  in  1762,  prior  to  the  several 
cessions,  comprising  also  West  Florida,  would  be  totally  inopera- 
tive. But  the  definition  of  the  term  retrocession  contended  for  by 
the  other  side  is  denied.  It  does  not  exclude  the  instrumentality 
of  a  third  party.  It  means  restoration,  or  reconveyance  of  a  thing 
originally  ceded,  and  so  the  gentleman  from  Delaware  acknowl- 
edged. I  admit  that  the  thing  restored,  must  have  come  to  the 
restoring  party  from  the  party  to  whom  it  is  retroceded ;  whether 
directly  or  indirectly  is  wholly  immaterial.  In  its  passage,  it  may 
have  come  through  a  dozen  hands.  The  retroceding  parly  must 
claim  under  and  in  virtue  of  the  right  originally  possessed  by  the 
party  to  whom  the  retrocession  takes  place.  Allow  me  to  put  a 
case.  You  own  an  estate  called  Louisiana.  You  convey  one 
moiety  of  it  to  the  gentleman  from  Delaware,  and  the  other  to  me ; 
he  conveys  his  moiety  to  me,  and  I  thus  become  entitled  to  the 
whole.  By  a  suitable  instrument,  I  reconvey,  or  retrocede  the 
estate  called  Louisiana  to  you  as  I  now  hold  it,  and  as  you  held 
it ;  what  passes  to  you  ?  The  whole  estate  or  my  moiety  only  ? 
Let  me  indulge  another  supposition  —  that  the  gentleman  from 
Delaware,  after  he  received  from  you  his  moiety,  bestowed  a  new 
denomination  upon  it  and  called  it  West  Florida;  would  that 
circumstance  vary  the  operation  of  my  act  of  retrocession  to  you  ? 
The  case  supposed,  is,  in  truth,  the  real  one  between  the  United 
States  and  Spain.  France,  in  1762,  transfers  Louisiana,  west  of 
the  Mississippi,  to  Spain,  and  at  the  same  time  conveys  the  eastern 
portion  of  it,  exclusive  of  New  Orleans,  to  Great  Britain.  Tw^enty- 
one  years  after,  that  is,  in  1783,  Great  Britain  cedes  her  part  to 
Spain,  who  thus  becomes  possessed  of  the  entire  province  ;  one 
portion  by  direct  cession  from  France,  and  the  residue  by  indirect 
cession.  Spain,  then,  held  the  whole  of  Louisiana  under  France, 
and  in  virtue  of  the  title  of  France.     The  whole  moved  or  passed 


206  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

from  France  to  her.  When,  therefore,  in  this  state  of  things,  she 
says,  in  the  treaty  of  St.  Ildefonso,  that  she  retrocedes  the  province 
to  France,  can  a  doubt  exist  that  she  parts  with,  and  gives  back 
to  France  the  entire  colony  ?  To  preclude  the  possibility  of  such 
a  doubt,  she  adds,  that  she  restores  it,  not  in  a  mutilated  condition, 
but  in  that  precise  condition  in  which  France  had  and  she  herself 
possessed  it. 

Having  thus  shown,  as  I  conceive,  a  clear  right  in  the  United 
Stales  to  West  Florida,  I  proceed  to  inquire,  if  the  proclamation 
of  the  president  directing  the  occupation  of  property,  which  is  thus 
fairly  acquired  by  solemn  treaty,  be  an  unauthorized  measure  of  war 
and  of  legislation,  as  has  been  contended  ? 

The  act  of  October,  1803,  contains  two  sections,  by  one  of 
which  the  president  is  authorized  to  occupy  the  territories  ceded  to 
us  by  France  in  the  April  preceding.  The  other  empowers  the 
president  to  establish  a  provisional  government  there.  The  first 
section  is  unlimited  in  its  duration ;  the  other  is  restricted  to  the 
expiration  of  the  then  session  of  congress.  The  act,  therefore,  of 
March,  1804,  declaring  that  the  previous  act  of  October  should 
continue  in  force  until  the  first  of  October,  1804,  is  applicable  to 
the  second  and  not  the  first  section,  and  was  intended  to  continue 
the  provisional  government  of  the  president.  By  the  act  of  twenty- 
fourth  February,  1S04,  for  laying  duties  on  goods  imported  into 
the  ceded  territories,  the  president  is  empowered  whenever  he  deems 
it  expedient  to  erect  the  bay  and  river  Mobile,  &c.  into  a  separate 
district,  and  to  establish  therein  a  port  of  entry  and  delivery.  By 
this  same  act  the  Orleans  territory  is  laid  off,  and  its  boundaries  are 
so  denned,  as  to  comprehend  West  Florida.  By  other  acts  the 
president  is  authorized  to  remove  by  force,  under  certain  circum- 
stances, persons  settling  on,  or  taking  possession  of  lands  ceded  to 
the  United  States. 

These  laws  furnish  a  legislative  construction  of  the  treaty, 
corresponding  with  that  given  by  the  executive,  and  they  indispu- 
tably vest  in  this  branch  of  the  general  government  the  power  to 
take  possession  of  the  country,  whenever  it  might  be  proper  in  his 
discretion.  The  president  has  not,  therefore,  violated  the  constitu- 
tion and  usurped  the  war-making  power,  but  he  would  have 
violated  that  provision  which  requires  him  to  see  that  the  laws  are 
faithfully  executed,  if  he  had  longer  forborne  to  act.  It  is  urged,  that 
he  has  assumed  powers  belonging  to  congress,  in  undertaking  to 
annex  the  portion  of  West  Florida,  between  the  Mississippi  and 
the  Perdido,  to  the  Orleans  territory.  But  congress,  as  has  been 
shown,  has  already  made  this  annexation,  the  limits  of  the  Orleans 
territory,  as  prescribed  by  congress,  comprehending  the  country  in 
question.  The  president,  by  his  proclamation,  has  not  made  law, 
but  has  merely  declared  to  the  people  of  West  Florida,  what  the 
law  is.     This  is  the  office  of  a  proclamation,  and  it  was  highly 


ON     THE     LINE     OF     THE     PER  DIDO.  207 

proper  that  the  people  of  that  territory  should  be  thus  notified. 
By  the  act  of  occupying  the  country,  the  government  de  facto, 
whether  of  Spain,  or  the  revolutionists,  ceased  to  exist ;  and  the 
laws  of  the  Orleans  territory,  applicable  to  the  country,  by  the 
operation  and  force  of  law,  attached  to  it.  But  this  was  a  state  of 
things  which  the  people  might  not  know,  and  which  every  dictate 
of  justice  and  humanity,  therefore,  required  should  be  proclaimed. 
I  consider  the  bill  before  us  merely  in  the  light  of  a  declaratory  law. 
Never  could  a  more  propitious  moment  present  itself,  for  the 
exercise  of  the  discretionary  power  placed  in  the  president ;  and, 
had  he  failed  to  embrace  it,  he  would  have  been  criminally  inatten- 
tive to  the  dearest  interests  of  this  country.  It  cannot  be  too  often 
repeated,  that  if  Cuba  on  the  one  hand,  and  Florida  on  the  other,  are 
in  the  possession  of  a  foreign  maritime  power,  the  immense  extent 
of  country  belonging  to  the  United  States,  and  watered  by  streams 
discharging  themselves  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico — that  is,  one  third, 
nay,  more  than  two  thirds  of  the  United  States,  comprehending 
Louisiana,  are  placed  at.  the  mercy  of  that  power.  The  possession 
of  Florida  is  a  guarantee  absolutely  necessary  to  the  enjoyment 
of  the  navigation  of  those  streams.  The  gentleman  from  Dela- 
ware anticipates  the  most  direful  consequences,  from  the  occupa- 
tion of  the  country.  He  supposes  a  sally  from  a  Spanish  garrison 
upon  the  American  forces,  and  asks  what  is  to  be  done  ?  We 
attempt  a  peaceful  possession  of  the  country  to  which  we  are  fairly 
entitled.  If  the  wrongful  occupants,  under  the  authority  of  Spain, 
assail  our  troops,  I  trust  they  will  retrieve  the  lost  honor  of  the 
nation,  in  the  case  of  the  Chesapeake.  Suppose  an  attack  upon 
any  portion  of  the  American  army,  within  the  acknowledged  limits 
of  the  United  States,  by  a  Spanish  force  ?  In  such  event,  there 
would, exist  but  a  single  honorable  and  manly  course.  The  gen- 
tleman conceives  it  ungenerous,  that  we  should  at  this  moment, 
when  Spain  is  encompassed  and  pressed,  on  all  sides,  by  the 
immense  power  of  her  enemy,  occupy  West  Florida.  Shall  we 
sit  by,  passive  spectators,  and  witness  the  interesting  transactions 
of  that  country  —  transactions  which  tend,  in  the  most  imminent 
degree,  to  jeopardize  our  rights,  without  attempting  to  interfere  ? 
Are  you  prepared  to  see  a  foreign  power  seize  what  belongs  to  us? 
I  have  heard,  in  the  most  credible  manner,  that,  about  the  period 
when  the  president  took  his  measures  in  relation  to  that  country, 
agents  of  a  foreign  power  were  intriguing  with  the  people  there,  to 
induce  them  to  come  under  his  dominion;  but  whether  this  be 
the  fact  or  not,  it  cannot  be  doubted,  that,  if  you  neglect  the  present 
auspicious  moment,  if  you  reject  the  proffered  boon,  some  other 
nation,  profiting  by  your  errors,  will  seize  the  occasion  to  get  a 
fatal  footing  in  your  southern  frontier.  I  have  no  hesitation  in 
saying,  that  if  a  parent  country  will  not  or  cannot  maintain  its 
authority,  in  a  colony  adjacent  to  us,  and  there  exists  in  it  a  state 


20S  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

of  misrule  and  disorder,  menacing  our  peace ;  and  if,  moreover, 
such  colony,  by  passing  into  the  hands  of  any  other  power,  would 
become  dangerous  to  the  integrity  of  the  union,  and  manifestly 
tend  to  the  subversion  of  our  laws ;  we  have  a  right,  upon  the 
eternal  principles  of  self-preservation,  to  lay  hold  upon  it.  This 
principle  alone,  independent  of  any  title,  would  warrant  our  occu- 
pation of  West  Florida.  But  it  is  not  necessary  to  resort  to  it — 
our  title  being,  in  my  judgment,  incontestably  good.  We  are  told 
of  the  vengeance  of  resuscitated  Spain.  If  Spain,  under  any 
modification  of  her  government,  choose  to  make  war  upon  us,  for 
the  act  under  consideration,  the  nation,  I  have  no  doubt,  will  be 
willing  to  embark  in  such  a  contest.  But  the  gentleman  reminds 
us  that  Great  Britain,  the  ally  of  Spain,  may  be  obliged,  by  her 
connection  with  that  country,  to  take  part  with  her  against  us,  and 
to  consider  this  measure  of  the  president  as  justifying  an  appeal 
to  arms.  Sir,  is  the  time  never  to  arrive,  when  we  may  manage 
our  own  affairs  without  the  fear  of  insulting  his  Britannic  majesty? 
Is  the  rod  of  British  power  to  be  for  ever  suspended  over  our  heads  ? 
Does  congress  put  on  an  embargo  to  shelter  our  rightful  commerce 
against  the  piratical  depredations  committed  upon  it  on  the  ocean? 
We  are  immediately  warned  of  the  indignation  of  offended  Eng- 
land. Is  a  law  of  non-intercourse  proposed  ?  The  whole  navy 
of  the  haughty  mistress  of  the  seas,  is  made  to  thunder  in  our  ears. 
Does  the  president  refuse  to  continue  a  correspondence  with  a 
minister,  who  violates  the  decorum  belonging  to  his  diplomatic 
character,  by  giving  and  deliberately  repeating  an  affront  to  the 
whole  nation  ?  We  are  instantly  menaced  with  the  chastisement 
which  English  pride  will  not  fail  to  inflict.  WThether  we  assert 
our  rights  by  sea,  or  attempt  their  maintenance  by  land — whither- 
soever we  turn  ourselves,  this  phantom  incessantly  pursues  us.  Al- 
ready has  it  had  too  much  influence  on  the  councils  of  the  nation. 
It  contributed  to  the  repeal  of  the  embargo  —  that  dishonorable 
repeal,  which  has  so  much  tarnished  the  character  of  our  govern- 
ment. Mr.  President,  I  have  before  said  on  this  floor,  and  now 
take  occasion  to  remark,  that  I  most  sincerely  desire  peace  and 
amity  with  England ;  that  I  even  prefer  an  adjustment  of  all  differ- 
ences with  her,  before  one  with  any  other  nation.  But  if  she 
persists  in  a  denial  of  justice  to  us,  or  if  she  avails  herself  of  the 
occupation  of  West  Florida,  to  commence  war  upon  us,  I  trust 
and  hope  that  all  hearts  will  unite,  in  a  bold  and  vigorous  vindica- 
tion of  our  rights.  I  do  not  believe,  however,  in  the  prediction, 
that  war  will  be  the  effect  of  the  measure  in  question. 

It  is  asked,  why,  some  years  ago,  when  the  interruption  of  the 
right  of  deposit  took  place  at  New  Orleans,  the  government  did 
not  declare  war  against  Spain;  and  how  it  has  happened,  that 
there  has  been  this  long  acquiescence  in  the  Spanish  possession  of 
West  Florida.     The  answer  is  obvious.    It  consists  in  the  genius 


ON     THE     LINE    OF     THE     PERDIDO.  209 

of  the  nation,  which  is  prone  to  peace ;  in  that  desire  to  arrange, 
by  friendly  negotiation,  our  disputes  with  all  nations,  which  has 
constantly  influenced  the  present  and  preceding  administration ; 
and  in  the  jealousy  of  armies,  with  which  we  have  been  inspired 
by  the  melancholy  experience  of  free  estates.  But  a  new  state  of 
things  has  arisen ;  negotiation  has  become  hopeless.  The  power 
with  whom  it  was  to  be  conducted,  if  not  annihilated,  is  in  a 
situation  that  precludes  it ;  and  the  subject  matter  of  it  is  in  danger 
of  being  snatched  for  ever  from  our  power.  Longer  delay  would 
be  construed  into  a  dereliction  of  our  right,  and  would  amount  to 
treachery  to  ourselves.  May  I  ask,  in  my  turn,  why  certain  gentle- 
men, now  so  fearful  of  war,  were  so  urgent  for  it  with  Spain,  when 
she  withheld  the  right  of  deposit  ?  and  still  later,  when  in  1805  or 
6,  this  very  subject  of  the  actual  limits  of  Louisiana,  was  before 
congress  ?  I  will  not  say,  because  I  do  not  know  that  I  am 
authorized  to  say,  that  the  motive  is  to  be  found  in  the  change  of 
relation,  between  Spain  and  other  European  powers,  since  those 
periods. 

Does  the  honorable  gentleman  from  Delaware  really  believe,  that 
he  finds  in  St.  Domingo  a  case  parallel  with  that  of  West  Florida? 
and  that  our  government,  having  interdicted  an  illicit  commerce 
with  the  former,  ought  not  to  have  interposed  in  relation  to  the 
latter  ?  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  consume  your  time  by  remark- 
ing, that  we  had  no  pretensions  to  that  island;  that  it  did  not 
menace  our  repose,  nor  did  the  safety  of  the  United  States  require 
that  they  should  occupy  it.  It  became,  therefore,  our  duty  to  attend 
to  the  just  remonstrance  of  France,  against  American  citizens' 
supplying  the  rebels  with  the  means  of  resisting  her  power. 

I  am  not,  sir,  in  favour  of  cherishing  the  passion  of  conquest. 
But  I  must  be  permitted,  in  conclusion,  to  indulge  the  hope  of 
seeing,  ere  long,  the  new  United  States  (if  you  will  allow  me  the 
expression)  embracing,  not  only  the  old  thirteen  States,  but  the 
entire  country  east  of  the  Mississippi,  including  East  Florida,  and 
some  of  the  territories  of  the  north  of  us  also. 


vol.  i.  27 


ON  RENEWING  THE  CHARTER  OF  THE  FIRST 
BANK  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

IN   THE    SENATE    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES,  1811. 


[The  Bank  of  the  United  States,  which  was  incorporated  by  an  act  of  congress, 
during  the  administration  of  general  Washington,  in  1791,  having  applied  to  congress 
for  a  renewal  of  its  charter,  which  was  to  expire,  by  limitation,  in  1811 ;  the  question 
came  up  first  for  decision  in  the  senate.  The  renewal  was  advocated  by  the  federal 
members,  and  by  Mr.  Crawford,  of  Georgia,  Mr.  Pope,  the  colleague  of  Mr.  Clay, 
also  by  a  few  other  democratic  senators  ;  and  the  bill  was  finally  defeated,  by  the 
casting  vote  of  the  vice  president  ( George  Clinton).  Mr.  Clay,  having  been  instructed 
by  the  legislature  of  Kentucky  to  oppose  the  renewal  of  the  charter,  acted  in  obedi- 
ence to  those  instructions,  notwithstanding  the  opposite  course  of  his  colleague. 
His  argument  against  the  bill,  shows  that  he  then  believed  the  bank  charter  uncon- 
stitutional— an  opinion  which  subsequent  reflection  and  examination  induced  him 
to  reverse,  some  years  afterwards.  In  this  change  of  opinion,  he  was  sustained  by 
the  example  of  Mr.  Madison,  who  signed  the  charter  of  the  bank,  incorporated  in 
1816,  and  other  eminent  statesmen.  This  being  the  only  subject  of  great  importance 
on  which  Mr.  Clay  has  been  known  to  have  changed  his  views  of  national  policy, 
during  his  long  public  career,  the  following  speech  will  be  read  with  much  interest.] 


Mr.  President, 

When  the  subject  involved  in  the  motion  now  under  considera- 
tion was  depending  before  the  other  branch  of  the  legislature,  a 
disposition  to  acquiesce  in  their  decision  was  evinced.  For 
although  the  committee  who  reported  this  bill,  had  been  raised 
many  weeks  prior  to  the  determination  of  that  house,  on  the  prop- 
osition to  recharter  the  bank,  except  the  occasional  reference  to  it 
of  memorials  and  petitions,  we  scarcely  ever  heard  of  it.  The 
rejection,  it  is  true,  of  a  measure  brought  before  either  branch  of 
congress,  does  not  absolutely  preclude  the  other  from  taking  up  the 
same  proposition;  but  the  economy  of  our  time,  and  a  just 
deference  for  the  opinion  of  others,  would  seem  to  recommend  a 
delicate  and  cautious  exercise  of  this  power.  As  this  subject,  at 
the  memorable  period  when  the  charter  was  granted,  called  forth 
the  best  talents  of  the  nation,  as  it  has,  on  various  occasions, 
undergone  the  most  thorough  investigation,  and  as  we  can  hardly 
expect  that  it  is  susceptible  of  receiving  any  further  elucidation,  it 
was  to  be  hoped  that  we  should  have  been  spared  useless  debate. 
This  was  the  more  desirable,  because  there  are,  I  conceive,  much 
superior  claims  upon  us,  for  every  hour  of  the  small  portion  of  the 


ON     THE     BANK     CHARTER.  211 

session  yet  remaining  to  us.  Under  the  operation  of  these  motives, 
I  had  resolved  to  give  a  silent  vote,  until  I  felt  myself  bound,  by 
the  defying  manner  of  the  arguments  advanced  in  support  of  the 
renewal,  to  obey  the  paramount  duties  I  owe  my  country  and  its 
constitution ;  to  make  one  effort,  however  feeble,  to  avert  the 
passage  of  what  appears  to  me  a  most  unjustifiable  law.  After 
my*  honorable  friend  from  Virginia  (Mr.  Giles)  had  instructed 
and  amused  us,  with  the  very  able  and  ingenious  argument,  which 
he  delivered  on  yesterday,  I  should  have  still  forborne  to  trespass 
on  the  senate,  but  for  the  extraordinary  character  of  his  speech. 
He  discussed  both  sides  of  the  question,  with  great  ability  and 
eloquence,  and  certainly  demonstrated,  to  the  satisfaction  of  all 
who  heard  him,  both  that  it  was  constitutional  and  unconstitutional, 
highly  proper  and  improper,  to  prolong  the  charter  of  the  bank. 
The  honorable  gentleman  appeared  to  me  in  the  predicament  in 
which  the  celebrated  orator  of  Virginia,  Patrick  Henry,  is  said  to 
have  been  once  placed.  Engaged  in  a  most  extensive  and  lucra- 
tive practice  of  the  law,  he  mistook,  in  one  instance,  the  side  of  the 
cause  in  which  he  was  retained,  and  addressed  the  court  and  jury 
in  a  very  masterly  and  convincing  speech,  in  behalf  of  his  antago- 
nist. His  distracted  client  came  up  to  him,  whilst  he  was  thus 
employed,  and,  interrupting  him,  bitterly  exclaimed,  'you  have 
undone  me!  You  have  ruined  me!'  '  Never  mind,  give  yourself 
no  concern,'  said  the  adroit  advocate ;  and,  turning  to  the  court  and 
jury,  continued  his  argument,  by  observing,  '  may  it  please  your 
honors,  and  you,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  I  have  been  stating  to  you 
what  I  presume  my  adversary  may  urge  on  his  side.  I  will  now 
show  you  how  fallacious  his  reasonings,  and  groundless  his  preten- 
sions, are.'  The  skilful  orator  proceeded,  satisfactorily  refuted 
every  argument  he  had  advanced,  and  gained  his  cause !  —  a  suc- 
cess with  which  I  trust  the  exertion  of  my  honorable  friend  will 
on  this  occasion  be  crowned. 

It  has  been  said,  by  the  honorable  gentleman  from  Georgia  (Mr. 
Crawford),  that  this  has  been  made  a  party  question;  although 
the  law  incorporating  the  bank  was  passed  prior  to  the  formation 
of  parties,  and  when  congress  was  not  biassed  by  party  prejudices. 
(Mr.  Crawford  explained.  He  did  not  mean,  that  it  had  been  made 
a  party  question  in  the  senate.  His  allusion  was  elsewhere.)  I 
do  not  think  it  altogether  fair,  to  refer  to  the  discussions  in  the 
house  of  representatives,  as  gentlemen  belonging  to  that  body  have 
no  opportunity  of  defending  themselves  here.  It  is  true  that  this 
law  was  not  the  effect,  but  it  is  no  less  true  that  it  was  one  of  the 
causes,  of  the  political  divisions  in  this  country.  And  if,  during 
the  agitation  of  the  present  question,  the  renewal  has,  on  one  side, 
been  opposed  on  party  principles,  let  me  ask  if,  on  the  other,  it 
has  not  been  advocated  on  similar  principles.  Where  is  the 
Macedonian  phalanx,  the  opposition,  in  congress?    I  believe,  sir,  I 


212  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

shall  not  incur  the  charge  of  presumptuous  prophecy,  when  I 
predict  we  shall  not  pick  up  from  its  ranks  one  single  su-aggler! 
And  if,  on  this  occasion,  my  worthy  friend  from  Georgia  has  gone 
over  into  the  camp  of  the  enemy,  is  it  kind  in  him  to  look  back 
upon  his  former  friends,  and  rebuke  them  for  the  fidelity  with 
which  they  adhere  to  their  old  principles  ? 

I  shall  not  stop  to  examine  how  far  a  representative  is  bound  by 
the  instructions  of  his  constituents.  That  is  a  question  between 
the  giver  and  receiver  of  the  instructions.  But  I  must  be  permit- 
ted to  express  my  surprise  at  the  pointed  difference  which  has  been 
made  between  the  opinions  and  instructions  of  state  legislatures, 
and  the  opinions  and  details  of  the  deputations  with  which  we 
have  been  surrounded  from  Philadelphia.  Whilst  the  resolutions 
of  those  legislatures  —  known,  legitimate,  constitutional,  and  delib- 
erative bodies  —  have  been  thrown  into  the  back-ground,  and  their 
interference  regarded  as  officious;  these  delegations  from  self- 
created  societies,  composed  of  nobody  knows  whom,  have  been 
received  by  the  committee,  with  the  utmost  complaisance.  Their 
communications  have  been  treasured  up  with  the  greatest  diligence. 
Never  did  the  Delphic  priests  collect  with  more  holy  care  the  frantic 
expressions  of  the  agitated  Pythia,  or  expound  them  with  more 
solemnity  to  the  astonished  Grecians,  than  has  the  committee 
gathered  the  opinions  and  testimonies  of  these  deputies,  and, 
through  the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts,  pompously  detailed 
them  to  the  senate !  Philadelphia  has  her  immediate  representa- 
tives, capable  of  expressing  her  wishes,  upon  the  floor  of  the  other 
house.  If  it  be  improper  for  states  to  obtrude  upon  congress  their 
sentiments,  it  is  much  more  highly  so,  for  the  unauthorized  depu- 
ties of  fortuitous  congregations. 

The  first  singular  feature  that  attracts  attention  in  this  bill,  is  the 
new  and  unconstitutional  veto  which  it  establishes.  The  constitu- 
tion has  required  only,  that  after  bills  have  passed  the  house  of 
representatives  and  the  senate,  they  shall  be  presented  to  the  presi- 
dent, for  his  approval  or  rejection  ;  and  his  determination  is  to  be 
made  known  in  ten  days.  But  this  bill  provides,  that  when  all  the 
constitutional  sanctions  are  obtained,  and  when,  according  to 
the  usual  routine  of  legislation,  it  ought  to  be  considered  as  a  law, 
it  is  to  be  submitted  to  a  new  branch  of  the  legislature,  consisting 
of  the  president  and  twenty-four  directors  of  the  bank  of  the 
United  States,  holding  their  sessions  in  Philadelphia  ;  and  if  they 
please  to  approve  it,  why  then  is  it  to  become  a  law !  And  three 
months  (the  term  allowed  by  our  law  of  May  last,  to  one  of  the 
great  belligerents,  for  revoking  his  edicts,  after  the  other  shall  have 
repealed  his)  are  granted  them,  to  decide  whether  an  act  of  congress 
shall  be  the  law  of  the  land  or  not!  —  an  act  which  is  said  to  be 
indispensably  necessary  to  our  salvation,  and  without  the  passage 
of  which,  universal  distress  and  bankruptcy  are  to  pervade  the 


ON     THE     BANK     CHARTER.  213 

country.  Remember,  sir,  that  the  honorable  gentleman  from  Geor- 
gia, has  contended  that  this  charter  is  no  contract.  Does  it,  then, 
become  the  representatives  of  the  nation,  to  leave  the  nation  at  the 
mercy  of  a  corporation  ?  Ought  the  impending  calamities  to  be 
left  to  the  hazard  of  a  contingent  remedy  ? 

This  vagrant  power  to  erect  a  bank,  after  having  wandered 
throughout  the  whole  constitution  in  quest  of  some  congenial  spot 
to  fasten  upon,  has  been  at  length  located  by  the  gentleman  from 
Georgia  on  that  provision  which  authorizes  congress  to  lay  and 
collect  taxes,  &,c.  In  1791,  the  power  is  referred  to  one  part  of  the 
instrument;  in  1811,  to  another.  Sometimes  it  is  alleged  to  be 
deducible  from  the  power  to  regulate  commerce.  Hard  pressed 
here,  it  disappears,  and  shows  itself  under  the  grant  to  coin  money. 
The  sagacious  secretary  of  the  treasury,  in  1791,  pursued  the  wisest 
course ;  he  has  taken  shelter  behind  general  high  sounding  and 
imposing  terms.  He  has  declared,  in  the  preamble  to  the  act 
establishing  the  bank,  that  it  will  be  very  conducive  to  the  success- 
ful conducting  of  the  national  finances;  will  tend  to  give  facility  to 
the  obtaining  of  loans,  and  will  be  productive  of  considerable 
advantage  to  trade  and  industry  in  general.  No  allusion  is  made 
to  the  collection  of  taxes.  What  is  the  nature  of  this  government  ? 
It  is  emphatically  federal,  vested  with  an  aggregate  of  specified 
powers  for  general  purposes,  conceded  by  existing  sovereignties, 
who  have  themselves  retained  what  is  not  so  conceded.  It  is  said 
that  there  are  cases  in  which  it  must  act  on  implied  powers.  This 
is  not  controverted,  but  the  implication  must  be  necessary,  and 
obviously  flow  from  the  enumerated  power  with  which  it  is  allied. 
The  power  to  charter  companies  is  not  specified  in  the  grant,  and 
I  contend  is  of  a  nature  not  transferable  by  mere  implication.  It 
is  one  of  the  most  exalted  attributes  of  sovereignty.  In  the  exer- 
cise of  this  gigantic  power  we  have  seen  an  East  India  Company 
created,  which  has  carried  dismay,  desolation,  and  death,  throughout 
one  of  the  largest  portions  of  the  habitable  world  —  a  company 
which  is,  in  itself,  a  sovereignty,  which  has  subverted  empires  and  set 
up  new  dynasties,  and  has  not  only  made  war,  but  war  against,  its 
legitimate  sovereign  !  Under  the  influence  of  this  power,  we  have 
seen  arise  a  South  Sea  Company,  and  a  Mississippi  Company,  that 
distracted  and  convulsed  all  Europe,  and  menaced  a  total  over- 
throw of  all  credit  and  confidence,  and  universal  bankruptcy.  Is 
it  to  be  imagined  that  a  power  so  vast  would  have  been  left  by 
the  wisdom  of  the  constitution  to  doubtful  inference  ?  It  has  been 
alleged  that  there  are  many  instances,  in  the  constitution,  where 
powers  in  their  nature  incidental,  and  which  would  have  necessa- 
rily been  vested  along  with  the  principal,  are  nevertheless  expressly 
enumerated  ;  and  the  power  '  to  make  rules  and  regulations  for 
the  government  of  the  land  and  naval  forces,'  which  it  is  said  is 
incidental  to  the  power  to  raise  armies  and  provide  a  navy,  is  given 


214 


SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 


as  an  example.  What  does  this  prove  ?  How  extremely  cautious 
the  convention  were  to  leave  as  little  as  possible  to  implication.  In 
all  cases  where  incidental  powers  are  acted  upon,  the  principal  and 
incidental  ought  to  be  congenial  with  each  other,  and  partake  of  a 
common  nature.  The  incidental  power  ought  to  be  strictly  subor- 
dinate and  limited  to  the  end  proposed  to  be  attained  by  the 
specified  power.  In  other  words,  under  the  name  of  accomplish- 
ing one  object  which  is  specified,  the  power  implied  ought  not  to 
be  made  to  embrace  other  objects,  which  are  not  specified  in  the 
constitution.  If,  then,  you  could  establish  a  bank,  to  collect  and 
distribute  the  revenue,  it  ought  to  be  expressly  restricted  to  the 
purpose  of  such  collection  and  distribution.  It  is  mockery,  worse 
than  usurpation,  to  establish  it  for  a  lawful  object,  and  then  to 
extend  it  to  other  objects  which  are  not  lawful.  In  deducing  ihe 
power  to  create  corporations,  such  as  I  have  described  it,  from  the 
power  to  collect  taxes,  the  relation  and  condition  of  principal  and 
incident  are  prostrated  and  destroyed.  The  accessory  is  exalted 
above  the  principal.  As  well  might  it  be  said,  that  the  great 
luminary  of  day  is  an  accessory,  a  satellite,  to  the  humblest  star 
that  twinkles  forth  its  feeble  light  in  the  firmament  of  heaven  ! 

Suppose  the  constitution  had  been  silent  as  to  an  individual 
department  of  this  government,  could  you,  under  the  power  to 
lay  and  collect  taxes,  establish  a  judiciary  ?  I  presume  not ;  but  if 
you  could  derive  the  power  by  mere  implication,  could  you  vest 
it  with  any  other  authority  than  to  enforce  the  collection  of  the 
revenue  ?  A  bank  is  made  for  the  ostensible  purpose  of  aiding 
in  the  collection  of  the  revenue,  and  whilst  it  is  engaged  in  this, 
the  most  inferior  and  subordinate  of  all  its  functions,  it  is  made  to 
diffuse  itself  throughout  society,  and  to  influence  all  the  great 
operations  of  credit,  circulation,  and  commerce.  Like  the  Virginia 
justice,  you  tell  the  man  whose  turkey  had  been  stolen,  that  your 
books  of  precedent  furnish  no  form  for  his  case,  but  that  you  will 
grant  him  a  precept  to  search  for  a  cow,  and  when  looking  for  that 
he  may  possibly  find  his  turkey  !  You  say  to  this  corporation,  we 
cannot  authorize  you  to  discount,  to  emit  paper,  to  regulate 
commerce,  &c.  No !  Our  book  has  no  precedents  of  that  kind. 
But  then  we  can  authorize  you  to  collect  the  revenue,  and,  whilst 
occupied  with  that,  you  may  do  whatever  else  you  please ! 

What  is  a  corporation,  such  as  the  bill  contemplates  ?  It  is  a 
splendid  association  of  favored  individuals,  taken  from  the  mass  of 
society,  and  invested  with  exemptions  and  surrounded  by  immu- 
nities and  privileges.  The  honorable  gentleman  from  Massachu- 
setts (Mr.  Lloyd)  has  said,  that  the  original  law,  establishing  the 
bank,  was  justly  liable  to  the  objection  of  vesting  in  that  institution 
an  exclusive  privilege,  the  faith  of  the  government  being  pledged, 
that  no  other  bank  should  be  authorized  during  its  existence.  This 
objection,  he  supposes,  is  obviated  by  the  bill  under  consideration ; 


ON     THE     BANK     CHARTER.  215 

but  all  corporations  enjoy  exclusive  privileges ;  that  is,  the  corpora- 
tors have  privileges  which  no  others  possess ;  if  you  create  fifty 
corporations  instead  of  one,  you  have  only  fifty  privileged  bodies 
instead  of  one.  I  contend,  that  the  states  have  the  exclusive  power 
to  regulate  contracts,  to  declare  the  capacities  and  incapacities  to 
contract,  and  to  provide  as  to  the  extent  of  responsibility  of  debtors 
to  their  creditors.  If  congress  have  the  power  to  erect  an  artificial 
body,  and  say  it  shall  be  endowed  with  the  attributes  of  an  indi- 
vidual ;  if  you  can  bestow  on  this  object  of  your  own  creation 
the  ability  to  contract,  may  you  not,  in  contravention  of  state 
rights,  confer  upon  slaves,  infants,  and  femes  covert  the  ability  to 
contract  ?  And  if  you  have  the  power  to  say,  that  an  association 
of  individuals  shall  be  responsible  for  their  debts  only  in  a  certain 
limited  degree,  what  is  to  prevent  an  extension  of  a  similar  exemp- 
tion to  individuals  ?  Where  is  the  limitation  upon  this  power  to 
set  up  corporations.  You  establish  one  in  the  heart  of  a  state,  the 
basis  of  whose  capital  is  money.  You  may  erect  others  whose 
capital  shall  consist  of  land,  slaves,  and  personal  estates,  and  thus 
the  whole  property  within  the  jurisdiction  of  a  state  might  be 
absorbed  by  these  political  bodies.  The  existing  bank  contends 
that  it  is  beyond  the  power  of  a  state  to  tax  it,  and  if  this  pretension 
be  well  founded,  it  is  in  the  power  of  congress,  by  chartering 
companies,  to  dry  up  all  the  sources  of  state  revenue.  Georgia 
has  undertaken,  it  is  true,  to  levy  a  tax  on  the  branch  within  her 
jurisdiction,  but  this  law,  now  under  a  course  of  litigation,  is 
considered  as  invalid.  The  United  States  own  a  great  deal  of 
land  in  the  state  of  Ohio  ;  can  this  government,  for  the  purpose  of 
creating  an  ability  to  purchase  it,  charter  a  company  ?  Aliens  are 
forbidden,  I  believe,  in  that  state,  to  hold  real  estate;  could  you,  in 
order  to  multiply  purchasers,  confer  upon  them  the  capacity  to  hold 
land,  in  derogation  of  the  local  law  ?  I  imagine  this  will  be  hardly 
insisted  upon;  and  yet  there  exists  a  more  obvious  connection  be- 
tween the  undoubted  power,  which  is  possessed  by  this  government, 
to  sell  its  land,  and  the  means  of  executing  that  power  by  increasing 
the  demand  in  the  market,  than  there  is  between  this  bank  and 
the  collection  of  a  tax.  This  government  has  the  power  to  levy 
taxes,  to  raise  armies,  provide  a  navy,  make  war,  regulate  commerce, 
coin  money,  &c.  &c.  It  would  not  be  difficult  to  show  as  intimate 
a  connection  between  a  corporation,  established  for  any  purpose 
whatever,  and  some  one  or  other  of  those  great  powers,  as  there  is 
between  the  revenue  and  the  bank  of  the  United  States. 

Let  us  inquire  into  the  actual  participation  of  this  bank  in  the 
collection  of  the  revenue.  Prior  to  the  passage  of  the  act  of  1800, 
requiring  the  collectors  of  those  ports  of  entry,  at  which  the 
principal  bank,  or  any  of  its  offices,  are  situated,  to  deposit  with 
them  the  custom-house  bonds,  it  had  not  the  smallest  agency  in 
the  collection  of  the  duties.     During  almost  one  moiety  of  the 


216  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

period  to  which  the  existence  of  this  institution  was  limited,  it  was 
nowise  instrumental  in  the  collection  of  that  revenue,  to  which  it  is 
now  become  indispensable !  The  collection,  previous  to  1S00,  was 
made  entirely  by  the  collectors ;  and  even  at  present,  where  there 
is  one  port  of  entry,  at  which  this  bank  is  employed,  there  are  eight 
or  ten  at  which  the  collection  is  made  as  it  was  before  1800.  And, 
sir,  what  does  this  bank  or  its  branches,  where  resort  is  had  to  it  ? 
It  does  not  adjust  with  the  merchant  the  amount  of  duty,  nor  take 
his  bond;  nor,  if  the  bond  is  not  paid,  coerce  the  payment  by 
distress  or  otherwise.  In  fact,  it  has  no  active  agency  whatever  in 
the  collection.  Its  operation  is  merely  passive ;  that  is,  if  the 
obligor,  after  his  bond  is  placed  in  the  bank,  discharges  it,  all  is 
very  well.  Such  is  the  mighty  aid  afforded  by  this  tax-gatherer, 
without  which  the  government  cannot  get  along!  Again,  it  is  not 
pretended  that  the  very  limited  assistance  which  this  institution 
does  in  truth  render,  extends  to  any  other  than  a  single  species  of 
tax,  that  is,  duties.  In  the  collection  of  the  excise,  the  direct  and 
other  internal  taxes,  no  aid  was  derived  from  any  bank.  It  is  true, 
in  the  collection  of  those  taxes,  the  former  did  not  obtain  the  same 
indulgence  which  the  merchant  receives  in  paying  duties.  But 
what  obliges  congress  to  give  credit  at  all  ?  Could  it  not  demand 
prompt  payment  of  the  duties?  And,  in  fact,  does  it  not  so 
demand  in  many  instances  ?  Whether  credit  is  given  or  not  is  a 
matter  merely  of  discretion.  If  it  be  a  facility  to  mercantile 
operations  (as  I  presume  it  is)  it  ought  to  be  granted.  But  I  deny 
the  right  to  engraft  upon  it  a  bank,  which  you  would  not  otherwise 
have  the  power  to  erect.  You  cannot  create  the  necessity  of  a 
bank,  and  then  plead  that  necessity  for  its  establishment.  In  the 
administration  of  the  finances,  the  bank  acts  simply  as  a  payer  and 
receiver.  The  secretary  of  the  treasury  has  money  in  New  York, 
and  wants  it  in  Charleston;  the  bank  will  furnish  him  wilh  a 
check,  or  bill,  to  make  the  remittance,  which  any  merchant  would 
do  just  as  well. 

I  will  now  proceed  to  show  by  fact,  actual  experience,  not 
theoretic  reasoning,  but  by  the  records  of  the  treasury  themselves, 
that  the  operations  of  that  department  may  be  as  well  conducted 
without  as  with  this  bank.  The  delusion  has  consisted  in  the  use 
of  certain  high-sounding  phrases,  dexterously  used  on  the  occasion; 

*  the  collection  of  the  revenue,'  '  the  administration  of  the  finance,' 

*  the  conducting  of  the  fiscal  affairs  of  the  government,'  the  usual 
language  of  the  advocates  of  the  bank,  extort  express  assent,  or 
awe  into  acquiescence,  without  inquiry  or  examination  into  its 
necessity.  About  the  commencement  of  this  year  there  appears, 
by  the  report  of  the  secretary  of  the  treasury,  of  the  seventh  of 
January,  to  have  been  a  little  upwards  of  two  million  and  four 
hundred  thousand  dollars  in  the  treasury  of  the  United  States ;  and 
more  than  one  third  of  this  whole  sum  was  in  the  vaults  of  local 


ON     THE     BANK     CHARTER.  217 

banks.  In  several  instances,  where  opportunities  existed  of  selecting 
the  bank,  a  preference  has  been  given  to  the  state  bank,  or  at  least  a 
portion  of  the  deposits  has  been  made  with  it.  In  New  York,  for 
example,  there  were  deposited  with  the  Manhattan  bank  one 
hundred  and  eighty-eight  thousand  and  six  hundred  and  seventy- 
dollars,  although  a  branch  bank  is  in  that  city.  In  this  district, 
one  hundred  and  fifteen  thousand  and  eighty  dollars  were  deposited 
with  the  bank  of  Columbia,  although  here  also  is  a  branch  bank, 
and  yet  the  state  banks  are  utterly  unsafe  to  be  trusted !  If  the 
money,  after  the  bonds  are  collected,  is  thus  placed  with  these 
banks,  I  presume  there  can  be  no  difficulty  in  placing  the  bonds 
themselves  there,  if  they  must  be  deposited  with  some  bank  for 
collection,  which  I  deny. 

Again,  one  of  the  most  important  and  complicated  branches  of 
the  treasury  department,  is  the  management  of  our  landed  system. 
The  sales  have,  in  some  years,  amounted  to  upwards  of  half  a 
million  of  dollars,  and  are  generally  made  upon  credit,  and  yet  no 
bank  whatever  is  made  use  of  to  facilitate  the  collection.  After  it 
is  made,  the  amount,  in  some  instances,  has  been  deposited  with 
banks,  and,  according  to  the  secretary's  report,  which  I  have  before 
adverted  to,  the  amount  so  deposited,  was,  in  January,  upwards  of 
three  hundred  thousand  dollars,  not  one  cent  of  which  was  in  the 
vaults  of  the  bank  of  the  United  States,  or  in  any  of  its  branches, 
but  in  the  bank  of  Pennsylvania,  its  branch  at  Pittsburgh,  the 
Marietta  bank,  and  the  Kentucky  bank.  Upon  the  point  of 
responsibility,  I  cannot  subscribe  to  the  opinion  of  the  secretary  of 
the  treasury,  if  it  is  meant  that  the  ability  to  pay  the  amount  of  any 
deposits  which  the  government  may  make,  under  any  exigency,  is 
greater  than  that  of  the  state  banks ;  that  the  accountability  of  a 
ramified  institution,  whose  affairs  are  managed  by  a  single  head, 
responsible  for  all  its  members,  is  more  simple  than  that  of  a 
number  of  independent  and  unconnected  establishments,  I  shall 
not  deny;  but,  with  regard  to  safety,  I  am  strongly  inclined  to 
think  it  is  on  the  side  of  the  local  banks.  The  corruption  or 
misconduct  of  the  parent,  or  any  of  its  branches,  may  bankrupt  or 
destroy  the  whole  system,  and  the  loss  of  the  government  in  that 
event,  will  be  of  the  deposits  made  with  each;  whereas,  in  the 
failure  of  one  state  bank,  the  loss  will  be  confined  to  the  deposit  in 
the  vault  of  that  bank.  It  is  said  to  have  been  a  part  of  Burr's 
plan  to  seize  on  the  branch  bank,  at  New  Orleans.  At  that  period 
large  sums,  imported  from  La  Vera  Cruz,  are  alleged  to  have 
been  deposited  with  it,  and  if  the  traitor  had  accomplished  the 
design,  the  bank  of  the  United  States,  if  not  actually  bankrupt, 
might  have  been  constrained  to  stop  payment. 

It  is  urged  by  the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  (Mr.  Lloyd), 
that  as  this  nation  advances  in  commerce,  wealth,  and  population, 
new  energies  will  be  unfolded,  new  wants  and  exigences  will  arise, 
vol.  t.  28 


218  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

and  hence  he  infers  that  powers  must  be  implied  from  the  consti- 
tution. But,  sir,  the  question  is,  shall  we  stretch  the  instrument  to 
embrace  cases  not  fairly  within  its  scope,  or  shall  we  resort  to  that 
remedy,  by  amendment,  which  the  constitution  prescribes  ? 

Gentlemen  contend,  that  the  construction  which  they  give  to  the 
constitution  has  been  acquiesced  in  by  all  parties  and  under  all 
administrations ;  and  they  rely  particularly  on  an  act  which  passed 
in  1804,  for  extending  a  branch  to  New  Orleans ;  and  another  act 
of  1807,  for  punishing  those  who  should  forge  or  utter  forged 
paper  of  the  bank.  With  regard  to  the  first  law,  passed,  no  doubt, 
upon  the  recommendation  of  the  treasury  department,  I  would 
remark,  that  it  was  the  extension  of  a  branch  to  a  territory  over 
which  congress  possesses  the  power  of  legislation  almost  uncon- 
trolled, and  where,  without  any  constitutional  impediment,  charters 
of  incorporation  may  be  granted.  As  to  the  other  act,  it  was 
passed  no  less  for  the  benefit  of  the  community  than  the  bank ;  to 
protect  the  ignorant  and  unwary  from  counterfeit  paper,  purporting 
to  have  been  emitted  by  the  bank.  "When  gentlemen  are  claiming 
the  advantage  supposed  to  be  deducible  from  acquiescence,  let  me 
inquire,  what  they  would  have  had  those  to  do,  who  believed  the 
establishment  of  a  bank  an  encroachment  upon  state  rights. 
Were  they  to  have  resisted,  and  how?  By  force?  Upon  the 
change  of  parties  in  1800,  it  must  be  well  recollected,  that  the 
greatest  calamities  were  predicted  as  a  consequence  of  that  event 
Intentions  were  ascribed  to  the  new  occupants  of  power,  of 
violating  the  public  faith,  and  prostrating  national  credit.  Under 
such  circumstances,  that  they  should  act  with  great  circumspection 
was  quite  natural.  They  saw  in  full  operation  a  bank,  chartered 
by  a  congress  who  had  as  much  right  to  judge  of  their  constitu- 
tional powers  as  their  successors.  Had  they  revoked  the  law 
which  gave  it  existence,  the  institution  would,  in  all  probability, 
have  continued  to  transact  business  notwithstanding.  The  judiciary 
would  have  been  appealed  to,  and,  from  the  known  opinions  and 
predilections  of  the  judges  then  composing  it,  they  would  have 
pronounced  the  act  of  incorporation,  as  in  the  nature  of  a  contract, 
beyond  the  repealing  power  of  any  succeeding  legislature.  And, 
sir,  what  a  scene  of  confusion  would  such  a  state  of  things  have 
presented ;  an  act  of  congress,  which  was  law  in  the  statute  book, 
and  a  nullity  on  the  judicial  records !  was  it  not  the  wisest  to  wait 
the  natural  dissolution  of  the  corporation  rather  than  accelerate 
that  event  by  a  repealing  law  involving  so  many  delicate  consid- 
erations ? 

When  gentlemen  attempt  to  carry  this  measure  upon  the  ground 
of  acquiescence  or  precedent,  do  they  forget  that  we  are  not  in 
Westminster  Hall?  In  courts  of  justice,  the  utility  of  uniform 
decision  exacts  of  the  judge  a  conformity  to  the  adjudication  of  his 
predecessor.     In  the  interpretation  and  administration  of  the  law, 


ON     THE     BANK     CHARTER.  219 

this  practice  is  wise  and  proper,  and  without  it,  every  thing 
depending  upon  the  caprice  of  the  judge,  we  should  have  no 
security  for  our  dearest  rights.  It  is  far  otherwise  when  applied  to 
the  source  of  legislation.  Here  no  rule  exists  but  the  constitution, 
and  to  legislate  upon  the  ground,  merely,  that  our  predecessors 
thought  themselves  authorized,  under  similar  circumstances,  to 
legislate,  is  to  sanctify  error  and  perpetuate  usurpation.  But  if  we 
are  to  be  subjected  to  the  trammels  of  precedent,  I  claim,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  benefit  of  the  restrictions  under  which  the  intelli- 
gent judge  cautiously  receives  them.  It  is  an  established  rule,  that 
to  give  to  a  previous  adjudication  any  effect,  the  mind  of  the  judge 
who  pronounced  it  must  have  been  awakened  to  the  subject,  and 
it  must  have  been  a  deliberate  opinion  formed  after  full  argument. 
In  technical  language,  it  must  not  have  been  sub  silentio.  Now 
the  acts  of  1804  and  1807,  relied  upon  as  pledges  for  the  recharter- 
ing  of  this  company,  passed  not  only  without  any  discussions  what- 
ever of  the  constitutional  power  of  congress  to  establish  a  bank, 
but,  I  venture  to  say,  without  a  single  member  having  had  his 
attention  drawn  to  this  question.  I  had  the  honor  of  a  seat  in  the 
senate  when  the  latter  law  passed,  probably  voted  for  it,  and  I 
declare,  with  the  utmost  sincerity,  that  I  never  once  thought  of  that 
point,  and  I  appeal  confidently  to  every  honorable  member  who 
was  then  present,  to  say  if  that  was  not  his  situation. 

This  doctrine  of  precedents,  applied  to  the  legislature,  appears 
to  me  to  be  fraught  with  the  most  mischievous  consequences.  The 
great  advantage  of  our  system  of  government  over  all  others,  is, 
that  we  have  a  written  constitution  defining  its  limits,  and 
prescribing  its  authorities;  and  that  however  for  a  time  faction 
may  convulse  the  nation,  and  passion  and  party  prejudice  sway  its 
functionaries,  the  season  of  reflection  will  recur,  when,  calmly 
retracing  their  deeds,  all  aberrations  from  fundamental  principle 
will  be  corrected.  But  once  substitute  practice  for  principle ;  the 
exposition  of  the  constitution  for  the  text  of  the  constitution,  and 
in  vain  shall  we  look  for  the  instrument  in  the  instrument  itself! 
It  will  be  as  diffused  and  intangible  as  the  pretended  constitution 
of  England ;  and  must  be  sought  for  in  the  statute  book,  in  the 
fugitive  journals  of  congress,  and  in  the  reports  of  the  secretary  of 
the  treasury !  What  would  be  our  condition,  if  we  were  to  take 
the  interpretations  given  to  that  sacred  book,  which  is,  or  ought  to 
be,  the  criterion  of  our  faith,  for  the  book  itself  ?  We  should  find 
the  holy  bible  buried  beneath  the  interpretations,  glosses,  and 
comments  of  councils,  synods,  and  learned  divines,  which  have 
produced  swarms  of  intolerant  and  furious  sects,  partaking  less  of 
the  mildness  and  meekness  of  their  origin,  than  of  a  vindictive 
spirit  of  hostility  towards  each  other!  They  ought  to  afford  us  a 
solemn  warning  to  make  that  constitution,  which  we  have  sworn 
to  support,  our  invariable  guide. 


220  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

I  conceive,  then,  sir,  that  we  were  not  empowered  by  the  consti- 
tution, nor  bound  by  any  practice  under  it,  to  renew  the  charter  of 
this  bank,  and  I  might  here  rest  the  argument.  But  as  there  are 
strong  objections  to  the  renewal  on  the  score  of  expediency,  and  as 
the  distresses  which  will  attend  the  dissolution  of  the  bank  have 
been  greatly  exaggerated,  I  will  ask  for  your  indulgence  for  a 
few  moments  longer.  That  some  temporary  inconvenience  will 
arise,  I  shall  not  deny;  but  most  groundlessly  have  the  recent 
failures  in  New  York  been  attributed  to  the  discontinuance  of  this 
bank.  As  well  might  you  ascribe  to  that  cause  the  failures  of 
Amsterdam  and  Hamburg,  of  London  and  Liverpool.  The 
embarrassments  of  commerce,  the  sequestrations  in  France,  the 
Danish  captures;  in  fine,  the  belligerent  edicts  are  the  obvious 
sources  of  these  failures.  Their  immediate  cause  is  the  return  of 
bills  upon  London,  drawn  upon  the  faith  of  unproductive  or 
unprofitable  shipments.  Yes,  sir,  the  protests  of  the  notaries  of 
London,  not  those  of  New  York,  have  occasioned  these  bank- 
ruptcies. 

The  power  of  a  nation  is  said  to  consist  in  the  sword  and  the 
purse.  Perhaps,  at  last,  all  power  is  resolvable  into  that  of  the 
purse,  for  with  it  you  may  command  almost  every  thing  else.  The 
specie  circulation  of  the  United  States  is  estimated  by  some 
calculators  at  ten  millions  of  dollars,  and  if  it  be  no  more,  one 
moiety  is  in  the  vaults  of  this  bank.  May  not  the  time  arrive, 
when  the  concentration  of  such  a  vast  portion  of  the  circulating 
medium  of  the  country  in  the  hands  of  any  corporation,  will  be 
dangerous  to  our  liberties?  By  whom  is  this  immense  power 
wielded?  By  a  body,  that,  in  derogation  of  the  great  principle 
of  all  our  institutions,  responsibility  to  the  people,  is  amenable 
only  to  a  few  stockholders,  and  they  chiefly  foreigners.  Suppose 
an  attempt  to  subvert  this  government ;  would  not  the  traitor  first 
aim,  by  force  or  corruption,  to  acquire  the  treasure  of  this  company? 
Look  at  it  in  another  aspect.  Seven  tenths  of  its  capital  are  in 
the  hands  of  foreigners,  and  these  foreigners  chiefly  English 
subjects.  We  are  possibly  on  the  eve  of  a  rupture  with  that 
nation.  Should  such  an  event  occur,  do  you  apprehend  that  the 
English  premier  would  experience  any  difficulty  in  obtaining  the 
entire  control  of  this  institution?  Republics,  above  all  other 
governments,  ought  most  seriously  to  guard  against  foreign  influ- 
ence. All  history  proves,  that  the  internal  dissensions  excited  by 
foreign  intrigue  have  produced  the  downfall  of  almost  every  free 
government  that  has  hitherto  existed ;  and  yet,  gentlemen  contend 
that  we  are  benefited  by  the  possession  of  this  foreign  capital !  If 
we  could  have  its  use,  without  its  attending  abuse,  I  should  be 
gratified  also.  But  it  is  in  vain  to  expect  the  one  without  the 
other.  Wealth  is  power,  and,  under  whatsoever  form  it  exists,  its 
proprietor,  whether  he  lives  on  this  or  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic, 


ON     THE     BANK     CHARTER.  221 

will  have  a  proportionate  influence.  It  is  argued,  that  our  posses- 
sion of  this  English  capital  gives  us  a  great  influence  over  the 
British  government.  If  this  reasoning  be  sound,  we  had  better 
revoke  the  interdiction  as  to  aliens  holding  land,  and  invite 
foreigners  to  engross  the  whole  property,  real  and  personal,  of  the 
country.  We  had  better,  at  once,  exchange  the  condition  of 
independent  proprietors  for  that  of  stewards.  We  should  then  be 
able  to  govern  foreign  nations,  according  to  the  reasoning  of  the 
gentlemen  on  the  other  side.  But  let  us  put  aside  this  theory  and 
appeal  to  the  decisions  of  experience.  Go  to  the  other  side  of  the 
Atlantic  and  see  what  has  been  achieved  for  us  there,  by  English- 
men holding  seven  tenths  of  the  capital  of  this  bank.  Has  it 
released  from  galling  and  ignominious  bondage  one  solitary  Amer- 
ican seaman,  bleeding  under  British  oppression  ?  Did  it  prevent 
the  unmanly  attack  upon  the  Chesapeake?  Did  it  arrest,  the 
promulgation,  or  has  it  abrogated  the  orders  in  council — those 
orders  which  have  given  birth  to  a  new  era  in  commerce  ?  In  spite 
of  all  its  boasted  effect,  are  not  the  two  nations  brought  to  the  very 
brink  of  war?  Are  we  quite  sure,  that,  on  this  side  of  the  water, 
it  has  had  no  effect  favorable  to  British  interests.  It  has  often  been 
stated,  and  although  I  do  not  know  that  it  is  susceptible  of  strict 
proof,  I  believe  it  to  be  a  fact,  that  this  bank  exercised  its  influence 
in  support  of  Jay's  treaty;  and  may  it  not  have  contributed  to 
blunt  the  public  sentiment,  or  paralyse  the  efforts  of  this  nation 
against  British  aggression. 

The  duke  of  Northumberland  is  said  to  be  the  most  considerable 
stockholder  in  the  bank  of  the  United  States.  A  late  lord  chan- 
cellor of  England,  besides  other  noblemen,  was  a  large  stockholder. 
Suppose  the  prince  of  Essling,  the  duke  of  Cadore,  and  other 
French  dignitaries,  owned  seven  eighths  of  the  capital  of  this  bank, 
should  we  witness  the  same  exertions  (I  allude  not  to  any  made  in 
the  senate)  to  recharter  it  ?  So  far  from  it,  would  not  the  danger 
of  French  influence  be  resounded  throughout  the  nation? 

I  shall,  therefore,  give  my  most  hearty  assent  to  the  motion  for 
striking  out  the  first  section  of  the  bill. 


ON  THE  AUGMENTATION  OE  MILITARY  FORCE, 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES, 
DECEMBER  31,  1811. 


[  In  our  biographical  sketch,  we  have  mentioned,  that  Mr.  Clay,  having  left  the 
senate  of  the  United  States  in  181 1,  was  the  same  year  elected  to  the  house  of  repre- 
sentatives, where  he  took  his  seat,  and  was  chosen  speaker  of  that  body  on  the 
opening  of  the  session.  This  took  place  at  an  eventful  period  in  our  national  history. 
The  numerous  and  aggravated  wrongs  which  the  nation  had  sustained  and  endured  for 
years,  both  from  France  and  England,  but  more  especially  from  the  latter,  had  aroused 
the  attention  of  the  whole  country.  The  celebrated  orders  in  council,  the  impress- 
ment of  our  seamen,  and  the  right  of  searching  our  vessels,  claimed  and  exercised 
by  Great  Britain,  had  prepared  the  people  to  expect  that  some  decisive  steps  would 
be  taken  by  their  representatives  in  congress.  In  accordance  with  public  sentiment, 
president  Madison  transmitted,  November  fourth,  1811,  a  message  to  congress,  recom- 
mending appropriate  measures  for  the  vindication  of  our  national  honor,  and  the 
redress  of  our  violated  rights.  The  political  parties,  however,  into  which  the  people 
were  divided,  differed  widely  as  to  the  course  to  be  pursued  in  our  foreign  relations. 
The  opposition  to  the  administration  numbered  many  eminent  men,  among  whom 
the  most  talented  and  troublesome  was  John  Randolph,  of  Virginia  ;  his  intellectual 
powers  at  this  juncture  being  in  full  force  and  vigor.  The  committee  on  foreign 
relitions  proposed  an  immediate  increase  of  the  military  force,  and  accordingly  a  bill 
passed,  to  raise  thirteen  additional  regiments  for  the  public  service.  It  was  the 
consideration  of  this  measure,  which  induced  Mr.  Clay  to  address  the  house,  when  in 
committee  of  the  whole,  as  follows.  ] 


Mr.  Clay  (the  speaker)  said,  that  when  the  subject  of  this  bill 
was  before  the  house  in  the  abstract  form  of  a  resolution,  proposed 
by  the  committee  of  foreign  relations,  it  was  the  pleasure  of  the 
house  to  discuss  it  whilst  he  was  in  the  chair.  He  did  not  com- 
plain of  this  course  of  proceeding;  for  he  did  not  at  any  time 
wish  the  house,  from  considerations  personal  to  him,  to  depart 
from  that  mode  of  transacting  the  public  business  which  they 
thought  best.  He  merely  adverted  to  the  circumstance  as  an 
apology  for  the  trouble  he  was  about  to  give  the  committee.  He 
was  at  all  times  disposed  to  take  his  share  of  responsibility,  and 
under  this  impression,  he  felt  that  he  owed  it  to  his  constituents 
and  to  himself,  before  the  committee  rose,  to  submit  to  their  atten- 
tion a  few  observations. 

He  saw  with  regret  a  diversity  of  opinion  amongst  those  who 
had  the  happiness  generally  to  act  together,  in  relation  to  the 
quantum  of  force  proposed  to  be  raised.  For  his  part,  he  thought 
it  was  too  great  for  peace,  and  he  feared  too  small  for  war.     He 


AUGMENTATION     OF     MILITARY     FORCE.  223 

had  been  in  favor  of  the  number  recommended  by  the  senate,  and 
he  would  ask  gentlemen,  who  had  preferred  fifteen  thousand,  to  take 
a  candid  and  dispassionate  view  of  the  subject.  It  was  admitted,  on 
all  hands,  that  it  was  a  force  to  be  raised  for  the  purposes  of  war, 
and  to  be  kept  up  and  used  only  in  the  event  of  war.  It  was 
further  conceded,  that  its  principal  destination  would  be  the 
provinces  of  our  enemy.  By  the  bill  which  had  been  passed,  to 
complete  the  peace  establishment,  we  had  authorized  the  collection  of 
a  force  of  about  six  thousand  men,  exclusive  of  those  now  in  service, 
which,  with  the  twenty-five  thousand  provided  for  by  this  bill,  will 
give  an  aggregate  of  new  troops  of  thirty-one  thousand  men. 
Experience  in  military  affairs,  has  shown,  that  when  any  given 
number  of  men  is  authorized  to  be  raised,  you  must,  in  counting 
upon  the  effective  men  which  it  will  produce,  deduct  one  fourth  or 
one  third  for  desertion,  sickness,  and  other  incidents  to  which  raw 
troops  are  peculiarly  exposed.  In  measures  relating  to  war,  it  is 
wisest,  if  you  err  at  all,  to  err  on  the  side  of  the  largest  force,  and 
you  will  consequently  put  down  your  thirty-one  thousand  men 
at  not  more  than  an  effective  force  in  the  field  of  about  twenty- 
one  thousand.  This,  with  the  four  thousand  now  in  service,  will 
amount  to  twenty-five  thousand  effective  men.  The  secretary  of 
war  has  stated,  in  his  report,  that,  for  the  single  purpose  of  manning 
your  forts  and  garrisons  on  the  sea-board,  twelve  thousand  and  six 
hundred  men  are  necessary.  Although  the  whole  of  that  number 
will  not  be  taken  from  the  twenty-five  thousand,  a  portion  of  it, 
probably,  wTill  be.  We  are  told,  that  in  Canada,  there  are  between 
seven  and  eight  thousand  regular  troops.  If  it  is  invaded,  the 
whole  of  that  force  will  be  concentrated  in  Quebec,  and  would 
you  attempt  that  almost  impregnable  fortress,  with  less  than  double 
the  force  of  the  besieged?  Gentlemen  who  calculate  upon  volun- 
teers as  a  substitute  for  regulars,  ought  not  to  deceive  themselves. 
No  man  appreciated  higher  than  he  did  the  spirit  of  the  country. 
But,  although  volunteers  were  admirably  adapted  to  the  first  opera- 
tions of  the  war,  to  the  making  of  a  first  impression,  he  doubted 
their  fitness  for  a  regular  siege,  or  for  the  manning  and  garrisoning 
of  forts.  He  understood  it  was  a  rule  in  military  affairs,  never  to 
leave  in  the  rear  a  place  of  any  strength  undefended.  Canada  is 
invaded ;  the  upper  part  falls,  and  you  proceed  to  Quebec.  It  is 
true  there  would  be  no  European  army  behind  to  be  apprehended: 
but  the  people  of  the  country  might  rise  ;  and  he  warned  gentle- 
men who  imagined  that  the  affections  of  the  Canadians  were  with 
us,  against  trusting  too  confidently  on  such  a  calculation,  the  basis 
of  which  was  treason.  He  concluded,  therefore,  that  a  portion  of 
the  invading  army  would  be  distributed  in  the  upper  country,  after 
its  conquest,  amongst  the  places  susceptible  of  military  strength 
and  defence.  The  army,  considerably  reduced,  sets  itself  down 
before  Quebec.     Suppose  it  falls.     Here  again  will  be  required  a 


224  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

number  of  men  to  hold  and  defend  it.  And  if  the  war  be 
prosecuted  still  further,  and  the  lower  country  and  Halifax  be 
assailed,  he  conceived  it  obvious,  that  the  whole  force  of  twenty- 
five  thousand  men  would  not  be  too  great. 

The  difference  between  those  who  were  for  fifteen  thousand,  and 
those  who  were  for  twenty-five  thousand  men,  appeared  to  him  to 
resolve  itself  into  the  question,  merely,  of  a  short  or  protracted  war ; 
a  war  of  vigor,  or  a  war  of  languor  and  imbecility.  If  a  competent 
force  be  raised  in  the  first  instance,  the  war  on  the  continent  will 
be  speedily  terminated.  He  was  aware  that  it  might  still  rage  on 
the  ocean.  But  where  the  nation  could  act  with  unquestionable 
success,  he  was  in  favor  of  the  display  of  an  energy  correspondent 
to  the  feelings  and  spirit  of  \the  country.  Suppose  one  third  of  the 
force  he  had  mentioned  (twenty-five  thousand  men)  could  reduce 
the  country,  say  in  three  years,  and  that  the  whole  could  accomplish 
the  same  object  in  one  year;  taking  into  view  the  greater  hazard 
of  the  repulsion  and  defeat  of  the  small  force,  and  every  other 
consideration,  do  not  wisdom  and  true  economy  equally  decide  in 
favor  of  the  larger  force,  and  thus  prevent  failure  in  consequence 
of  inadequate  means?  He  begged  gentlemen  to  recollect  the 
immense  extent  of  the  United  States ;  our  vast  maritime  frontier, 
vulnerable  in  almost  all  its  parts  to  predatory  incursions,  and  he 
was  persuaded,  they  would  see  that  a  regular  force,  of  twenty-five 
thousand  men,  was  not  much  too  great  daring  a  period  of  war,  if 
all  designs  of  invading  the  provinces  of  the  enemy  were  abandoned. 

Mr.  Clay  proceeded  next  to  examine  the  nature  of  the  force 
contemplated  by  the  bill.  It  was  a  regular  army,  enlisted  for  a 
limited  time,  raised  for  the  sole  purpose  of  war,  and  to  be  disbanded 
on  the  return  of  peace.  Against  this  army,  all  our  republican 
jealousies  and  apprehensions  are  attempted  to  be  excited.  He  was 
not  the  advocate  of  standing  armies;  but  the  standing  armies 
which  excite  most  his  fears,  are  those  which  are  kept  up  in  time  of 
peace.  He  confessed,  he  did  not  perceive  any  real  source  of 
danger  in  a  military  force  of  twenty-five  thousand  men  in  the 
United  States,  provided  only  for  a  state  of  war,  even  supposing  it  to 
be  corrupted,  and  its  arms  turned,  by  the  ambition  of  its  leaders, 
against  the  freedom  of  the  country.  He  saw  abundant  security 
against  the  success  of  any  such  treasonable  attempt.  The  diffusion 
of  political  information  amongst  the  great  body  of  the  people, 
constituted  a  powerful  safeguard.  The  American  character  has 
been  much  abused  by  Europeans,  whose  tourists,  whether  on 
horse  or  foot,  in  verse  and  prose,  have  united  in  depreciating  it.  It 
is  true,  that  we  do  not  exhibit  as  many  signal  instances  of  scientific 
acquirement  in  this  country  as  are  furnished  in  the  old  world;  but 
he  believed  it  undeniable,  that  the  great  mass  of  the  people 
possessed  more  intelligence  than  any  other  people  on  the  globe. 
Such  a  people,  consisting  of  upwards  of  seven  millions,  affording 


AUGMENTATION     OF     MILITARY     FORCE.  225 

a  physical  power  of  about  a  million  of  men,  capable  of  bearing 
arms,  and  ardently  devoted  to  liberty,  could  not  be  subdued  by  an 
army  of  twenty-five  thousand  men.  The  wide  extent  of  country 
over  which  we  are  spread,  was  another  security.  In  other  countries, 
France  and  England,  for  example,  the  fall  of  Paris  or  London,  is 
the  fall  of  the  nation.  Here  are  no  such  dangerous  aggregations 
of  people.  New  York,  and  Philadelphia,  and  Boston,  and  every 
city  on  the  Atlantic,  might  be  subdued  by  an  usurper,  and  he  would 
have  made  but  a  small  advance  in  the  accomplishment  of  his 
purpose.  He  would  add  a  still  more  improbable  supposition,  that 
the  country  east  of  the  Allegany,  was  to  submit  to  the  ambition  of 
some  daring  chief,  and  he  insisted  that  the  liberty  of  the  union 
would  be  still  unconquered.  It  would  find  successful  support 
from  the  west.  We  are  not  only  in  the  situation  just  described,  but  a 
great  portion  of  the  militia  —  nearly  the  whole,  he  understood,  of 
that  of  Massachusetts  —  have  arms  in  their  hands ;  and  he  trusted 
in  God,  that  that  great  object  would  be  persevered  in,  until  every 
man  in  the  nation  could  proudly  shoulder  the  musket,  which  was 
to  defend  his  country  and  himself.  A  people  having,  besides  ihe 
benefit  of  one  general  government,  other  local  governments  in  full 
operation,  capable  of  exerting  and  commanding  great  portions  of 
the  physical  power,  all  of  which  must  be  prostrated  before  our 
constitution  is  subverted.  Such  a  people  have  nothing  to  fear  from 
a  petty  contemptible  force  of  twenty-five  thousand  regulars. 

Mr.  Clay  proceeded,  more  particularly,  to  inquire  into  the  object 
of  the  force.  That  object  he  understood  distinctly  to  be  war,  and 
war  with  Great  Britain.  It  had  been  supposed,  by  some  gentle- 
men, improper  to  discuss  publicly  so  delicate  a  question.  He  did 
not  feel  the  impropriety.  It  was  a  subject  in  its  nature  incapable 
of  concealment.  Even  in  countries  where  the  powers  of  govern- 
ment were  conducted  by  a  single  ruler,  it  was  almost  impossible 
for  that  ruler  to  conceal  his  intentions  when  he  meditates  war. 
The  assembling  of  armies,  the  strengthening  of  posts ;  all  the 
movements  preparatory  to  war,  and  which  it  is  impossible  to 
disguise,  unfolded  the  intentions  of  the  sovereign.  Does  Russia 
or  France  intend  war,  the  intention  is  almost  invariably  known 
before  the  war  is  commenced.  If  congress  were  to  pass  a  law, 
with  closed  doors,  for  raising  an  army  for  the  purpose  of  war,  its 
enlistment  and  organization,  which  could  not  be  done  in  secret, 
would  indicate  the  use  to  which  it  was  to  be  applied ;  and  we 
cannot  suppose  England  would  be  so  blind,  as  not  to  see  that  she 
was  aimed  at.  Nor  could  she,  did  she  apprehend,  injure  us  more 
by  thus  knowing  our  purposes,  than  if  she  were  kept  in  ignorance 
of  them.  She  may,  indeed,  anticipate  us,  and  commence  the  war. 
But  that  is  what  she  is  in  fact  doing,  and  she  can  add  but  little  to 
the  injury  which  she  is  inflicting.  If  she  choose  to  declare  war  in 
form,  let  her  do  so,  the  responsibility  will  be  with  her. 
vol.  i.  29 


226  SPEECHES     OF      HENRY     CLAY. 

What  are  we  to  gain  by  the  war  ?  has  been  emphatically  asked. 
In  reply,  he  would  ask,  what  are  we  not  to  lose  by  peace  ?  Com- 
merce, character,  a  nation's  best  treasure,  honor!  If  pecuniary 
considerations  alone  are  to  govern,  there  is  sufficient  motive  for 
the  war.  Our  revenue  is  reduced,  by  the  operation  of  the  bellige- 
rent edicts,  to  about  six  millions  of  dollars,  according  to  the 
secretary  of  the  treasury's  report.  The  year  preceding  the  embargo 
it  was  sixteen.  Take  away  the  orders  in  council,  it  will  again 
mount  up  to  sixteen  millions.  By  continuing,  therefore,  in  peace, 
(if  the  mongrel  state  in  which  we  are  deserve  that  denomination,) 
we  lose  annually  in  revenue  alone  ten  millions  of  dollars.  Gentle- 
men will  say,  repeal  the  law  of  non-importation.  He  contended, 
that,  if  the  United  States,  were  capable  of  that  perfidy,  the  revenue 
would  not  be  restored  to  its  former  state,  the  orders  in  council 
continuing.  Without  an  export  trade,  which  those  orders  prevent, 
inevitable  ruin  would  ensue,  if  we  imported  as  freely  as  we  did 
prior  to  the  embargo.  A  nation  that  carries  on  an  import  trade, 
without  an  export  trade  to  support  it,  must,  in  the  end,  be  as 
certainly  bankrupt,  as  the  individual  would  be,  who  incurred  an 
annual  expenditure  without  an  income. 

He  had  no  disposition  to  magnify  or  dwell  upon  the  catalogue 
of  injuries  we  had  received  from  England.  He  could  not,  how- 
ever, overlook  the  impressment  of  our  seamen  — an  aggression 
upon  which  he  never  reflected,  without  feelings  of  indignation, 
which  would  not  allow  him  appropriate  language  to  describe  its 
enormity.  Not  content  with  seizing  upon  all  our  property  which 
falls  within  her  rapacious  grasp,  the  personal  rights  of  our  country- 
men—  rights  which  forever  ought  to  be  sacred — are  trampled 
upon  and  violated.  The  orders  in  council  were  pretended  to  have 
been  reluctantly  adopted,  as  a  measure  of  retaliation.  The  French 
decrees,  their  alleged  basis,  are  revoked.  England  resorts  to  the 
expedient  of  denying  the  fact  of  the  revocation,  and  Sir  William 
Scott,  in  the  celebrated  case  of  Fox  and  others,  suspends  judgment 
that  proof  may  be  adduced  to  it.  At  the  same  moment,  when  the 
British  ministry,  through  that  judge,  is  thus  affecting  to  controvert 
that  fact,  and  to  place  the  release  of  our  property  upon  its  estab- 
lishment, instructions  are  prepared  for  Mr.  Foster,  to  meet  at 
Washington  the  very  revocation  which  they  were  contesting.  And 
how  does  he  meet  it?  By  fulfilling  the  engagement  solemnly 
made  to  rescind  the  orders  ?  No,  sir ;  but  by  demanding  that  we 
shall  secure  the  introduction,  into  the  continent,  of  British  manu- 
factures ! 

England  is  said  to  be  fighting  for  the  world,  and  shall  we,  it  is 
asked,  attempt  to  weaken  her  exertions  ?  If,  indeed,  the  aim  of  the 
French  emperor  be  universal  dominion,  (and  he  was  willing  to 
ajlow  it  to  the  argument,)  how  much  nobler  a  cause  is  presented  to 
British   valor!      But   how   is   her   philanthropic    purpose    to    be 


AUGMENTATION     OF     MILITARY     FORCE.  227 

achieved?  By  a  scrupulous  observance  of  the  rights  of  others, 
by  respecting  that  code  of  public  law  which  she  professes  to 
vindicate,  and  by  abstaining  from  self-aggrandizement.  Then 
would  she  command  the  sympathies  of  the  world.  What  are  we 
required  to  do  by  those  who  would  engage  our  feelings  and  wishes 
in  her  behalf?  To  bear  the  actual  cuffs  of  her  arrogance,  that  we 
may  escape  a  chimerical  French  subjugation!  We  are  invited, 
conjured,  to  drink  the  potion  of  British  poison,  actually  presented 
to  our  lips,  that  we  may  avoid  the  imperial  dose  prepared  by 
perturbed  imaginations.  We  are  called  upon  to  submit  to  debase- 
ment, dishonor,  and  disgrace ;  to  bow  the  neck  to  royal  insolence, 
as  a  course  of  preparation  for  manly  resistance  to  gallic  invasion ! 
What  nation,  what  individual,  was  ever  taught,  in  the  schools  of 
ignominious  submission,  these  patriotic  lessons  of  freedom  and 
independence  ?  Let  those  who  contend  for  this  humiliating 
doctrine,  read  its  refutation  in  the  history  of  the  very  man  against 
whose  insatiable  thirst  of  dominion  we  are  warned.  The  expe- 
rience of  desolated  Spain,  for  the  last  fifteen  years,  is  worth  volumes. 
Did  she  find  her  repose  and  safety  in  subserviency  to  the  will  of 
that  man?  Had  she  boldly  stood  forth  and  repelled  the  first 
attempt  to  dictate  to  her  councils,  her  monarch  would  not  be  now 
a  miserable  captive  in  Marseilles.  Let  us  come  home  to  our  own 
history ;  it  was  not  by  submission  that  our  fathers  achieved  our 
independence.  The  patriotic  wisdom  that  placed  you,  Mr.  Chair- 
man, under  that  canopy,  penetrated  the  designs  of  a  corrupt 
ministry,  and  nobly  fronted  encroachment  on  its  first  appearance. 
It  saw,  beyond  the  petty  taxes  with  which  it  commenced,  a  long 
train  of  oppressive  measures,  terminating  in  the  total  annihilation 
of  liberty,  and,  contemptible  as  they  were,  it  did  not  hesitate  to 
resist  them.  Take  the  experience  of  the  last  four  or  five  years, 
which  he  was  sorry  to  say  exhibited,  in  appearance,  at  least,  a 
different  kind  of  spirit.  He  did  not  wish  to  view  the  past,  further 
than  to  guide  us  for  the  future.  We  were  but  yesterday  contend- 
ing for  the  indirect  trade  ;  the  right  to  export  to  Europe  the  coffee 
and  sugar  of  the  West  Indies.  To-day  we  are  asserting  our  claim 
to  the  direct  trade;  the  right  to  export  our  cotton,  tobacco,  and 
other  domestic  produce,  to  market.  Yield  this  point,  and  to-mor- 
row intercourse  between  New  York  and  New  Orleans,  between 
the  planters  on  James  river  and  Richmond,  will  be  interdicted. 
For,  sir,  the  career  of  encroachment  is  never  arrested  by  submis- 
sion. It  will  advance  while  there  remains  a  single  privilege  on 
which  it  can  operate.  Gentlemen  say,  that  this  government  is 
unfit  for  any  war,  but  a  war  of  invasion.  What,  is  it  not  equiva- 
lent to  invasion,  if  the  mouths  of  our  harbors  and  outlets  are 
blocked  up,  and  we  are  denied  egress  from  our  own  waters  ?  Or, 
when  the  burglar  is  at  our  door,  shall  we  bravely  sally  forth  and 
repel  his  felonious  entrance,  or  meanly  skulk  within  the  cells  of 
the  castle  ? 


228  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

He  contended,  that  the  real  cause  of  British  aggression  was,  not 
to  distress  an  enemy,  but  to  destroy  a  rival.  A  comparative  view  of 
our  commerce  with  that  of  England  and  the  continent,  would  satisfy 
any  one  of  the  truth  of  this  remark.  Prior  to  the  embargo,  the 
balance  of  trade  between  this  country  and  England  was  between 
eleven  and  fifteen  millions  of  dollars  in  favor  of  England.  Our 
consumption  of  her  manufactures  was  annually  increasing,  and 
had  risen  to  nearly  fifty  millions  of  dollars.  We  exported  to  her 
what  she  most  wanted,  provisions  and  raw  materials  for  her 
manufactures,  and  received  in  return  what  she  was  most  desirous 
to  sell.  Our  exports  to  France,  Holland,  Spain,  and  Italy,  taking 
an  average  of  the  years  1802,  1803,  and  1804,  amounted  to  about 
twelve  million  dollars  of  domestic,  and  about  eighteen  million 
dollars  of  foreign  produce.  Our  imports  from  the  same  countries, 
amounted  to  about  twenty-five  million  dollars.  The  foreign  pro- 
duce exported,  consisted  chiefly  of  luxuries,  from  the  West  Indies. 
It  is  apparent  that  this  trade,  the  balance  of  which  was  in  favor,  not 
of  France,  but  of  the  United  States,  was  not  of  very  vital  conse- 
quence to  the  enemy  of  England.  Would  she,  therefore,  for  the 
sole  purpose  of  depriving  her  adversary  of  this  commerce,  relin- 
quish her  valuable  trade  with  this  country,  exhibiting  the  essential 
balance  in  her  favor;  nay,  more,  hazard  the  peace  of  the  country? 
No,  sir;  you  must  look  for  an  explanation  of  her  conduct  in  the 
jealousies  of  a  rival.  She  sickens  at  your  prosperity,  and  beholds, 
in  your  growth — your  sails  spread  on  every  ocean,  and  your 
numerous  seamen — the  foundations  of  a  power  which,  at  no  very 
distant  day,  is  to  make  her  tremble  for  her  naval  superiority.  He 
had  omitted  before  to  notice  the  loss  of  our  seamen,  if  we 
continued  in  our  present  situation.  What  would  become  of  the 
one  hundred  thousand  (for  he  understood  there  was  about  that 
number)  in  the  American  service  ?  Would  they  not  leave  us 
and  seek  employment  abroad,  perhaps  in  the  very  country  that 
injures  us? 

It  is  said,  that  the  effect  of  the  war  at  home,  will  be  a  change  of 
those  who  administer  the  government,  who  will  be  replaced  by 
others  that  will  make  a  disgraceful  peace.  He  did  not  believe  it. 
Not  a  man  in  the  nation  could  really  doubt  the  sincerity  with 
which  those  in  power  have  sought,  by  all  honorable  and  pacific 
means,  to  protect  the  interests  of  the  country.  When  the  people 
saw  exercised  towards  both  belligerents  the  utmost  impartiality; 
witnessed  the  same  equal  terms  tendered  to  both ;  and  beheld  the 
government  successively  embracing  an  accommodation  with  each, 
in  exactly  the  same  spirit  of  amity,  he  was  fully  persuaded,  now 
that  war  was  the  only  alternative  left  to  us,  by  the  injustice  of  one 
of  the  powers,  that  the  support  and  confidence  of  the  people  would 
remain  undiminished.  He  was  one,  however,  who  was  prepared 
(and  he  would  not  believe  that  he  was  more  so  than  any  other 


AUGMENTATION     OF     MILITARY     FORCE.  229 

member  of  the  committee)  to  march  on  in  the  road  of  his  duty,  at 
all  hazards.  What!  shall  it  be  said,  that  our  amor patr ice  is  located 
at  these  desks ;  that  we  pusillanimously  cling  to  our  seats  here, 
rather  than  boldly  vindicate  the  most  inestimable  rights  of  the 
country  ?  Whilst  the  heroic  Daviess,  and  his  gallant  associates, 
exposed  to  all  the  dangers  of  treacherous  savage  warfare,  are 
sacrificing  themselves  for  the  good  of  their  country,  shall  we 
shrink  from  our  duty? 

He  concluded,  by  hoping  that  his  remarks  had  tended  to  prove 
that  the  quantum  of  the  force  required  was  not  too  great,  that  in 
its  nature  it  was  free  from  the  objections  urged  against  it,  and  that 
the  object  of  its  application  was  one  imperiously  called  for  by  the 
present  peculiar  crisis. 


ON  THE  INCREASE  OF  THE  NAVY. 

IN  THE   HOUSE   OF   REPRESENTATIVES,  JANUARY  22,  1812. 


[The  bill  making  provisions  for  the  general  repair  and  increase  of  the  Navy, 
followed  the  preceding  measure  for  augmenting  the  army.  During  Mr.  Jefferson's 
administration,  the  Navy  had  been  unpopular  with  the  democratic  party,  and  the 
policy  of  reducing  that  branch  of  the  national  force  had  been  pursued,  in  opposition 
to  the  former  course,  adopted  by  the  administration  of  John  Adams.  Many  of  the 
democratic  supporters  of  Mr  Madison's  administration,  still  adhered  to  the  policy  of 
Mr.  Jefferson;  while  Mr.  Clay,  Mr.  Cheves,  and  other  members  of  that  party,  saw  the 
importance  of  sustaining  the  navy,  in  prospect  of  war.  Among  the  arguments  in 
opposition  to  the  bill,  now  introduced,  it  was  insisted  that  the  fitting  out  of  naval 
armaments  would  require  a  pecuniary  expenditure  which  the  people  were  not 
prepared  to  meet.  The  bill  contained  a  section,  providing  for  new  frigates,  leaving  a 
blank  for  the  number.  Mr.  Cheves  (of  South  Carolina)  moved  to  fill  the  blank  with 
ten.  Mr.  Rhea  (of  Tennessee)  moved  to  strike  out  this  section  of  the  bill.  In 
committee  of  the  whole,  a  warm  debate  ensued.  Mr.  Clay,  in  the  following  speech, 
sustained  the  proposition  of  Mr.  Cheves,  and  the  motion  to  strike  out  was  rejected, 
by  a  vote  of  fifty-two  to  forty-seven.  An  appropriation  was  made,  and  the  Navy 
fitted  out  with  despatch.  The  result  is  known  by  the  naval  victories,  which,  in  less 
than  two  years,  crowned  this  right  arm  of  the  nation  with  glory,  and  gave  it  an 
enduring  popularity  with  the  people.] 


Mr.  Clay  (the  speaker)  rose  to  present  his  views  on  the  bill 
before  the  committee.  He  said,  as  he  did  not  precisely  agree  in 
opinion  with  any  gentleman  who  had  spoken,  he  should  take  the 
liberty  of  detaining  the  committee  a  few  moments,  while  he  offered 
to  their  attention  some  observations.  He  was  highly  gratified  with 
the  temper  and  ability  with  which  the  discussion  had  hitherto  been 
conducted.  It  was  honorable  to  the  house,  and,  he  trusted,  would 
continue  to  be  manifested  on  many  future  occasions. 

On  this  interesting  topic  a  diversity  of  opinion  has  existed, 
almost  ever  since  the  adoption  of  the  present  government.  On  the 
one  hand,  there  appeared  to  him  to  have  been  attempts  made  to 
precipitate  the  nation  into  all  the  evils  of  naval  extravagance, 
which  had  been  productive  of  so  much  mischief  in  other  countries; 
and,  on  the  other,  strongly  feeling  this  mischief,  there  has  existed 
an  unreasonable  prejudice  against  providing  such  a  competent 
naval  protection,  for  our  commercial  and  maritime  rights,  as  is 
demanded  by  their  importance,  and  as  the  increased  resources  of 
the  country  amply  justify. 


ON  THE  INCREASE  OF  THE  NAVY.        231 

The  attention  of  congress  has  been  invited  to  this  subject  by  the 
president,  in  his  message,  delivered  at  the  opening  of  the  session. 
Indeed,  had  it  been  wholly  neglected  by  the  chief  magistrate,  from 
the  critical  situation  of  the  country,  and  the  nature  of  the  rights 
proposed  to  be  vindicated,  it  must  have  pressed  itself  upon  our 
attention.  But,  said  Mr.  Clay,  the  president,  in  his  message, 
observes:  'your  attention  will,  of  course,  be  drawn  to  such 
provisions  on  the  subject  of  our  naval  force,  as  may  be  required 
for  the  service  to  which  it  is  best  adapted.  I  submit  to  congress 
the  seasonableness,  also,  of  an  authority  to  augment  the  stock  of 
such  materials  as  are  imperishable  in  their  nature,  or  may  not,  at 
once,  be  attainable?'  The  president,  by  this  recommendation, 
clearly  intimates  an  opinion,  that  the  naval  force  of  this  country  is 
capable  of  producing  effect;  and  the  propriety  of  laying  up 
imperishable  materials,  was  no  doubt  suggested  for  the  purpose 
of  making  additions  to  the  navy,  as  convenience  and  exigences 
might  direct. 

It  appeared  to  Mr.  Clay  a  little  extraordinary,  that  so  much,  as  it 
seemed  to  him,  unreasonable  jealousy,  should  exist  against  the 
naval  establishment.  If,  said  he,  we  look  back  to  the  period  of  the 
formation  of  the  constitution,  it  will  be  found  that  no  such  jealousy 
was  then  excited.  In  placing  the  physical  force  of  the  nation  at 
the  disposal  of  congress,  the  convention  manifested  much  greater 
apprehension  of  abuse  in  the  power  given  to  raise  armies,  than  in 
that  to  provide  a  navy.  In  reference  to  the  navy,  congress  is  put 
under  no  restrictions ;  but  with  respect  to  the  army,  that  description 
of  force  which  has  been  so  often  employed  to  subvert  the  liberties 
of  mankind,  they  are  subjected  to  limitations  designed  to  prevent 
the  abuse  of  this  dangerous  power.  But  it  was  not  his  intention 
to  detain  the  committee,  by  a  discussion  on  the  comparative  utility 
and  safety  of  these  two  kinds  of  force.  He  would,  however,  be 
indulged  in  saying,  that  he  thought  gentlemen  had  wholly  failed  in 
maintaining  the  position  they  had  assumed,  that  the  fall  of  mari- 
time powers  was  attributable  to  their  navies.  They  have  told  you, 
indeed,  that  Carthage,  Genoa,  Venice,  and  other  nations,  had 
navies,  and,  notwithstanding,  were  finally  destroyed.  But  have 
they  shown,  by  a  train  of  argument,  that  their  overthrow  was,  in 
any  degree,  attributable  to  their  maritime  greatness?  Have  they 
attempted,  even,  to  show  that  there  exists  in  the  nature  of  this 
power  a  necessary  tendency  to  destroy  the  nation  using  it? 
Assertion  is  substituted  for  argument;  inferences  not  authorized 
by  historical  facts  are  arbitrarily  drawn;  things  wholly  unconnected 
with  each  other  are  associated  together;  a  very  logical  mode  of 
reasoning,  it  must  be  admitted!  In  the  same  way  he  could 
demonstrate  how  idle  and  absurd  our  attachments  are  to  freedom 
itself.  He  might  say,  for  example,  that  Greece  and  Rome  had 
forms  of  free  government,  and  that  they  no  longer  exist;   and, 


232  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

deducing  their  fall  from  their  devotion  to  liberty,  the  conclusion,  in 
favor  of  despotism,  would  very  satisfactorily  follow !  He  demanded 
what  there  is  in  the  nature  and  construction  of  maritime  power, 
to  excite  the  fears  that  have  been  indulged  ?  Do  gentlemen  really 
apprehend,  that  a  body  of  seamen  will  abandon  their  proper 
element,  and,  placing  themselves  under  an  aspiring  chief,  will 
erect  a  throne  to  his  ambition  ?  Will  they  deign  to  listen  to  the 
voice  of  history,  and  learn  how  chimerical  are  their  apprehen- 
sions? 

But  the  source  of  alarm  is  in  ourselves.  Gentlemen  fear,  that  if 
we  provide  a  marine,  it  will  produce  collisions  with  foreign  nations ; 
plunge  us  into  war,  and  ultimately  overturn  the  constitution  of  the 
country.  Sir,  if  you  wish  to  avoid  foreign  collision,  you  had 
better  abandon  the  ocean ;  surrender  all  your  commerce ;  give  up 
all  your  prosperity.  It  is  the  thing  protected,  not  the  instrument 
of  protection,  that  involves  you  in  war.  Commerce  engenders 
collision,  collision  war,  and  war,  the  argument  supposes,  leads  to 
despotism.  Would  the  counsels  of  that  statesman  be  deemed 
wise,  who  would  recommend  that  the  nation  should  be  unarmed ; 
that  the  art  of  war,  the  martial  spirit,  and  martial  exercises,  should 
be  prohibited;  who  should  declare,  in  the  language  of  Othello,  that 
the  nation  must  bid  farewell  to  the  neighing  steed,  and  the  shrill 
trump,  the  spirit-stirring  drum,  the  ear-piercing  fife,  and  all  the 
pride,  pomp,  and  circumstance  of  glorious  war ;  and  that  the  great 
body  of  the  people  should  be  taught,  that  national  happiness  was 
to  be  found  in  perpetual  peace  alone  ?  No,  sir.  And  yet,  every 
argument  in  favor  of  a  power  of  protection  on  land,  applies,  in 
some  degree,  to  a  power  of  protection  on  the  sea.  Undoubtedly 
a  commerce  void  of  naval  protection  is  more  exposed  to  rapacity 
than  a  guarded  commerce ;  and  if  we  wish  to  invite  the  continu- 
ance of  the  old,  or  the  enactment  of  new  edicts,  let  us  refrain  from 
all  exertion  upon  that  element  where  we  must  operate,  and  where, 
in  the  end,  they  must  be  resisted. 

For  his  part  (Mr.  Clay  said)  he  did  not  allow  himself  to  be 
alarmed  by  those  apprehensions  of  maritime  power,  which 
appeared  to  agitate  other  gentlemen.  In  the  nature  of  our  govern- 
ment he  beheld  abundant  security  against  abuse.  He  would  be 
unwilling  to  tax  the  land  to  support  the  rights  of  the  sea,  and  was 
for  drawing  from  the  sea  itself,  the  resources  with  which  its 
violated  freedom  should  at  all  times  be  vindicated.  Whilst  this 
principle  is  adhered  to,  there  will  be  no  danger  of  running  into  the 
folly  and  extravagance  which  so  much  alarms  gentlemen  ;  and 
whenever  it  is  abandoned  —  whenever  congress  shall  lay  burden- 
some taxes,  to  augment  the  navy  beyond  what  may  be  authorized 
by  the  increased  wealth,  and  demanded  by  the  exigences,  of  the 
country,  the  people  will  interpose,  and,  removing  their  unworthy  re- 
presentatives, apply  the  appropriate  corrective.  Mr.  Clay,  then,  could 


ON  THE  INCREASE  OF  THE  NAVY.        233 

not  see  any  just  ground  of  dread  in  the  nature  of  naval  power. 
It  was,  on  the  contrary,  free  from  the  evils  attendant  upon  standing 
armies.  And  the  genius  of  our  institutions — the  great  represen- 
tative principle,  in  the  practical  enjoyment  of  which  we  are  so 
eminently  distinguished  —  afforded  the  best  guarantee  against  the 
ambition  and  wasteful  extravagance  of  government.  What  mar- 
itime strength  is  it  expedient  to  provide  for  the  United  States?  In 
considering  this  subject,  three  different  degrees  of  naval  power  pre- 
sent themselves.  In  the  first  place,  such  a  force  as  would  be  capa- 
ble of  contending  with  that  which  any  other  nation  i3  able  to  bring 
on  the  ocean — a  force  that,  boldly  scouring  every  sea,  would  chal- 
lenge to  combat  the  fleets  of  other  powers,  however  great.  He 
admitted  it  was  impossible  at  this  time,  perhaps  it  never  would  be 
desirable,  for  this  country  to  establish  so  extensive  a  navy.  Indeed, 
he  should  consider  it  as  madness  in  the  extreme  in  this  government 
to  attempt  to  provide  a  navy  able  to  cope  with  the  fleets  of  Great 
Britain,  wherever  they  might  be  met. 

The  next  species  of  naval  power  to  which  he  would  advert,  is 
that  which,  without  adventuring  into  distant  seas,  and  keeping 
generally  in  our  own  harbors,  and  on  our  coasts,  would  be  compe- 
tent to  beat  off  any  squadron  which  might  be  attempted  to  be 
permanently  stationed  in  our  waters.  His  friends  from  South 
Carolina  (Messrs.  Cheves  and  Lowndes)  had  satisfactorily  shown, 
that,  to  effect  this  object,  a  force  equivalent  only  to  one  third  of  that 
which  the  maintenance  of  such  a  squadron  must  require,  would  be 
sufficient ;  that  if,  for  example,  England  should  determine  to  station 
permanently  upon  our  coast  a  squadron  of  twelve  ships  of  the 
line,  it  would  require  for  this  service  thirty-six  ships  of  the  line ; 
one  third  in  port,  repairing,  one  third  on  the  passage,  and  one  third 
on  the  station.  But  that  is  a  force  which  it  has  been  shown  that 
even  England,  with  her  boasted  navy,  could  not  spare  for  the 
American  service,  whilst  she  is  engaged  in  the  present  contest. 
Mr.  Clay  said,  that  he  was  desirous  of  seeing  such  a  force  as  he 
had  described ;  that  is,  twelve  ships  of  the  line  and  fifteen  or  twenty 
frigates,  provided  for  the  United  States ;  but  he  admitted  that  it 
was  unattainable  in  the  present  situation  of  the  finances  of  the 
country.  He  contended,  however,  that  it  was  such  as  congress 
ought  to  set  about  providing ;  and  he  hoped,  in  less  than  ten  years, 
to  see  it  actually  established.  He  was  far  frdm  surveying  the  vast 
maritime  power  of  Great  Britain,  with  the  desponding  eye  with 
which  other  gentlemen  beheld  it.  He  could  not  allow  himself  to 
be  discouraged  at  a  prospect  of  even  her  thousand  ships.  This 
country  only  required  resolution,  and  a  proper  exertion  of  its 
immense  resources,  to  command  respect,  and  to  vindicate  every 
essential  right.  When  we  consider  our  remoteness  from  Europe, 
the  expense,  difficulty,  and  perils,  to  which  any  squadron  would 
be  exposed,  while  stationed  off  our  coasts,  he  entertained  no  doubt 
vol.  i.  30 


234  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

that  the  force  to  which  he  referred,  would  insure  the  command  of 
our  own  seas.  Such  a  force  would  avail  itself  of  our  extensive 
sea-board  and  numerous  harbors,  every  where  affording  asylums 
to  which  it  could  safely  retire  from  a  superior  fleet,  or  from  which 
it  could  issue,  for  the  purpose  of  annoyance.  To  the  opinion  of 
his  colleague  (Mr.  M'Kee),  who  appeared  to  think  that  it  was  in 
vain  for  us  to  make  any  struggle  on  the  ocean,  he  would  oppose 
the  sentiments  of  his  distinguished  connection,  the  heroic  Daviess, 
who  fell  in  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe.  [Here  Mr.  Clay  read  certain 
parts  of  a  work,  written  by  colonel  Daviess,  in  which  the  author 
attempts  to  show,  that,  as  the  aggressions  upon  our  commerce  were 
not  committed  by  fleets,  but  by  single  vessels,  they  could,  in  the 
same  manner,  be  best  retaliated ;  that  the  force  of  about  twenty  or 
thirty-  frigates,  would  be  capable  of  inflicting  great  injury  on 
English  commerce,  by  picking  up  stragglers,  cutting  off  convoys, 
and  seizing  upon  every  moment  of  supineness ;  and  that  such  a 
force,  with  our  seaports  and  harbors  well  fortified,  and  aided  by 
privateers,  would  be  really  formidable,  and  would  annoy  the  British 
navy  and  commerce,  just  as  the  French  army  was  assailed  in 
Egypt,  the  Persian  army  in  Scythia,  and  the  Roman  army  in 
Parthia.] 

The  third  description  of  force,  worthy  of  consideration,  is,  that 
which  would  be  able  to  prevent  any  single  vessel,  of  whatever 
metal,  from  endangering  our  whole  coasting  trade,  blocking  up  our 
harbors,  and  laying  under  contribution  our  cities  —  a  force  compe- 
tent to  punish  the  insolence  of  the  commander  of  any  single  ship, 
and  to  preserve  in  our  own  jurisdiction,  the  inviolability  of  our 
peace  and  our  laws.  A  force  of  this  kind  is  entirely  within  the 
compass  of  our  means,  at  this  time.  Is  there  a  reflecting  man  in 
the  nation,  who  would  not  charge  congress  with  a  culpable  neglect 
of  its  duty,  if,  for  the  want  of  such  a  force,  a  single  ship  were  to 
bombard  one  of  our  cities !  Would  not  every  honorable  memb*er 
of  the  committee  inflict  on  himself  the  bitterest  reproaches,  if,  by 
failing  to  make  an  inconsiderable  addition  to  our  little  gallant 
navy,  a  single  British  vessel  should  place  New  York  under  contri- 
bution !  Yes,  sir,  when  the  city  is  in  flames,  its  wretched  inhabi- 
tants begin  to  repent  of  their  neglect,  in  not  providing  engines  and 
water-buckets.  If,  said  Mr.  Clay,  we  are  not  able  to  meet  the 
wolves  of  the  forest,  shall  we  put  up  with  the  barking  impudence 
of  every  petty  cur  that  trips  across  our  way?  Because  we  cannot 
guard  against  every  possible  danger,  shall  we  provide  against 
none  ?  He  hoped  not.  He  had  hardly  expected  that  the  instruct- 
ing but  humiliating  lesson,  was  so  soon  to  be  forgotten,  which 
was  taught  us  in  the  murder  of  Pierce,  the  attack  on  the  Chesa- 
peake, and  the  insult  offered  in  the  very  harbor  of  Charleston, 
which  the  brave  old  fellow  who  commanded  the  fort  in  vain 
endeavored  to  chastise.     It  was  a  rule  with  Mr.  Clay,  when  acting 


ON     THE     INCREASE     OF     THE     NAVY.  235 

either  in  a  public  or  private  character,  to  attempt  nothing  more  than 
what  there  existed  a  prospect  of  accomplishing.  He  was  therefore 
not  in  favor  of  entering  into  any  mad  projects  on  this  subject,  but 
for  deliberately  and  resolutely  pursuing  what  he  believed  to  be 
within  the  power  of  government.  Gentlemen  refer  to  the  period 
of  1798,  and  we  are  reminded  of  the  principles  maintained  by  the 
opposition  at  that  time.  He  had  no  doubt  of  the  correctness  of 
that  opposition.  The  naval  schemes  of  that  day  were  premature, 
not  warranted  by  the  resources  of  the  country,  and  were  contem- 
plated for  an  unnecessary  war,  into  which  the  nation  was  about  to 
be  plunged.  He  always  admired  and  approved  the  zeal  and 
ability  with  which  that  opposition  was  conducted,  by  the  distin- 
guished gentleman  now  at  the  head  of  the  treasury.  But  the  state 
of  things  is  totally  altered.  What  was  folly  in  1798,  may  be 
wisdom  now.  At  that  time,  we  had  a  revenue  only  of  about  six 
millions.  Our  revenue  now,  upon  a  supposition  that  commerce  is 
restored,  is  about  sixteen  millions.  The  population  of  the  country, 
too,  is  greatly  increased,  nearly  doubled,  and  the  wealth  of  the 
nation  is  perhaps  tripled.  Whilst  our  ability  to  construct  a  navy  is 
thus  enhanced,  the  necessary  maritime  protection  is  proportionably 
augmented.  Independent  of  the  extension  of  our  commerce, 
since  the  year  1798,  we  have  had  an  addition  of  more  than  five 
hundred  miles  to  our  coast,  from  the  bay  of  Perdido  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Sabine  —  a  weak  and  defenceless  accession,  requiring,  more 
than  any  other  part  of  our  maritime  frontier,  the  protecting  arm  of 
government. 

The  groundless  imputation,  that  those  who  were  friendly  to  a 
navy,  were  espousing  a  principle  inimical  to  freedom,  should  not 
terrify  him.  He  was  not  ashamed  when  in  such  company  as  the 
illustrious  author  of  the  notes  on  Virginia,  whose  opinion  on  the 
subject  of  a  navy,  contained  in  that  work,  contributed  to  the  forma- 
tion of  his  own.  But  the  principle  of  a  navy,  Mr.  Clay  contended, 
was  no  longer  open  to  controversy.  It  was  decided  when  Mr. 
Jefferson  came  into  power.  With  all  the  prejudices  against  a  navy, 
which  are  alleged  by  some  to  have  been  then  brought  into  the 
administration,  with  many  honest  prejudices,  he  admitted,  the 
rash  attempt  was  not.  made  to  destroy  the  establishment.  It  was 
reduced  to  only  what  was  supposed  to  be  within  the  financial 
capacity  of  the  country.  If,  ten  years  ago,  when  all  those  preju- 
dices were  to  be  combatted,  even  in  time  of  peace,  it  was  deemed 
proper,  by  the  then  administration,  to  retain  in  service  ten  frigates, 
he  put  it  to  the  candor  of  gentlemen  to  say,  if  now,  when  we  are 
on  the  eve  of  a  war,  and  taking  into  view  the  actual  growth  of  the 
country,  and  the  acquisition  of  our  coast  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
we  ought  not  to  add  to  the  establishment. 

Mr.  Clay  said,  he  had  hitherto  alluded  more  particularly  to  the 
exposed  situation  of  certain  parts  of  the  Atlantic  frontier.     Whilst 


236  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

he  felt  the  deepest  solicitude  for  the  safety  of  New  York,  and 
other  cities  on  the  coast,  he  would  be  pardoned  by  the  committee, 
for  referring  to  the  interests  of  that  section  of  the  union  from  which 
he  came.  If,  said  he,  there  be  a  point  more  than  any  other  in  the 
United  States,  demanding  the  aid  of  naval  protection,  that  point  is 
the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  What  is  the  population  of  the 
western  country,  dependent  on  this  single  outlet  for  its  surplus 
productions?  Kentucky,  according  to  the  last  enumeration,  has 
four  hundred  and  six  thousand  five  hundred  and  eleven ;  Tennes- 
see, two  hundred  and  sixty-one  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
twenty-seven ;  and  Ohio,  two  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  sixty.  And  when  the  population  of  the  western 
parts  of  Virginia,  and  Pennsylvania,  and  the  territories  which  are 
drained  by  the  Mississippi  or  its  waters,  is  added,  it  will  form  an 
aggregate  equal  to  about  one  fifth  of  the  whole  population  of  the 
United  States,  resting  all  their  commercial  hopes  upon  this  solitary 
vent !  The  bulky  articles  of  which  their  surplus  productions 
consist,  can  be  transported  in  no  other  way.  They  will  not  bear  the 
expense  of  a  carriage  up  the  Ohio  and  Tennessee,  and  across  the 
mountains,  and  the  circuitous  voyage  of  the  lakes  is  out  of  the 
question.  Whilst  most  other  states  have  the  option  of  numerous 
outlets,  so  that,  if  one  be  closed,  resort  can  be  had  to  others,  this 
vast  population  has  no  alternative.  Close  the  mouth  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, and  their  export  trade  is  annihilated.  He  called  the 
attention  of  his  western  friends,  especially  his  worthy  Kentucky 
friends,  (from  whom  he  felt  himself,  with  regret,  constrained  to 
differ  on  this  occasion,)  to  the  state  of  the  public  feeling  in  that 
quarter,  whilst  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  was  withheld  by 
Spain  ;  and  to  the  still  more  recent  period,  when  the  right  of  depot 
was  violated.  The  whole  country  was  in  commotion,  and,  at  the 
nod  of  government,  would  have  fallen  on  Baton  Rouge  and  New 
Orleans,  and  punished  the  treachery  of  a  perfidious  government. 
Abandon  all  idea  of  protecting,  by  maritime  force,  the  mouth  of 
the  Mississippi,  and  we  shall  have  the  recurrence  of  many  similar 
scenes.  WTe  shall  hold  the  inestimable  right  of  the  navigation  of 
that  river,  by  the  most  precarious  tenure.  The  whole  commerce 
of  the  Mississippi  —  a  commerce  that  is  destined  to  be  the  richest 
that  was  ever  borne  by  a  single  stream  —  is  placed  at  the  mercy  of 
a  single  ship,  lying  oft  the  Balize !  Again  ;  the  convulsions  of  the 
new  world,  still  more,  perhaps,  than  those  of  Europe,  challenge 
our  attention.  Whether  the  ancient  dynasty  of  Spain  is  still  to  be 
upheld  or  subverted,  is  extremely  uncertain,  if  the  bonds  connecting 
the  parent  country  with  her  colonies,  are  not  for  ever  broken.  What 
is  to  become  of  Cuba  ?  Will  it  assert  independence,  or  remain 
the  province  of  some  European  power?  In  either  case,  the  whole 
trade  of  the  western  country,  which  must  pass  almost  within  gun- 
shot of  the  Moro  Castle,  is  exposed  to  danger.    It  was  not,  however, 


ON  THE  INCREASE  OF  THE  NAVY.         237 

of  Cuba  he  was  afraid.  He  wished  her  independent.  But  sup- 
pose England  gets  possession  of  that  valuable  island.  With  Cuba 
on  the  south,  and  Halifax  on  the  north  —  and  the  consequent 
means  of  favoring  or  annoying  commerce,  of  particular  sections  of 
the  country  —  he  asked,  if  the  most  sanguine  amongst  us  would 
not  tremble  for  the  integrity  of  the  union?  If,  along  with  Cuba, 
Great  Britain  should  acquire  East  Florida,  she  will  have  the  abso- 
lute command  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Can  gentlemen,  particularly 
gentlemen  from  the  western  country,  contemplate  such  possible, 
nay,  probable,  events,  without  desiring  to  see  at  least  the  com- 
mencement of  such  a  naval  establishment  as  would  effectually 
protect  the  Mississippi?  He  entreated  them  to  turn  their  attention 
to  the  defenceless  situation  of  the  Orleans  Territory,  and  to  the 
nature  of  its  population.  It  is  known,  that,  whilst  under  the  Span- 
ish government,  they  experienced  the  benefit  of  naval  security. 
Satisfy  them,  that,  under  the  government  of  the  United  States,  they 
will  enjoy  less  protection,  and  you  disclose  the  most  fatal  secret. 

The  general  government  receives  annually,  for  the  public  lands, 
about  six  hundred  thousand  dollars.  One  of  the  sources  whence 
the  western  people  raise  this  sum,  is  the  exportation  of  the  surplus 
productions  of  that  country.  Shut  up  the  Mississippi,  and  this 
source  is,  in  a  great  measure,  dried  up.  But  suppose  this  govern- 
ment to  look  upon  the  occlusion  of  the  Mississippi,  without 
making  an  effort  on  that  element,  where  alone  it  could  be  made  suc- 
cessfully, to  remove  the  blockading  force,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to 
be  vigorously  pressing  payment  for  the  public  lands ;  he  shuddered 
at  the  consequences.  Deep-rooted  as  he  knew  the  affections  of 
the  western  people  to  be  to  the  union,  (and  he  would  not  admit 
their  patriotism  to  be  surpassed  by  any  other  quarter  of  the  country,) 
if  such  a  state  of  things  were  to  last  any  considerable  time,  he 
should  seriously  apprehend  a  withdrawal  of  their  confidence.  Nor, 
sir,  could  we  derive  any  apology  for  the  failure  to  afford  this  pro- 
tection, from  the  want  of  the  materials  for  naval  architecture.  On 
the  contrary,  all  the  articles  entering  into  the  construction  of  a 
navy — iron,  hemp,  timber,  pitch  —  abound  in  the  greatest  quantities 
on  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi.  Kentucky  alone,  he  had  no 
doubt,  raised  hemp  enough  the  last  year  for  the  whole  consump- 
tion of  the  United  States. 

If,  as  he  conceived,  gentlemen  had  been  unsuccessful  in  showing 
that  the  downfall  of  maritime  nations  was  ascribable  to  their  navies, 
they  have  been  more  fortunate  in  showing,  by  the  instances  to 
which  they  had  referred,  that,  without  a  marine,  no  foreign  com- 
merce could  exist  to  any  extent.  It  is  the  appropriate,  the  natural 
(if  the  term  may  be  allowed)  connection  of  foreign  commerce. 
The  shepherd  and  his  faithful  dog,  are  not  more  necessary  to  guard 
the  flocks,  that  browse  and  gambol  on  the  neighboring  mountain. 
He  considered  the  prosperity  of  foreign  commerce  indissolubly 


238  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

allied  to  marine  power.  Neglect  to  provide  the  one,  and  you  must 
abandon  the  other.  Suppose  the  expected  war  with  England  is 
commenced,  you  enter  and  subjugate  Canada,  and  she  still  refuses 
to  do  you  justice ;  what  other  possible  mode  will  remain  to 
operate  on  the  enemy,  but  upon  that  element  where  alone  you  can 
then  come  in  contact  with  him  ?  And  if  you  do  not  prepare  to 
protect  there  your  own  commerce,  and  to  assail  his,  will  he  not 
sweep  from  the  ocean  every  vessel  bearing  your  flag,  and  destroy 
even  the  coasting  trade?  But,  from  the  arguments  of  gentlemen, 
it  would  seem  to  be  questioned,  if  foreign  commerce  is  worth  the 
kind  of  protection  insisted  upon.  What  is  this  foreign  commerce, 
that  has  suddenly  become  so  inconsiderable  ?  It  has,  with  very 
trifling  aid  from  other  sources,  defrayed  the  expenses  of  govern- 
ment, ever  since  the  adoption  of  the  present  constitution  ;  main- 
tained an  expensive  and  successful  war  with  the  Indians ;  a  war 
with  the  Barbary  powers ;  a  quasi  war  with  France ;  sustained  the 
charges  of  suppressing  two  insurrections,  and  extinguishing 
upwards  of  forty-six  millions  of  the  public  debt.  In  revenue,  it 
has,  since  the  year  17S9,  yielded  one  hundred  and  ninety-one 
millions  of  dollars.  During  the  first  four  years  after  the  commence- 
ment of  the  present  government,  the  revenue  averaged  only  about 
two  millions  annually ;  during  a  subsequent  period,  of  four  years, 
it  rose  to  an  average  of  fifteen  millions,  annually,  or  became 
equivalent  to  a  capital  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  dollars, 
at  an  interest  of  six  per  centum  per  annum.  And  if  our  commerce 
is  reestablished,  it  will,  in  the  course  of  time,  net  a  sum  for  which 
we  are  scarcely  furnished  with  figures,  in  arithmetic.  Taking  the 
average  of  the  last  nine  years,  (comprehending,  of  course,  the 
season  of  the  embargo,)  our  exports  average  upwards  of  thirty- 
seven  millions  of  dollars,  which  is  equivalent  to  a  capital  of  more 
than  six  hundred  millions  of  dollars,  at  six  per  centum  interest; 
all  of  which  must  be  lost  in  the  event  of  a  destruction  of  foreign 
commerce.  In  the  abandonment  of  that  commerce,  is  also  involved 
the  sacrifice  of  our  brave  tars,  who  have  engaged  in  the  pursuit, 
from  wThich  they  derive  subsistence  and  support,  under  the  confi- 
dence that  government  would  afford  them  that  just  protection 
which  is  due  to  all.  They  will  be  driven  into  foreign  employment, 
for  it  is  vain  to  expect  that  they  will  renounce  their  habits  of  life. 
The  spirit  of  commercial  enterprise,  so  strongly  depicted  by  the 
gentleman  from  New  York  (Mr.  Mitchel),  is  diffused  throughout 
the  country.  It  is  a  passion  as  unconquerable  as  any  with  which 
nature  has  endowed  us.  You  may  attempt,  indeed,  to  regulate, 
but  you  cannot  destroy  it.  It  exhibits  itself  as  well  on  the  waters 
of  the  western  country,  as  on  the  waters  and  shores  of  the  Atlantic. 
Mr.  Clay  had  heard  of  a  vessel,  built  at  Pittsburg,  having  crossed 
the  Atlantic  and  entered  an  European  port  (he  believed  that  of 
Leghorn).     The   master  of  the  vessel  laid  his   papers  before  the 


ON  THE  INCREASE  OF  THE  NAVY.        239 

proper  custom-house  officer,  which,  of  course,  stated  the  place  of 
her  departure.  The  officer  boldly  denied  the  existence  of  any  such 
American  port  as  Pittsburg,  and  threatened  a  seizure  of  the  vessel, 
as  being  furnished  with  forged  papers.  The  affrighted  master 
procured  a  map  of  the  United  States,  and,  pointing  out  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico,  took  the  officer  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  traced 
the  course  of  the  Mississippi  more  than  a  thousand  miles,  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Ohio,  and  conducting  him  still  a  thousand  miles 
higher,  to  the  junction  of  the  Allegany  and  Monongahela, — 
there,  he  exclaimed,  stands  Pittsburg,  the  port  from  which  1  sailed ! 
The  custom-house  officer,  prior  to  the  production  of  this  evidence, 
would  have  as  soon  believed  that  the  vessel  had  performed  a 
voyage  from  the  moon. 

In  delivering  the  sentiments  he  had  expressed,  Mr.  Clay  consid- 
ered himself  as  conforming  to  a  sacred  constitutional  duty.  When 
the  power  to  provide  a  navy  was  confided  to  congress,  it  must  have 
been  the  intention  of  the  convention  to  submit  only  to  the  discretion 
of  that  body,  the  period  when  that  power  should  be  exercised. 
That  period  had,  in  his  opinion,  arrived,  at  least  for  making  a 
respectable  beginning.  And  whilst  he  thus  discharged  what  he 
conceived  to  be  his  duty,  he  derived  great  pleasure  from  the  reflec- 
tion, that  he  was  supporting  a  measure  calculated  to  impart 
additional  strength  to  our  happy  union.  Diversified  as  are  the 
interests  of  its  various  parts,  how  admirably  do  they  harmonize 
and  blend  together!  We  have  only  to  make  a  proper  use  of  the 
bounties  spread  before  us,  to  render  us  prosperous  and  powerful. 
Such  a  navy  as  he  had  contended  for,  will  form  a  new  bond  of 
connection  between  the  states,  concentrating  their  hopes,  their 
interests,  and  their  affections. 


ON  THE  NEW  ARMY  BILL. 

IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  JANUARY  8,  1813. 


f  On  the  eighteenth  of  June,  1812,  war  was  declared  by  congress  against  Great  Britain, 
and  the  next  session  of  congress  commenced  in  November,  1812,  when  the  president, 
in  his  annual  message  to  the  two  houses,  gave  a  sketch  of  the  events  which  had 
transpired  during  the  recess.  The  military  operations  on  the  frontier  had  resulted,  at 
first,  in  a  series  of  unexpected  and  disgraceful  disasters  to  our  arms.  Amidst  all 
discouragements,  Mr.  Clay  was  the  leader,  and  the  life  and  soul  of  the  administration 
party  in  the  house.  His  early  biographer  says  of  him  :  '  he  moved  in  majesty,  for 
he  moved  in  strength.  No  difficulties  could  weary  or  withstand  his  energies.  Like 
the  Carthagenian  chief  in  the  passage  of  the  Alps,  he  kept  his  place  in  front  of  his 
comrades,  putting  aside,  with  a  giant  effort,  every  obstacle  that  opposed  his  progress, 
applauding  the  foremost  of  his  followers,  and  rousing  those  who  lingered,  by  words 
of  encouragement  or  reproach,  till  he  succeeded  in  putting  them  upon  a  moral 
eminence,  from  which  they  could  look  down  upon  the  region  where  their  prowess 
was  to  meet  with  its  long  expected  reward.' 

Among  the  first  measures  proposed  at  this  session  of  congress,  to  raise  the  spirit  of 
the  nation,  and  retrieve  the  fortunes  of  war,  made  gloomy  by  the  disasters  upon  the 
frontier,  was  a  bill  to  increase  the  army,  by  raising  twenty  additional  regiments.  In 
support  of  this  bill,  and  on  the  merits  of  the  war,  as  well  as  in  reply  to  the  arguments 
of  the  opposition  members,  Mr.  Clay  addressed  the  committee  of  the  whole  house, 
in  the  following  speech.  J 


Mr.  Clay  (the  speaker)  said  he  was  gratified  yesterday  by  the 
recommitment  of  this  bill  to  a  committee  of  the  whole  house,  from 
two  considerations ;  one,  since  it  afforded  him  a  slight  relaxation 
from  a  most  fatiguing  situation ;  and  the  other,  because  it  furnished 
him  with  an  opportunity  of  presenting  to  the  committee  his  senti- 
ments, upon  the  important  topics  which  had  been  mingled  in  the 
debate.  He  regretted,  however,  that  the  necessity  under  which  the 
chairman  had  been  placed,  of  putting  the  question,*  precluded  the 
opportunity  he  had  wished  to  enjoy,  of  rendering  more  acceptable 
to  the  committee  any  thing  he  might  have  to  offer  on  the  interest- 
ing points,  on  which  it  was  his  duty  to  touch.  Unprepared,  how- 
ever, as  he  was,  to  speak  on  this  day,  of  which  he  was  the  more 
sensible  from  the  ill  state  of  his  health,  he  would  solicit  the 
attention  of  the  committee  for  a  few  moments. 

I  was  a  little  astonished,  I  confess,  said  Mr.  Clay,  when  I  found 
this  bill  permitted  to  pass    silently  through  the  committee  of  the 

*  The  chairman  had  risen  to  put  the  question,  which  would  have  cut  Mr.  Clay 
off  from  the  opportunity  of  speaking,  by  carrying  the  bill  to  the  house. — Editor. 


ON     THE     NEW     ARMY     BILL.  241 

whole,  and  not  selected  until  the  moment  when  the  question  was 
to  be  put  for  its  third  reading,  as  the  subject  on  which  gentlemen 
in  the  opposition  chose  to  lay  before  the  house  their  views  of  the 
interesting  attitude  in  which  the  nation  stands.  It  did  appear  to 
me,  that  the  loan  bill,  which  will  soon  come  before  us,  would  have 
afforded  a  much  more  proper  occasion,  it  being  more  essential,  as 
providing  the  ways  and  means  for  the  prosecution  of  the  war. 
But  the  gentlemen  had  the  right  of  selection,  and  having  exercised 
it,  no  matter  how  improperly,  I  am  gratified,  whatever  I  may  think 
of  the  character  of  some  part  of  the  debate,  at  the  latitude  in  which, 
for  once,  they  have  been  indulged.  I  claim  only,  in  return,  of 
gentlemen  on  the  other  side  of  the  house,  and  of  the  committee,  a 
like  indulgence  in  expressing  my  sentiments,  with  the  same 
unrestrained  freedom.  Perhaps,  in  the  course  of  the  remarks, 
which  I  may  feel  myself  called  upon  to  make,  gentlemen  may 
apprehend,  that  they  assume  too  harsh  an  aspect ;  but  I  have  only 
now  to  say,  that  I  shall  speak  of  parties,  measures,  and  things,  as 
they  strike  my  moral  sense,  protesting  against  the  imputation  of 
any  intention,  on  my  part,  to  wTound  the  feelings  of  any  gentlemen. 
Considering  the  situation  in  which  this  country  is  now  placed — 
a  state  of  actual  war  with  one  of  the  most  powerful  nations  on 
the  earth  —  it  may  not  be  useless  to  take  a  view  of  the  past,  and 
of  the  various  parties  which  have  at  different  times  appeared  in 
this  country,  and  to  attend  to  the  manner  by  which  we  have  been 
driven  from  a  peaceful  posture,  to  our  present  warlike  attitude. 
Such  an  inquiry  may  assist  in  guiding  us  to  that  result,  an  hon- 
orable peace,  which  must  be  the  sincere  desire  of  every  friend  to 
America.  The  course  of  that  opposition,  by  which  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  government  had  been  unremittingly  impeded  for  the 
last  twelve  years,  was  singular,  and,  I  believe,  unexampled  in  the 
history  of  any  country.  It  has  been  alike  the  duty  and  the  interest 
of  the  administration  to  preserve  peace.  It  was  their  duty,  because 
it  is  necessary  to  the  growth  of  an  infant  people,  to  their  genius,  and  to 
their  habits.  It  was  their  interest,  because  a  change  of  the  condition 
of  the  nation,  brings  along  with  it  a  danger  of  the  loss  of  the  affec- 
tions of  the  people.  The  administration  has  not  been  forgetful  of 
these  solemn  obligations.  No  art  has  been  left  unessayed,  no  experi- 
ment, promising  a  favorable  result,  left  untried,  to  maintain  the 
peaceful  relations  of  the  country.  When,  some  six  or  seven  years 
ago,  the  affairs  of  the  nation  assumed  a  threatening  aspect,  a  par- 
tial non-importation  was  adopted.  As  they  grew  more  alarming, 
an  embargo  was  imposed.  It  would  have  accomplished  its  pur- 
pose, but  it  was  sacrificed  upon  the  altar  of  conciliation.  Vain 
and  fruitless  attempt  to  propitiate!  Then  came  along  non-inter- 
course ;  and  a  general  non-importation  followed  in  the  train.  In 
the  mean  time,  any  indications  of  a  return  to  the  public  law  and 
the  path  of  justice,  on  the  part  of  either  belligerent,  are  seized  upon 

VOL.  I.  31 


242  SPEECHES     OF     H  E  .\  R  %     CLAY. 

with  avidity  by  the  administration.  The  arrangement  with  Mr. 
Erskine  is  concluded.  It  is  first  applauded,  and  then  censured  by 
the  opposition.  No  matter  with  what  unfeigned  sincerity,  with 
what  real  effort,  the  administration  cultivates  peace,  the  opposition 
insists,  that  it  alone  is  culpable  for  every  breach  that  is  made  between 
the  two  countries.  Because  the  president  thought  proper,  in  ac- 
cepting the  proffered  reparation  for  the  attack  on  a  national  vessel, 
to  intimate,  that  it  would  have  better  comported  with  the  justice  of 
the  king  (and  who  does  not  think  so?)  to  punish  the  offending 
officer,  the  opposition,  entering  into  the  royal  feelings,  sees,  in  that 
imaginary  insult,  abundant  cause  for  rejecting  Mr.  Erskine's  ar- 
rangement. On  another  occasion,  you  cannot  have  forgotten  the 
hypocritical  ingenuity  which  they  displayed,  to  divest  Mr.  Jackson's 
correspondence  of  a  premeditated  insult  to  this  country.  If  gen- 
tlemen would  only  reserve  for  their  own  government,  half  the 
sensibility  which  is  indulged  for  that  of  Great  Britain,  they  would 
find  much  less  to  condemn.  Restriction  after  restriction  has  been 
tried;  negotiation  has  been  resorted  to,  until  further  negotiation 
would  have  been  disgraceful.  Whilst  these  peaceful  experiments 
are  undergoing  a  trial,  what  is  the  conduct  of  the  opposition? 
They  are  the  champions  of  war — the  proud — the  spirited — the 
sole  repository  of  the  nation's  honor — the  men  of  exclusive  vigor 
and  energy.  The  administration,  on  the  contrary,  is  weak,  feeble, 
and  pusillanimous — 'incapable  of  being  kicked  into  a  war.'  The 
maxim,  'not  a  cent  for  tribute,  millions  for  defence,'  is  loudly  pro- 
claimed. Is  the  administration  for  negotiation  ?  The  opposition 
is  tired,  sick,  disgusted  with  negotiation.  They  want  to  draw  the 
sword,  and  avenge  the  nation's  wrongs.  When,  however,  foreign 
nations,  perhaps  emboldened  by  the  very  opposition  here  made, 
refuse  to  listen  to  the  amicable  appeals,  which  have  been  repeated 
and  reiterated  by  the  administration,  to  their  justice  and  to  their 
interest  — when,  in  fact,  war  with  one  of  them  has  become  identi- 
fied with  our  independence  and  our  sovereignty,  and  to  abstain 
from  it  was  no  longer  possible,  behold  the  opposition  veering  round 
and  becoming  the  friends  of  peace  and  commerce.  They  tell  you 
of  the  calamities  of  war,  its  tragical  events,  the  squandering  away 
of  your  resources,  the  waste  of  the  public  treasure,  and  the  spilling  of 
innocent  blood.  '  Gorgons,  hydras,  and  chimeras  dire.'  They  tell 
you,  that  honor  is  an  illusion!  Now,  we  see  them  exhibiting  the 
terrific  forms  of  the  roaring  king  of  the  forest.  Now,  the  meekness 
and  humility  of  the  lamb!  They  are  for  war  and  no  restrictions, 
when  the  administration  is  for  peace.  They  are  for  peace  and 
restrictions,  when  the  administration  is  for  war.  You  find  them, 
sir,  tacking  with  every  gale,  displaying  the  colors  of  every  party, 
and  of  all  nations,  steady  only  in  one  unalterable  purpose  —  to 
steer,  if  possible,  into  the  haven  of  power. 

During  all  this  time,  the  parasites  of  opposition  do  not  fail,  by 


ON     THE     NEW     ARMY     BILL.  243 

cunning  sarcasm,  or  sly  inuendo,  to  throw  out  the  idea  of  French 
influence,  which  is  known  to  be  false,  which  ought  to  be  met  in 
one  manner  only,  and  that  is  by  the  lie  direct.  The  administration 
of  this  country  devoted  to  foreign  influence !  The  administration 
of  this  country  subservient  to  France !  Great  God !  what  a 
charge!  how  is  it  so  influenced?  By  what  ligament,  on  what 
basis,  on  what  possible  foundation  does  it  rest?  Is  it  similarity  of 
language  ?  No !  we  speak  different  tongues,  we  speak  the  English 
language.  On  the  resemblance  of  our  laws  ?  No !  the  sources 
of  our  jurisprudence  spring  from  another  and  a  different  country. 
On  commercial  intercourse  ?  No  !  we  have  comparatively  none 
with  France.  Is  it  from  the  correspondence  in  the  genius  of  the 
two  governments  ?  No !  here  alone  is  the  liberty  of  man  secure 
from  the  inexorable  despotism,  which,  every  where  else,  tramples  it 
under  foot.  Where,  then,  is  the  ground  of  such  an  influence? 
But,  sir,  I  am  insulting  you  by  arguing  on  such  a  subject.  Yet, 
preposterous  and  ridiculous  as  the  insinuation  is,  it  is  propagated 
with  so  much  industry,  that  there  are  persons  found  foolish  and 
credulous  enough  to  believe  it.  You  will,  no  doubt,  think  it 
incredible,  (but  I  have  nevertheless  been  told  it  is  a  fact,)  that  an 
honorable  member  of  this  house,  now  in  my  eye,  recently  lost  his 
election  by  the  circulation  of  a  silly  story  in  his  district,  that  he  was 
the  first  cousin  of  the  emperor  Napoleon.  The  proof  of  the  charge 
rested  on  the  statement  of  facts,  which  was  undoubtedly  true. 
The  gentleman  in  question,  it  was  alleged,  had  married  a  connec- 
tion of  the  lady  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  who  was  the 
intimate  friend  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  late  President  of  the  United 
States,  who  some  years  ago,  was  in  the  habit  of  wearing  red 
French  breeches.  Now,  taking  these  premises  as  established,  you, 
Mr.  Chairman,  are  too  good  a  logician  not  to  see  that  the  conclu* 
sion  necessarily  follows ! 

Throughout  the  period  he  had  been  speaking  of,  the  opposition 
has  been  distinguished,  amidst  all  its  veerings  and  changes,  by 
another  inflexible  feature  —  the  application  to  Bonaparte  of  every 
vile  and  opprobious  epithet  our  language,  copious  as  it  is  in  terms 
of  vituperation,  affords.  He  has  been  compared  to  every  hideous 
monster,  and  beast,  from  that  mentioned  in  the  Revelations,  down 
to  the  most  insignificant  quadruped.  He  has  been  called  the 
scourge  of  mankind,  the  destroyer  of  Europe,  the  great  robber,  the 
infidel,  the  modern  Attila,  and  heaven  knows  by  what  other 
names.  Really,  gentlemen  remind  me  of  an  obscure  lady,  in  a 
city  not  very  far  off,  who  also  took  it  into  her  head,  in  conversation 
with  an  accomplished  French  gentleman,  to  talk  of  the  affairs  of 
Europe.  She,  too,  spoke  of  the  destruction  of  the  balance  of 
power;  stormed  and  raged  about  the  insatiable  ambition  of  the 
emperor ;  called  him  the  curse  of  mankind,  the  destroyer  of 
Europe.     The  Frenchman  listened  to  her  with  perfect  patience, 


244  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

and  when  she  had  ceased,  said  to  her,  with  ineffable  politeness, 
1  madame,  it  would  give  my  master,  the  emperor,  infinite  pain,  if 
he  knew  how  hardly  you  thought  of  him.'  Sir,  gentlemen  appear 
to  me  to  forget,  that  they  stand  on  American  soil;  that  they  are  not 
in  the  British  house  of  commons,  but  in  the  chamber  of  the  house 
of  representatives  of  the  United  States ;  that  we  have  nothing  to 
do  with  the  affairs  of  Europe,  the  partition  of  territory  and  sover- 
eignty there,  except  so  far  as  these  things  affect  the  interests  of  our 
own  country.  Gentlemen  transform  themselves  into  the  Burkes, 
Chathams,  and  Pitts,  of  another  country,  and  forgetting,  from  honest 
zeal,  the  interests  of  America,  engage  with  European  sensibility  in 
the  discussion  of  European  interests.  If  gentlemen  ask  me, 
whether  I  do  not  view  with  regret  and  horror  the  concentration  of 
such  vast  power  in  the  hands  of  Bonaparte,  I  reply,  that  I  do.  I 
regret  to  see  the  emperor  of  China  holding  such  immense  sway 
over  the  fortunes  of  millions  of  our  species.  I  regret  to  see  Great 
Britain  possessing  so  uncontrolled  a  command  over  all  the  waters 
of  our  globe.  If  1  had  the  ability  to  distribute  among  the  nations 
of  Europe  their  several  portions  of  power  and  of  sovereignty,  I 
would  say,  that  Holland  should  be  resuscitated,  and  given  the 
weight  she  enjoyed  in  the  days  of  her  De  Witts.  I  would  confine 
France  within  her  natural  boundaries,  the  Alps,  Pyrenees,  and  the 
Rhine,  and  make  her  a  secondary  naval  power  only.  I  would 
abridge  the  British  maritime  power,  raise  Prussia  and  Austria  to 
their  original  condition,  and  preserve  the  integrity  of  the  empire 
of  Russia.  But  these  are  speculations.  I  look  at  the  political 
transactions  of  Europe,  with  the  single  exception  of  their  possible 
bearing  upon  us,  as  I  do  at  the  history  of  other  countries,  or  other 
times.  I  do  not  survey  them  with  half  the  interest  that  I  do  the 
movements  in  South  America.  Our  political  relation  with  them 
is  much  less  important  than  it  is  supposed  to  be.  I  have  no  fears 
of  French  or  English  subjugation.  If  we  are  united  we  are 
too  powerful  for  the  mightiest  nation  in  Europe,  or  all  Europe  com- 
bined. If  we  are  separated  and  torn  asunder,  we  shall  become  an 
easy  prey  to  the  weakest  of  them.  In  the  latter  dreadful  contin- 
gency, our  country  will  not  be  worth  preserving. 

Next  to  the  notice  which  the  opposition  has  found  itself  called 
upon  to  bestow  upon  the  French  emperor,  a  distinguished  citizen 
of  Virginia,  formerly  president  of  the  United  States,  has  never  for 
a  moment  failed  to  receive  their  kindest  and  most  respectful  atten- 
tion. An  honorable  gentleman  from  Massachusetts,  (Mr.  Quincy,) 
of  whom  I  am  sorry  to  say,  it  becomes  necessary  for  me,  in  the 
course  of  my  remarks,  to  take  some  notice,  has  alluded  to  him  in  a 
remarkable  manner.  Neither  his  retirement  from  public  office, 
his  eminent  services,  nor  his  advanced  age,  can  exempt  this  patriot 
from  the  coarse  assaults  of  party  malevolence.  No,  sir,  in  1801,  he 
snatched  from  the  rude  hand  of  usurpation  the  violated   constitu- 


ON     THE     NEW     ARMY     BILL.  245 

tion  of  his  country,  and  that  is  his  crime.  He  preserved  that  instru- 
ment, in  form,  and  substance,  and  spirit,  a  precious  inheritance  for 
generations  to  come,  and  for  this  he  can  never  be  forgiven.  How- 
vain  and  impotent  is  party  rage,  directed  against  such  a  man !  He 
is  not  more  elevated  by  his  lofty  residence,  upon  the  summit  of  his 
own  favorite  mountain,  than  he  is  lifted,  by  the  serenity  of  his 
mind,  and  the  consciousness  of  a  well-spent  life,  above  the  malig- 
nant passions  and  bitter  feelings  of  the  day.  No!  his  own  beloved 
Monticello  is  not  more  moved  by  the  storms  that  beat  against  its 
sides,  than  is  this  illustrious  man,  by  the  howlings  of  the  whole 
British  pack,  set  loose  from  the  Essex  kennel!  When  the  gentle- 
man to  whom  I  have  been  compelled  to  allude,  shall  have  mingled 
his  dust  with  that  of  his  abused  ancestors,  when  he  shall  have 
been  consigned  to  oblivion,  or,  if  he  lives  at  all,  shall  live  only  in 
the  treasonable  annals  of  a  certain  junto,  the  name  of  Jefferson 
will  be  hailed  with  gratitude,  his  memory  honored  and  cherished 
as  the  second  founder  of  the  liberties  of  the  people,  and  the  period 
of  his  administration  will  be  looked  back  to,  as  one  of  the  happiest 
and  brightest  epochs  of  American  history^  —  an  oasis  in  the 
midst  of  a  sandy  desert.  But  I  beg  the  gentleman's  pardon  ;  he 
has  indeed  secured  to  himself  a  more  imperishable  fame  than  I 
had  supposed ;  I  think  it  was  about  four  years  ago  that  he  submit- 
ted to  the  house  of  representatives,  an  initiative  proposition  for  an 
impeachment  of  Mr.  Jefferson.  The  house  condescended  to  con- 
sider it.  The  gentleman  debated  it  with  his  usual  temper,  modera- 
tion, and  urbanity.  The  house  decided  upon  it  in  the  most  solemn 
manner,  and,  although  the  gentleman  had  some  how  obtained  a 
second,  the  final  vote  stood,  one  for,  and  one  hundred  and  seven- 
teen against  the  proposition ! 

In  one  respect  there  is  a  remarkable  difference  between  the 
administration  and  the  opposition;  it  is  in  a  sacred  regard  for 
personal  liberty.  When  out  of  power,  my  political  friends  condemn- 
ed the  surrender  of  Jonathan  Robbins ;  they  opposed  the  violation 
of  the  freedom  of  the  press,  in  the  sedition  law;  they  opposed  the 
more  insidious  attack  upon  the  freedom  of  the  person,  under  the 
imposing  garb  of  an  alien  law.  The  party  now  in  opposition,  then 
in  power,  advocated  the  sacrifice  of  the  unhappy  Robbins,  and 
passed  those  two  laws.  True  to  our  principles,  we  are  now 
struggling  for  the  liberty  of  our  seamen  against  foreign  oppression. 
True  to  theirs,  they  oppose  a  war  undertaken  for  this  object.  They 
have  indeed  lately  affected  a  tender  solicitude  for  the  liberties  of 
the  people,  and  talk  of  the  danger  of  standing  armies,  and  the 
burden  of  taxes.  But  it  must  be  evident  to  you,  Mr.  Chairman, 
that  they  speak  in  a  foreign  idiom.  Their  brogue  evinces  that  it  is 
not  their  vernacular  tongue.     What !  the  opposition,  who,  in  1798 

*  This  prediction  is  already  beginning  to  be  realized. — Editor. 


246  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

and  1799,  could  raise  a  useless  army  to  fight  an  enemy  three 
thousand  miles  distant  from  us,  alarmed  at  the  existence  of  one 
raised  for  a  known  and  specified  object  —  the  attack  of  the 
adjoining  provinces  of  the  enemy.  What!  the  gentleman  from 
Massachusetts,  who  assisted  by  his  vote  to  raise  the  army  of 
twenty- five  thousand,  alarmed  at  the  danger  of  our  liberties  from 
this  very  army! 

But,  sir,  I  must  speak  of  another  subject,  which  I  never  think  of 
but  with  feelings  of  the  deepest  awe.  The  gentleman  from 
Massachusetts,  in  imitation  of  some  of  his  predecessors  of  1799,  has 
entertained  us  with  a  picture  of  cabinet  plots,  presidential  plots,  and 
all  sorts  of  plots,  which  have  been  engendered  by  the  diseased  state 
of  the  gentleman's  imagination.  I  wish,  sir,  that  another  plot,  of  a 
much  more  serious  and  alarming  character — a  plot  that  aims  at 
the  dismemberment  of  our  union  —  had  only  the  same  imaginary 
existence.  But  no  man,  who  has  paid  any  attention  to  the  tone  of 
certain  prints,  and  to  transactions  in  a  particular  quarter  of  the 
union,  for  several  years  past,  can  doubt  the  existence  of  such  a 
plot.  It  was  far,  very  far  from  my  intention  to  charge  the  opposi- 
tion with  such  a  design.  No,  I  believe  them  generally  incapable 
of  it.  But  1  cannot  say  as  much  for  some,  who  have  been  unwor- 
thily associated  with  them  in  the  quarter  of  the  union  to  which  I 
have  referred.  The  gentleman  cannot  have  forgotten  his  own 
sentiment,  uttered  even  on  the  floor  of  this  house,  '  peaceably  if 
we  can,  forcibly  if  we  must,'  nearly  at  the  very  time  Henry's 
mission  to  Boston  was  undertaken.  The  flagiliousness  of  that 
embassy  had  been  attempted  to  be  concealed,  by  directing  the 
public  attention  to  the  price  which,  the  gentleman  says,  was  given 
for  the  disclosure.  As  if  any  price  could  change  the  atrociousness 
of  the  attempt  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain,  or  could  extenuate,  in 
the  slightest  degree,  the  offence  of  those  citizens,  who  entertained 
and  deliberated  upon  a  proposition  so  infamous  and  unnatural! 
There  was  a  most  remarkable  coincidence  between  some  of  the 
things  which  that  man  states,  and  certain  events  in  the  quarter 
alluded  to.  In  the  contingency  of  war  with  Great  Britain,  it  will 
be  recollected,  that  the  neutrality  and  eventual  separation  of  that 
section  of  the  union  was  to  be  brought  about.  How,  sir,  has  it 
happened,  since  the  declaration  of  war,  that  British  officers  in 
Canada  have  asserted  to  American  officers,  that  this  very  neutrality 
would  take  place?  That  they  have  so  asserted  can  be  established 
beyond  controversy.  The  project  is  not  brought  forward  openly, 
with  a  direct  avowal  of  the  intention.  No,  the  stock  of  good  sense 
and  patriotism  in  that  portion  of  the  country  is  too  great  to  be 
undisguisedly  encountered.  It  is  assailed  from  the  masked  batte- 
ries of  friendship,  of  peace  and  commerce,  on  the  one  side,  and  by 
the  groundless  imputation  of  opposite  propensities,  on  the  other.' 
The  affections  of  the  people,  there,  are  gradually  to  be  undermined. 


ON     THE     NEW     ARajY     BILL.  247 

The  project  is  suggested  or  withdrawn ;  the  diabolical  dramatis 
personce,  in  this  criminal  tragedy,  make  their  appearance  or  exit,  as 
the  audience,  to  whom  they  address  themselves,  applaud,  or 
condemn.  I  was  astonished,  sir,  in  reading  lately  a  letter,  or 
pretended  letter,  published  in  a  prominent  print  in  that  quarter,  and 
written,  not  in  the  fervor  of  party  zeal,  but  coolly  and  dispassion- 
ately, to  find  that  the  writer  afYected  to  reason  about  a  separation, 
and  attempted  to  demonstrate  its  advantages  to  the  different  portions 
of  the  union ;  deploring  the  existence  now  of  what  he  terms 
prejudices  against  it,  but  hoping  for  the  arrival  of  the  period  when 
they  shall  be  eradicated.  But,  sir,  I  will  quit  this  unpleasant 
subject;  I  will  turn  from  one,  whom  no  sense  of  decency  or 
propriety  could  restrain  from  soiling  the  carpet  on  which  he  treads,^ 
to  gentlemen,  who  have  not  forgotten  what  is  due  to  themselves,  to 
the  place  in  which  we  are  assembled,  or  to  those  by  whom  they  are 
opposed.  The  gentlemen  from  North  Carolina  (Mr.  Pearson), 
from  Connecticut  (Mr.  Pitkin),  and  from  New  York  (Mr.  Bleeker), 
have,  with  their  usual  decorum,  contended  that  the  war  would  not 
have  been  declared,  had  it  not  been  for  the  duplicity  of  France,  in 
withholding  an  authentic  instrument,  repealing  the  decrees  of 
Berlin  and  Milan ;  that  upon  the  exhibition  of  such  an  instrument, 
the  revocation  of  the  orders  in  council  took  place;  that  this  main 
cause  of  the  war,  but  for  which  it  would  not  have  been  declared, 
being  removed,  the  administration  ought  to  seek  for  the  restoration 
of  peace;  and  that,  upon  its  sincerely  doing  so,  terms  compatible 
with  the  honor  and  interest  of  this  country  might  be  obtained.  It 
is  my  purpose,  said  Mr.  Clay,  to  examine,  first,  into  the  circumstances 
under  which  the  war  was  declared;  secondly,  into  the  causes  of 
continuing  it ;  and,  lastly,  into  the  means  which  have  been  taken, 
or  ought  to  be  taken,  to  procure  peace ;  but,  sir,  I  am  really  so 
exhausted,  that,  little  as  I  am  in  the  habit  of  asking  of  the  house  an 
indulgence  of  this  kind,  I  feel  I  must  trespass  on  their  goodness. 

[  Here  Mr.  Clay  sat  down.  Mr.  Newton  moved,  that  the  com- 
mittee rise,  report  progress,  and  ask  leave  to  sit  again,  which  was 
done.     On  the  next  day  he  proceeded.  ] 

I  am  sensible,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  some  part  of  the  debate,  to 
which  this  bill  has  given  rise,  has  been  attended  by  circumstances 
much  to  be  regretted,  not  usual  in  this  house,  and  of  which  it  is  to 
be  hoped,  there  will  be  no  repetition.  The  gentleman  from  Boston 
had  so  absolved  himself  from  every  rule  of  decorum  and  propriety, 
had  so  outraged  all  decency,  that  I  have  found  it  impossible  to 
suppress  the  feelings  excited  on  the  occasion.  His  colleague,  whom 
I  have  the  honor  to  follow,  (Mr.  Wheaton,)  whatever  else  he  might 

*  It  is  due  to  Mr.  Clay  to  observe,  that  one  of  the  most  offensive  expressions  used  by 
Mr.  Quincy,  an  expression  which  produced  disgust  on  all  sides  of  the  house,  has  been 
omitted  in  that  gentleman's  reported  speech,  which  in  other  jespects  has  been  much 
softened.  —  Editor. 


248  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

not  have  proved,  in  his  very  learned,  ingenious,  and  original 
exposition  of  the  powers  of  this  government  —  an  exposition  in 
which  he  has  sought,  where  nobody  before  him  has,  and  nobody 
after  him  will  look,  for  a  grant  of  our  powers,  I  mean  the  preamble 
to  the  constitution — has  clearly  shown,  to  the  satisfaction  of  all 
who  heard  him,  that  the  power  of  defensive  war  is  conferred.  I 
els  im  the  benefit  of  a  similar  principle,  in  behalf  of  my  political 
fritnds,  against  the  gentlemen  from  Boston.  I  demand  only  the 
exeicise  of  the  right  of  repulsion.  No  one  is  more  anxious  than  I 
am  to  preserve  the  dignity  and  the  freedom  of  debate ;  no  member 
is  more  responsible  for  its  abuse,  and,  if,  on  this  occasion,  its  just 
limits  have  been  violated,  let  him,  who  has  been  the  unprovoked 
aggressor,  appropriate  to  himself,  exclusively,  the  consequences. 

I  omitted  yesterday,  sir,  when  speaking  of  a  delicate  and  pain- 
ful subject,  to  notice  a  powerful  engine  which  the  conspirators 
against  the  integrity  of  the  union  employ,  to  effect  their  nefarious 
purposes;  I  mean  southern  influence.  The  true  friend  to  his 
country,  knowing  that  our  constitution  was  the  work  of  compro- 
mise, in  which  interests  apparently  conflicting  were  attempted  to 
be  reconciled,  aims  to  extinguish  or  allay  prejudices.  But  this 
patriotic  exertion  does  not  suit  the  views  of  those,  who  are  urged 
on  by  diabolical  ambition.  They  find  it  convenient,  to  imagine  the 
existence  of  certain  improper  influences,  and  to  propagate  with  their 
utmost  industry  a  belief  of  them.  Hence  the  idea  of  southern 
preponderance,  Virginia  influence,  the  yoking  of  the  respectable 
yeomanry  of  the  north  with  negro  slaves  to  the  car  of  southern 
nabobs.  If  Virginia  really  cherished  a  reprehensible  ambition,  an 
aim  to  monopolize  the  chief  magistracy  of  the  country,  how  was 
such  a  purpose  to  be  accomplished  ?  Virginia,  alone,  cannot  elect 
a  president,  whose  elevation  depends  upon  a  plurality  of  electoral 
votes,  and  a  consequent  concurrence  of  many  states.  Would 
Vermont,  disinterested  Pennsylvania,  the  Carolinas,  independent 
Georgia,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Ohio,  Louisiana,  all  consent  to  be- 
come the  tools  of  inordinate  ambition  ?  But  the  present  incumbent 
was  designated  to  the  office  before  his  predecessor  had  retired.  How? 
By  public  sentiment;  public  sentiment,  which  grew  out  of  his 
known  virtues,  his  illustrious  services,  and  his  distinguished  abilities. 
Would  thp  gentleman  crush  this  public  sentiment?  —  is  he  prepared 
to  admit,  that  he  would  arrest  the  progress  of  opinion  ? 

The  war  was  declared,  because  Great  Britain  arrogated  to 
herself  the  pretension  of  regulating  our  foreign  trade,  under  the 
delusive  name  of  retaliatory  orders  in  council  —  a  pretension  by 
which  she  undertook  to  proclaim  to  American  enterprise,  '  thus 
far  shall  thou  go,  and  no  further'  —  orders  which  she  refused  to 
revoke,  after  the  alleged  cause  of  their  enactment  had  ceased  ; 
because  she  persisted  in  the  practice  of  impressing  American 
seamen ;  because  she  had  instigated  the  Indians  to  commit  hostili- 


ON     THE     NEW     ARMY     BILL.  249 

ties  against  us ;  and  because  she  refused  indemnity  for  her  past 
injuries  upon  our  commerce.  I  throw  out  of  the  question  other 
wrongs.  The  war  in  fact  was  announced,  on  our  part,  to  meet  the 
war  which  she  was  waging  on  her  part.  So  undeniable  were  the 
causes  of  the  war,  so  powerfully  did  they  address  themselves  to  the 
feelings  of  the  whole  American  people,  that  when  the  bill  was 
pending  before  this  house,  gentlemen  in  the  opposition,  although 
provoked  to  debate,  would  not,  or  could  not,  utter  one  syllable 
against  it.  It  is  true,  they  wrapped  themselves  up  in  sullen  silence, 
pretending  they  did  not  choose  to  debate  such  a  question  in  secret 
session.  Whilst  speaking  of  the  proceedings  on  that  occasion,  I 
beg  to  be  permitted  to  advert  to  another  fact  which  transpired; 
an  important  fact,  material  for  the  nation  to  know,  and  which  I 
have  often  regretted  had  not  been  spread  upon  our  journals.  My 
honorable  colleague  (Mr.  M'Kee)  moved,  in  committee  of  the 
whole,  to  comprehend  France  in  the  war ;  and  when  the  question 
was  taken  upon  the  proposition,  there  appeared  but  ten  votes  in 
support  of  it,  of  whom,  seven  belonged  to  this  side  of  the  house, 
and  three  only  to  the  other!  It  is  said,  that  we  were  inveigled  into 
the  war  by  the  perfidy  of  France ;  and  that,  had  she  furnished  the 
document  in  time,  which  was  first  published  in  England,  in  May 
last,  it  would  have  been  prevented.  I  will  concede  to  gentlemen, 
every  thing  they  ask  about  the  injustice  of  France  towards  this 
country.  I  wish  to  God,  that  our  ability  was  equal  to  our  disposi- 
tion, to  make  her  feel  the  sense  that  we  entertain  of  that  injustice. 
The  manner  of  the  publication  of  the  paper  in  question,  was, 
undoubtedly,  extremely  exceptionable.  But  I  maintain,  that,  had  it 
made  its  appearance  earlier,  it  would  not  have  had  the  effect  sup- 
posed; and  the  proof  lies  in  the  unequivocal  declarations  of  the 
British  government.  I  will  trouble  you,  sir,  with  going  no  further 
back  than  to  the  letters  of  the  British  minister,  addressed  to  the 
secretary  of  state,  just  before  the  expiration  of  his  diplomatic 
functions.  It  will  be  recollected  by  the  committee,  that  he  exhib- 
ited to  this  government  a  despatch,  from  lord  Castlereagh,  in  which 
the  principle  was  distinctly  avowed,  that,  to  produce  the  effect  of  a 
repeal  of  the  orders  in  council,  the  French  decrees  must  be  abso- 
lutely and  entirely  revoked  as  to  all  the  world,  and  not  as  to 
America  alone.  A  copy  of  that  despatch  was  demanded  of  him, 
and  he  very  awkwardly  evaded  it.  But  on  the  tenth  of  June,  after 
the  bill  declaring  war  had  actually  passed  this  house,  and  was 
pending  before  the  senate,  (and  which,  I  have  no  doubt,  was 
known  to  him,)  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Monroe,  he  says :  '  I  have  no 
hesitation,  sir,  in  saying,  that  Great  Britain,  as  the  case  has  hitherto 
stood,  never  did,  nor  never  could,  engage,  without  the  greatest 
injustice  to  herself  and  her  allies,  as  well  as  to  other  neutral  nations, 
to  repeal  her  orders  as  affecting  America  alone,  leaving  them  in 
force  against  other  states,  upon  condition  that  France  would 
vol.  i.  32 


250  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

except,  singly  and  specially,  America  from  the  operation  of  her 
decrees.'  On  the  fourteenth  of  the  same  month,  the  bill  still 
pending  before  the  senate,  he  repeats :  '  I  will  now  say,  that  I  feel 
entirely  authorized  to  assure  you,  that  if  you  can,  at  any  time, 
produce  a  full  and  unconditional  repeal  of  the  French  decrees,  as 
you  have  a  right  to  demand  it,  in  your  character  of  a  neutral  nation, 
and  that  it  be  disengaged  from  any  question  concerning  our 
maritime  rights,  we  shall  be  ready  to  meet  you  with  a  revocation 
of  the  orders  in  council.  Previously  to  your  producing  such  an 
instrument,  which  I  am  sorry  to  see  you  regard  as  unnecessary, 
you  cannot  expect  of  us  to  give  up  our  orders  in  council.'  Thus, 
sir,  you  see,  that  the  British  government  would  not  be  content  with 
a  repeal  of  the  French  decrees,  as  to  us  only.  But  the  French 
paper  in  question  was  such  a  repeal.  It  could  not,  therefore,  satisfy 
the  British  government.  It  could  not,  therefore,  have  induced  that 
government,  had  it  been  earlier  promulgated,  to  repeal  the  orders 
in  council.  It  could  not,  therefore,  have  averted  the  war.  The 
withholding  of  it  did  not  occasion  the  war,  and  the  promulgation 
of  it  would  not  have  prevented  the  war.  But  gentlemen  have 
contended,  that,  in  point  of  fact,  it  did  produce  a  repeal  of  the 
orders  in  council.  This  I  deny.  After  it  made  its  appearance  in 
England,  it  was  declared  by  one  of  the  British  ministry,  in  parlia- 
ment, not  to  be  satisfactory.  And  all  the  world  knows,  that  the 
repeal  of  the  orders  in  council  resulted  from  the  inquiry,  reluctantly 
acceded  to  by  the  ministry,  into  the  effect  upon  their  manufactur- 
ing establishments,  of  our  non-importation  law,  or  to  the  warlike 
attitude  assumed  by  this  government,  or  to  both.  But  it  is  said, 
that  the  orders  in  council  are  withdrawn,  no  matter  from  what 
cause;  and  that  having  been  the  sole  motive  for  declaring  the  war, 
the  relations  of  peace  ought  to  be  restored.  This  brings  me  to 
the  examination  of  the  grounds  for  continuing  the  present  hostili- 
ties between  this  country  and  Great  Britain. 

I  am  far  from  acknowledging,  that,  had  the  orders  in  council 
been  repealed,  as  they  have  been,  before  the  war  was  declared,  the 
declaration  of  hostilities  would  of  course  have  been  prevented. 
In  a  body  so  numerous  as  this  is,  from  which  the  declaration 
emanated,  it  is  impossible  to  say,  with  any  degree  of  certainty, 
what  would  have  been  the  effect  of  such  a  repeal.  Each  member 
must  answer  for  himself.  As  to  myself,  I  have  no  hesitation  in 
saying,  that  I  have  always  considered  the  impressment  of  American 
seamen  as  much  the  most  serious  aggression.  But,  sir,  how  have 
those  orders  at  last  been  repealed?  Great  Britain,  it  is  true,  has 
intimated  a  willingness  to  suspend  their  practical  operation,  but 
she  still  arrogates  to  herself  the  right  to  revive  them  upon 
certain  contingences,  of  which  she  constitutes  herself  the  sole 
judge.  She  waives  the  temporary  use  of  the  rod,  but  she  suspends 
it  in  terrorem  over  our  heads.     Supposing  it  to  be  conceded  to 


ON     THE     NEW     ARMY     BILL.  251 

gentlemen,  that  such  a  repeal  of  the  orders  in  council  as  took 
place  on  the  twenty-third  of  June  last,  exceptionable  as  it  is,  being 
known  before  the  war  was  proclaimed,  would  have  prevented  it; 
does  it  follow  that  it  ought  to  induce  us  to  lay  down  our  arms,  with- 
out the  redress  of  any  other  injury  of  which  we  complain  ?  Does 
it  follow,  in  all  cases,  that  that  which  would  in  the  first  instance 
have  prevented  would  also  terminate  the  war  ?  By  no  means. 
It  requires  a  strong  and  powerful  effort  in  a  nation,  prone  to  peace 
as  this  is,  to  burst  through  its  habits,  and  encounter  the  difficulties 
and  privations  of  war.  Such  a  nation  ought  but  seldom  to  embark 
in  a  belligerent  contest;  but.  when  it  does,  it  should  be  for  obvious 
and  essential  rights  alone,  and  should  firmly  resolve  to  extort,  at  all 
hazards,  their  recognition.  The  war  of  the  revolution  is  an  ex- 
ample of  a  war  begun  for  one  object  and  prosecuted  for  another. 
It  was  waged,  in  its  commencement,  against  the  right  asserted  by 
the  parent  country  to  tax  the  colonies.  Then,  no  one  thought  of 
absolute  independence.  The  idea  of  independence  was  repelled. 
But  the  British  government  would  have  relinquished  the  principle 
of  taxation.  The  founders  of  our  liberties  saw,  however,  that 
there  was  no  security  short  of  independence,  and  they  achieved 
that  independence.  When  nations  are  engaged  in  war,  those  rights 
in  controversy,  which  are  not  acknowledged  by  the  treaty  of  peace, 
are  abandoned.  And  who  is  prepared  to  say,  that  American 
seamen  shall  be  surrendered  as  victims  to  the  British  principle  of 
impressment  ?  And,  sir,  what  is  this  principle  ?  She  contends, 
that  she  has  a  right  to  the  services  of  her  own  subjects ;  and  that, 
in  the  exercise  of  this  right,  she  may  lawfully  impress  them,  even 
although  she  finds  them  in  American  vessels,  upon  the  high  seas, 
without  her  jurisdiction.  Now  I  deny  that  she  has  any  right, 
beyond  her  jurisdiction,  to  come  on  board  our  vessels,  upon  the 
high  seas,  for  any  other  purpose,  than  in  the  pursuit  of  enemies,  or 
their  goods,  or  goods  contraband  of  war.  But  she  further  contends, 
that  her  subjects  cannot  renounce  their  allegiance  to  her,  and 
contract  a  new  obligation  to  other  sovereigns.  I  do  not  mean  to 
go  into  the  general  question  of  the  right  of  expatriation.  If,  as  is 
contended,  all  nations  deny  it,  all  nations  at  the  same  time  admit 
and  practice  the  right  of  naturalization.  Great  Britain  herself  does 
this.  Great  Britain,  in  the  very  case  of  foreign  seamen,  imposes, 
perhaps,  fewer  restraints  upon  naturalization  than  any  other  nation. 
Then,  if  subjects  cannot  break  their  original  allegiance,  they  may, 
according  to  universal  usage,  contract  a  new  allegiance.  What  is 
the  effect  of  this  double  obligation  ?  Undoubtedly,  that  the  sove- 
reign, having  possession  of  the  subject,  would  have  the  right  to  the 
services  of  the  subject.  If  he  return  within  the  jurisdiction  of  his 
primitive  sovereign  he  may  resume  his  right  to  his  services,  of 
which  the  subject,  by  his  own  act,  could  not  divest  himself.  But 
hi3  primitive  sovereign  can  have  no  right  to  go  in  quest  of  him, 


252  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

out  of  his  own  jurisdiction,  into  the  jurisdiction  of  another  sove- 
reign, or  upon  the  high  seas,  where  there  exists  either  no  jurisdic- 
tion, or  it  is  possessed  by  the  nation  owning  the  ship  navigating 
them.  But,  sir,  this  discussion  is  altogether  useless.  It  is  not  to 
the  British  principle,  objectionable  as  it  is,  that  we  are  alone  to 
look  ;  it  is  to  her  practice  ;  no  matter  what  guise  she  puts  on.  It  is 
in  vain  to  assert  the  inviolability  of  the  obligation  of  allegiance. 
It  is  in  vain  to  set  up  the  plea  of  necessity,  and  to  allege  that  she 
cannot  exist,  without  the  impressment  of  her  seamen.  The  naked 
truth  is,  she  comes,  by  her  press-gangs,  on  board  of  our  vessels, 
seizes  our  native  as  well  as  naturalized  seamen,  and  drags  them 
into  her  service.  It  is  the  case,  then,  of  the  assertion  of  an  errone- 
ous principle,  and  of  a  practice  not  conformable  to  the  asserted 
principle  —  a  principle,  which,  if  it  were  theoretically  right,  must 
be  for  ever  practically  wrong — a  practice  which  can  obtain  counte- 
nance from  no  principle  whatever,  and  to  submit  to  which,  on  our 
part,  would  betray  the  most  abject  degradation.  We  are  told,  by 
gentlemen  in  the  opposition,  that  government  has  not  done  all  that 
was  incumbent  on  it  to  do,  to  avoid  just  cause  of  complaint  on  the 
part  of  Great  Britain ;  that,  in  particular,  the  certificates  of  protec- 
tion, authorized  by  the  act  of  1796,  are  fraudulently  used.  Sir, 
government  has  done  too  much  in  granting  those  paper  protections. 
I  can  never  think  of  them  without  being  shocked.  They  resemble 
the  passes  which  the  master  grants  to  his  negro  slave  —  'let  the 
bearer,  Mungo,  pass  and  repass  without  molestation.'  What  do 
they  imply  ?  That  Great  Britain  has  a  right  to  seize  all  who  are 
not  provided  with  them.  From  their  very  nature,  they  must  be 
liable  to  abuse  on  both  sides.  If  Great  Britain  desires  a  mark,  by 
which  she  can  know  her  own  subjects,  let  her  give  them  an  ear 
mark.  The  colors  that  float  from  the  mast-head  should  be  the 
credentials  of  our  seamen.  There  is  no  safety  to  us,  and  the  gentle- 
men have  shown  it,  but  in  the  rule,  that  all  who  sail  under  the  flag 
(not  being  enemies)  are  protected  by  the  flag.  It  is  impossi- 
ble, that  this  country  should  ever  abandon  the  gallant  tars,  who 
have  won  for  us  such  splendid  trophies.  Let  me  suppose  that  the 
genius  of  Columbia  should  visit  one  of  them  in  his  oppressor's 
prison,  and  attempt  to  reconcile  him  to  his  forlorn  and  wretched 
condition.  She  would  say  to  him,  in  the  language  of  gentlemen 
on  the  other  side,  *  Great  Britain  intends  you  no  harm  ;  she  did  not 
mean  to  impress  you,  but  one  of  her  own  subjects ;  having  taken 
you  by  mistake,  I  will  remonstrate,  and  try  to  prevail  upon  her,  by 
peaceable  means,  to  release  you ;  but  I  cannot,  my  son,  fight  for 
you.'  If  he  did  not  consider  this  mere  mockery,  the  poor  tar  would 
address  her  judgment,  and  say,  'you  owe  me,  my  country,  protec- 
tion ;  I  owe  you,  in  return,  obedience.  I  am  no  British  subject, 
I  am  a  native  of  old  Massachusetts,  where  lived  my  aged  father, 
my  wife,  my  children.     I   have   faithfully   discharged   my   duty. 


ON     THE     NEW     ARMY     BILL.  253 

Will  you  refuse  to  do  yours?'  Appealing  to  her  passions,  he 
would  continue :  '  I  lost  this  eye  in  fighting  under  Truxton,  with 
the  Insurgente ;  I  got  this  scar  before  Tripoli;  I  broke  this  leg  on 
board  the  Constitution,  when  the  Guerriere  struck.'  If  she  remained 
still  unmoved,  he  would  break  out,  in  the  accents  of  mingled  dis- 
tress and  despair, 

Hard,  hard  is  my  fate !  once  I  freedom  enjoyed, 

Was  as  happy  as  happy  could  be ! 

Oh!  how  hard  is  my  fate,  how  galling  these  chains!* 

I  will  not  imagine  the  dreadful  catastrophe  to  which  he  w^ould  be 
driven,  by  an  abandonment  of  him  to  his  oppressor.  It  will  not  be, 
it  cannot  be,  that  his  country  will  refuse  him  protection. 

It  is  said,  that  Great  Britain  has  been  always  willing  to  make  a 
satisfactory  arrangement  of  the  subject  of  impressment ;  and  that 
Mr.  King  had  nearly  concluded  one,  prior  to  his  departure  from 
that  country.  Let  us  hear  what  that  minister  says,  upon  his  return 
to  America.  In  his  letter,  dated  at  New  York,  in  July,  1S03,  after 
giving  an  account  of  his  attempt  to  form  an  arrangement  for  the 
protection  of  our  seamen,  and  his  interviews  to  this  end  with  lords 
Hawkesbury  and  St.  Vincent;  and  stating,  that,  when  he  had 
supposed  the  terms  of  a  convention  were  agreed  upon,  a  new 
pretension  was  set  up,  (the  mare  clausum,)  he  concludes  :  '  I  regret 
to  have  been  unable  to  put  this  business  on  a  satisfactory  footing, 
knowing,  as  I  do,  its  very  great  importance  to  both  parties  ;  but  I 
flatter  myself  that  I  have  not  misjudged  the  interests  of  our  own 
country,  in  refusing  to  sanction  a  principle,  that  might  be  produc- 
tive of  more  extensive  evils  than  those  it  was  our  aim  to  prevent.' 
The  sequel  of  his  negotiation  on  this  affair,  is  more  fully  given  in 
the  recent  conversation  between  Mr.  Russell  and  lord  Castlereagh, 
communicated  to  congress  during  its  present  session.  Lord  Castle- 
reagh says  to  Mr.  Russell : 

'  Indeed,  there  has  evidently  been  much  misapprehension  on  this 
subject ;  an  erroneous  belief  entertained,  that  an  arrangement,  in 
regard  to  it,  has  been  nearer  an  accomplishment  than  the  facts  will 
warrant.  Even  our  friends  in  congress,  I  mean  those  who  are 
opposed  to  going  to  war  with  us,  have  been  so  confident  in  this 
mistake,  that  they  have  ascribed  the  failure  of  such  an  arrange- 
ment solely  to  the  misconduct  of  the  American  government.  This 
error  probably  originated  with  Mr.  King;  for,  being  much  esteemed 
here,  and  always  well  received  by  the  persons  in  power,  he  seems 
to  have  misconstrued  their  readiness  to  listen  to  his  representations, 
and  their  warm  professions  of  a  disposition  to  remove  the  com- 

*  It  is  impossible  to  describe  the  pathetic  effect  produced  by  this  part  of  the  speech. 
The  day  was  chilling  cold  ;  so  much  so,  that  Mr.  Clay  has  been  heard  to  declare,  that 
it  was  the  only  time  he  ever  spoke,  when  he  was  unable  to  keep  himself  warm  by 
the  exercise  of  speaking ;  yet  there  were  few  eyes  that  did  not  testify  to  the  sensibility 
excited. — Editor 


254  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

plaints  of  America,  in  relation  to  impressment,  into  a  supposed 
conviction,  on  their  part,  of  the  propriety  of  adopting  the  plan 
which  he  had  proposed.  But  lord  St.  Vincent,  whom  he  might 
have  thought  he  had  brought  over  to  his  opinions,  appears  never 
for  a  moment  to  have  ceased  to  regard  all  arrangement  on  the 
subject  to  be  attended  with  formidable  if  not  insurmountable 
obstacles.  This  is  obvious,  from  a  letter  which  his  lordship 
addressed  to  sir  William  Scott,  at  the  time.'  Here  lord  Castlereagh 
read  a  letter,  contained  in  the  records  before  him,  in  which  lord  St. 
Vincent  states  to  sir  William  Scott,  the  zeal  with  which  Mr.  King 
had  assailed  him,  on  this  subject  of  impressment ;  confesses  his 
own  perplexity,  and  total  incompetency  to  discover  any  practical 
project,  for  the  safe  discontinuance  of  that  practice,  and  asks  for 
counsel  and  advice.  \  Thus  you  see/  proceeded  lord  Castlereagh, 
'that  the  confidence  of  Mr.  King,  on  this  subject,  was  entirely 
unfounded.' 

Thus  it  is  apparent,  that  at  no  time  has  the  enemy  been  willing 
to  place  this  subject  on  a  satisfactory  footing.  I  will  speak  here- 
after of  the  overtures  made  by  the  administration  since  the  war. 

The  honorable  gentleman  from  New  York  (Mr.  Bleeker),  in  the 
very  sensible  speech  with  which  he  favored  the  committee,  made 
one  observation,  which  did  not  comport  with  his  usual  liberal  and 
enlarged  views.  It  was,  that  those  who  are  most  interested  against 
the  practice  of  impressment,  did  not  desire  a  continuance  of  the 
war,  on  account  of  it;  whilst  those  (the  southern  and  western 
members)  who  had  no  interest  in  it,  were  the  zealous  advocates  of 
American  seamen.  It  was  a  provincial  sentiment,  unworthy  of 
that  gentleman.  It  was  one  which,  in  a  change  of  condition,  he 
would  not  express,  because  I  know  he  coald  not  feel  it.  Does  not 
that  gentleman  feel  for  the  unhappy  victims  of  the  tomahawk,  in 
the  western  wilds,  although  his  quarter  of  the  union  may  be 
exempted  from  similar  barbarities  ?  I  am  sure  he  does.  If  there 
be  a  description  of  rights,  which,  more  than  any  other,  should  unite 
all  parties  in  all  quarters  of  the  union,  it  is  unquestionably  the 
rights  of  the  person.  No  matter  what  his  vocation ;  whether  he 
seeks  subsistence  amidst  the  dangers  of  the  deep,  or  draws  them 
from  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  or  from  the  humblest  occupations  of 
mechanic  life  ;  whenever  the  sacred  rights  of  an  American  freeman 
are  assailed,  all  hearts  ought  to  unite,  and  every  arm  should  be 
braced,  to  vindicate  his  cause. 

The  gentleman  from  Delaware  sees  in  Canada  no  object  worthy 
of  conquest.  According  to  him,  it  is  a  cold,  sterile,  and  inhospita- 
ble region.  And  yet,  such  are  the  allurements  which  it  offers,  that 
the  same  gentleman  apprehends  that,  if  it  be  annexed  to  the  United 
States,  already  too  much  weakened  by  an  extension  of  territory, 
the  people  of  New  England  will  rush  over  the  line  and  depopulate 
that  section  of  the  union !     That  gentleman  considers  it  honest  to 


ON     THE     NEW     ARMY     BILL.  255 

hold  Canada  as  a  kind  of  hostage,  to  regard  it  as  a  sort  of  bond, 
for  the  good  behavior  of  the  enemy.  But  he  will  not  enforce  the 
bond.  The  actual  conquest  of  that  country  would,  according  to 
him,  make  no  impression  upon  the  enemy ;  and  yet  the  very  appre- 
hension only,  of  such  a  conquest,  would  at  all  times  have  a  power- 
ful operation  upon  him !  Other  gentlemen  consider  the  invasion 
of  that  country  as  wicked  and  unjustifiable.  Its  inhabitants  are 
represented  as  harmless  and  unoffending;  as  connected  with  those 
of  the  bordering  states  by  a  thousand  tender  ties,  interchanging 
acts  of  kindness,  and  all  the  offices  of  good  neighborhood.  Canada, 
said  Mr.  Clay,  innocent!  Canada  unoffending!  Is  it  not  in 
Canada,  that  the  tomahawk  of  the  savage  has  been  moulded  into 
its  death-like  form  ?  Has  it  not  been  from  Canadian  magazines, 
Maiden  and  others,  that  those  supplies  have  been  issued,  which 
nourish  and  continue  the  Indian  hostilities  —  supplies  which  have 
enabled  the  savage  hordes  to  butcher  the  garrison  of  Chicago,  and 
to  commit  other  horrible  excesses  and  murders?  Was  it  not  by  the 
joint  cooperation  of  Canadians  and  Indians,  that  a  remote  Ameri- 
can fort,  Michilimackinac,  was  assailed  and  reduced,  while  in 
ignorance  of  a  state  of  war?  But,  sir,  how  soon  have  the  opposi- 
tion changed  their  tone!  When  the  administration  was  striving,  by 
the  operation  of  peaceful  measures,  to  bring  Great  Britain  back  to 
a  sense  of  justice,  they  were  for  old-fashioned  war.  And,  now 
they  have  got  old-fashioned  war,  their  sensibilities  are  cruelly 
shocked,  and  all  their  sympathies  lavished  upon  the  harmless 
inhabitants  of  the  adjoining  provinces.  What  does  a  state  of  war 
present?  The  united  energies  of  one  people  arrayed  against  the 
combined  energies  of  another;  a  conflict  in  which  each  party 
aims  to  inflict  all  the  injury  it  can,  by  sea  and  land,  upon  the  terri- 
tories, property,  and  citizens  of  the  other ;  subject  only  to  the  rules 
of  mitigated  war,  practiced  by  civilized  nations.  The  gentleman 
would  not  touch  the  continental  provinces  of  the  enemy,  nor,  I 
presume,  for  the  same  reason,  her  possessions  in  the  West  Indies. 
The  same  humane  spirit  would  spare  the  seamen  and  soldiers  of 
the  enemy.  The  sacred  person  of  his  majesty  must  not  be  attacked  ; 
for  the  learned  gentlemen,  on  the  other  side,  are  quite  familiar  with 
the  maxim,  that  the  king  can  do  no  wrong.  Indeed,  sir,  I  know 
of  no  person  on  whom  we  may  make  war,  upon  the  principles  of 
the  honorable  gentlemen,  but  Mr.  Stephen,  the  celebrated  author  of 
the  orders  in  council,  or  the  board  of  admiralty,  who  authorize  and 
regulate  the  practice  of  impressment! 

The  disasters  of  the  war  admonish  us,  we  are  told,  of  the 
necessity  of  terminating  the  contest.  If  our  achievements  by  land 
have  been  less  splendid  than  those  of  our  intrepid  seamen  by 
water,  it  is  not  because  the  American  soldier  is  less  brave.  On 
the  one  element,  organization,  discipline,  and  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  their  duties,  exist,  on  the  part  of  the  officers  and  their  men.    On 


256  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

the  other,  almost  every  thing  is  yet  to  be  acquired.  "We  have, 
however,  the  consolation,  that  our  country  abounds  with  the  richest 
materials,  and  that  in  no  instance,  when  engaged  in  action,  have 
our  arms  been  tarnished.  At  Brownstown  and  at  Queenstown,  the 
valor  of  veterans  was  displayed,  and  acts  of  the  noblest  heroism 
were  performed.  It  is  true,  that  the  disgrace  of  Detroit  remains  to 
be  wiped  off.  That  is  a  subject  on  which  I  cannot  trust  my  feel- 
ings ;  it  is  not  fitting  I  should  speak.  But  this  much  I  will  say,  it 
was  an  event  which  no  human  foresight  could  have  anticipated, 
and  for  which  the  administration  cannot  be  justly  censured.  It 
was  the  parent  of  all  the  misfortunes  we  have  experienced  on  land. 
But  for  it,  the  Indian  war  would  have  been,  in  a  great  measure, 
prevented  or  terminated ;  the  ascendency  on  lake  Erie  acquired, 
and  the  war  pushed  on,  perhaps,  to  Montreal.  With  the  exception 
of  that  event,  the  war,  even  upon  the  land,  has  been  attended  by  a 
series  of  the  most  brilliant  exploits,  which,  whatever  interest  they 
may  inspire  on  this  side  of  the  mountains,  have  given  the  greatest 
pleasure  on  the  other.  The  expedition,  under  the  command  of 
governor  Edwards  and  colonel  Russell,  to  lake  Pioria,  on  the 
Illinois,  was  completely  successful.  So  was  that  of  captain  Craig, 
who,  it  is  said,  ascended  that  river  still  higher.  General  Hopkins 
destroyed  the  prophet's  town.  We  have  just  received  intelligence 
of  the  gallant  enterprise  of  colonel  Campbell.  In  short,  sir,  the 
Indian  towns  have  been  swept  from  the  mouth  to  the  source  of  the 
Wabash ;  and  a  hostile  country  has  been  penetrated  far  beyond  the 
most  daring  incursions  of  any  campaign,  during  the  former  Indian 
war.  Never  was  more  cool,  deliberate  bravery  displayed,  than  that 
by  Newman's  party,  from  Georgia.  And  the  capture  of  the  Detroit, 
and  the  destruction  of  the  Caledonia,  (whether  placed  to  a  maritime 
or  land  account,)  for  judgment,  skill,  and  courage,  on  the  part  of 
lieutenant  Elliot,  have  never  been  surpassed. 

It  is  alleged,  that  the  elections  in  England  are  in  favor  of  the 
ministry,  and  that  those  in  this  country  are  against  the  war.  If,  in 
such  a  cause,  (saying  nothing  of  the  impurity  of  their  elections,) 
the  people  of  that  country  have  rallied  round  their  government,  it 
affords  a  salutary  lesson  to  the  people  here ;  who,  at  all  hazards, 
ought  to  support  theirs,  struggling  as  it  is  to  maintain  our  just 
rights.  But  the  people  here  have  not  been  false  to  themselves ;  a 
great  majority  approve  the  war,  as  is  evinced  by  the  recent  reelec- 
tion of  the  chief  magistrate.  Suppose  it  were  even  true,  that  an 
entire  section  of  the  union  were  opposed  to  the  war;  that  section 
being  a  minority,  is  the  will  of  the  majority  to  be  relinquished  ? 
In  that  section  the  real  strength  of  the  opposition  had  been  greatly 
exaggerated.  Vermont  has,  by  two  successive  expressions  of  her 
opinion,  approved  the  declaration  of  war.  In  New  Hampshire, 
parties  are  so  nearly  equipoised,  that  out  of  thirty  or  thirty-five 
thousand  votes,  those  who  approved  and  are  for  supporting  it,  lost 


ON     THE     NEW     ARMY     BILL.  257 

the  election  by  only  one  thousand  or  one  thousand  five  hundred. 
In  Massachusetts  alone  have  they  obtained  any  considerable 
accession.  If  we  come  to  New  York,  we  shall  find  that  other  and 
local  causes  have  influenced  her  elections. 

What  cause,  Mr.  Chairman,  which  existed  for  declaring  the  war, 
has  been  removed?  We  sought  indemnity  for  the  past,  and 
security  for  the  future.  The  orders  in  council  are  suspended,  not 
revoked;  no  compensation  for  spoliations  ;  Indian  hostilities,  which 
were  before  secretly  instigated,  are  now  openly  encouraged ;  and 
the  practice  of  impressment  unremittingly  persevered  in  and  in- 
sisted upon.  Yet  the  administration  has  given  the  strongest  demon- 
strations of  its  love  of  peace.  On  the  twenty-ninth  of  June,  less  than 
ten  days  after  the  declaration  of  war,  the  secretary  of  state  writes 
to  Mr.  Russell,  authorizing  him  to  agree  to  an  armistice,  upon  two 
conditions  only,  and  what  are  they?  That  the  orders  in  council 
should  be  repealed,  and  the  practice  of  impressing  American  sea- 
men cease,  those  already  impressed  being  released.  The  proposi- 
tion was  for  nothing  more  than  a  real  truce ;  that  the  war  should  in 
fact  cease  on  both  sides.  Again,  on  the  twenty-seventh  of  July, 
one  month  later,  anticipating  a  possible  objection  to  these  terms, 
reasonable  as  they  are,  Mr.  Monroe  empowers  Mr.  Russell  to 
stipulate  in  general  terms  for  an  armistice,  having  only  an  in- 
formal understanding  on  these  points.  In  return,  the  enemy  is 
offered  a  prohibition  of  the  employment  of  his  seamen  in  our 
service,  thus  removing  entirely  all  pretext  for  the  practice  of  im- 
pressment. The  very  proposition  which  the  gentleman  from 
Connecticut  (Mr.  Pitkin)  contends  ought  to  be  made^  has  been 
made.  How  are  these  pacific  advances  met  by  the  other  party  ? 
Rejected,  as  absolutely  inadmissible  ;  cavils  are  indulged  about  the 
inadequacy  of  Mr.  Russell's  powers,  and  the  want  of  an  act  of 
congress  is  intimated.  And  yet  the  constant  usage  of  nations,  I 
believe,  is,  where  the  legislation  of  one  party  is  necessary  to  carry 
into  effect  a  given  stipulation,  to  leave  it  to  the  contracting  party  to 
provide  the  requisite  laws.  If  he  fail  to  do  so,  it  is  a  breach  of 
good  faith,  and  becomes  the  subject  of  subsequent  remonstrance 
by  the  injured  party.  When  Mr.  Russell  renews  the  overture,  in 
what  was  intended  as  a  more  agreeable  form  to  the  British  govern- 
ment, lord  Castlereagh  is  not  content  with  a  simple  rejection,  but 
clothes  it  in  the  language  of  insult.  Afterwards,  in  conversation 
with  Mr.  Russell,  the  moderation  of  our  government  is  misinter- 
preted, and  made  the  occasion  of  a  sneer,  that  we  are  tired  of  the 
war.  The  proposition  of  admiral  Warren  is  submitted  in  a 
spirit  not  more  pacific.  He  is  instructed,  he  tells  us,  to  propose, 
that  the  government  of  the  United  States  shall  instantly  recall  their 
letters  of  marque  and  reprisal  against  British  ships,  together  with 
all  orders  and  instructions  for  any  acts  of  hostility  whatever,  against 
the  territories  of  his  majestv,  or  the  persons  or  property  of  his 
vol.  i.  33 


258  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

subjects.  That  small  affair  being  settled,  he  is  further  authorized 
to  arrange  as  to  the  revocation  of  the  laws  which  interdict  the 
commerce  and  ships  of  war  of  his  majesty  from  the  harbors  and 
waters  of  the  United  States.  This  messenger  of  peace  comes 
with  one  qualified  concession  in  his  pocket,  not  made  to  the  justice 
of  our  demands,  and  is  fully  empowered  to  receive  our  homage,  a 
contrite  retraction  of  all  our  measures  adopted  against  his  master! 
And,  in  default,  he  does  not  fail  to  assure  us,  the  orders  in  council 
are  to  be  forthwith  revived.  The  administration,  still  anxious  to 
terminate  the  war,  suppresses  the  indignation  which  such  a  proposal 
ought  to  have  created,  and,  in  its  answer,  concludes  by  informing 
admiral  Warren, '  that  if  there  be  no  objection  to  an  accommodation 
of  the  difference  relating  to  impressment,  in  the  mode  proposed, 
other  than  the  suspension  of  the  British  claim  to  impressment 
during  the  armistice,  there  can  be  none  to  proceeding,  ivithont 
the  armistice^  to  an  immediate  discussion  and  arrangement  of  an 
article  on  that  subject.'  Thus  it  has  left  the  door  of  negotiation 
unclosed,  and  it  remains  to  be  seen,  if  the  enemy  will  accept  the 
invitation  tendered  to  him.  The  honorable  gentleman  from  North 
Carolina  (Mr.  Pearson)  supposes,  that  if  congress  would  pass  a 
law,  prohibiting  the  employment  of  British  seamen  in  our  service, 
upon  condition  of  a  like  prohibition  on  their  part,  and  repeal  the 
act  of  non-importation,  peace  would  immediately  follow.  Sir,  I 
have  no  doubt,  if  such  a  law  were  to  pass,  with  all  the  requisite 
solemnities,  and  the  repeal  to  take  place,  lord  Castlereagh  would 
laugh  at  our  simplicity.  No,  sir,  the  administration  has  erred  in  the 
steps  which  it  has  taken  to  restore  peace,  but  its  error  has  been,  not 
in  doing  too  little,  but  in  betraying  too  great  a  solicitude  for  that 
event.  An  honorable  peace  is  attainable  only  by  an  efficient  war. 
My  plan  would  be,  to  call  out  the  ample  resources  of  the  country, 
give  them  a  judicious  direction,  prosecute  the  war  with  the  utmost 
vigor,  strike  wherever  we  can  reach  the  enemy,  at  sea  or  on  land, 
and  negotiate  the  terms  of  a  peace  at  Quebec  or  at  Halifax.  We 
are  told,  that  England  is  a  proud  and  lofty  nation,  which,  disdain- 
ing to  wait  for  danger,  meets  it  half  way.  Haughty  as  she  is,  we 
once  triumphed  over  her,  and,  if  we  do  not  listen  to  the  counsels  of 
timidity  and  despair,  we  shall  again  prevail.  In  such  a  cause,  with 
the  aid  of  Providence,  we  must  come  out  crowned  with  success ; 
but.  if  we  fail,  let  us  fail  like  men,  lash  ourselves  to  our  gallant  tars, 
and   expire  together  in  one  common  struggle,  fighting  for  free 


ON  HIS  RETURN  FROM  GHENT. 

AT  LEXINGTON,  KENTUCKY,  OCTOBER  7,  1815. 


[In  the  following  brief  speech,  delivered  at  a  public  dinner,  given  to  him  by  his 
fellow-citizens  of  Lexington,  Kentucky,  after  his  return  from  the  negotiation  of  a 
treaty  of  peace,  at  Ghent,  Mr.  Clay  takes  a  summary  view  of  the  results  of  the  war 
with  Great  Britain,  and  the  benefits  which  the  United  States,  as  a  nation,  had  gained 
by  that  contest  with  a  gigantic  foe,  triumphant  at  last  in  all  her  European  wars. 
His  allusions  to  the  discussions  at  Ghent,  and  the  proud  and  dignified  attitude  assumed 
and  maintained  by  our  commissioners,  on  that  occasion,  will  be  read  with  interest, 
while  his  views  of  the  bright  prospects  opened  to  our  country  by  the  peace,  have  been 
verified  by  subsequent  national  prosperity,  particularly  when  the  measures  of  public 
policy  advocated  and  recommended  by  Mr.  Clay  have  been  adopted. 

The  sixth  toast  was : 

'  Our  able  negotiators  at  Ghent  Their  talents  for  diplomacy  have  kept  pace  with 
the  valor  of  our  arms,  in  'demonstrating'  to  the  enemy,  that  these  states  will  be  free.' 

This  toast  was  received  with  loud  and  repeated  cheering.  After  it  had  subsided, 
JMr.  Clay  addressed  the  assembly  as  follows.] 


I  feel  myself  called  on,  by  the  sentiment  just  expressed,  to  return 
my  thanks,  in  behalf  of  my  colleagues  and  myself.  I  do  not,  and 
am  quite  sure  they  do  not,  feel,  that,  in  the  service  alluded  to,  they  are 
at  all  entitled  to  the  compliment  which  has  been  paid  them.  We 
could  not  do  otherwise  than  reject  the  demand  made  by  the  other 
party ;  and  if  our  labors  finally  terminated  in  an  honorable  peace, 
it  was  owing  to  causes  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  and  not  to  any 
exertion  of  ours.  Whatever  diversity  of  opinion  may  have  existed 
as  to  the  declaration  of  the  war,  there  are  some  points  on  which  all 
may  look  back  with  proud  satisfaction.  The  first  relates  to  the 
time  of  the  conclusion  of  the  peace.  Had  it  been  made  immedi- 
ately after  the  treaty  of  Paris,  we  should  have  retired  humiliated 
from  the  contest,  believing  that  we  had  escaped  the  severe  chastise- 
ment with  which  we  were  threatened,  and  that  we  owed  to  the 
generosity  and  magnanimity  of  the  enemy,  what  we  were  incapable 
of  commanding  by  our  arms.  That  magnanimity  would  have 
been  the  theme  of  every  tongue,  and  of  every  press,  abroad  and  at 
home.  We  should  have  retired,  unconscious  of  our  own  strength, 
and  unconscious  of  the  utter  inability  of  the  enemy,  with  his  whole 
undivided  force,  to  make  any  serious  impression  upon  us.  Our 
military  character,  then  in  the  lowest  state  of  degradation,  would 


260  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

have  been  unretrieved.  Fortunately  for  us,  Great  Britain  chose  to 
try  the  issue  of  the  last  campaign.  And  the  issue  of  the  last  cam- 
paign has  demonstrated,  in  the  repulse  before  Baltimore,  the  retreat 
from  Plattsburgh,  the  hard-fought  action  on  the  Niagara  frontier, 
and  in  that  most  glorious  day.  the  eighth  of  January,  that  we  have 
always  possessed  the  finest  elements  of  military  composition,  and 
that  a  proper  use  of  them,  only,  was  necessary,  to  insure  for  the 
army  and  militia  a  fame  as  imperishable  as  that  which  the  navy 
had  previously  acquired. 

Another  point  which  appears  to  me  to  afford  the  highest  conso- 
lation is,  that  we  fought  the  most  powerful  nation,  perhaps,  in 
existence,  single-handed  and  alone,  without  any  sort  of  alliance. 
More  than  thirty  years  has  Great  Britain  been  maturing  her  physi- 
cal means,  which  she  had  rendered  as  efficacious  as  possible,  by 
skill,  by  discipline,  and  by  actual  service.  Proudly  boasting  of  the 
conquest  of  Europe,  she  vainly  flattered  herself  with  the  easy  con- 
quest of  America  also.  Her  veterans  were  put  to  flight  or  defeated, 
while  all  Europe  —  I  mean  the  governments  of  Europe  —  was 
gazing  with  cold  indifference,  or  sentiments  of  positive  hatred  of 
us,  upon  the  arduous  contest.  Hereafter  no  monarch  can  assert 
claims  of  gratitude  upon  us,  for  assistance  rendered  in  the  hour  of 
danger. 

There  is  another  view  of  which  the  subject  of  the  war  is  fairly 
susceptible.  From  the  moment  that  Great  Britain  came  forward 
at  Ghent  with  her  extravagant  demands,  the  war  totally  changed  its 
character.  It  became,  as  it  were,  a  new  war.  It  was  no  longer  an 
American  war,  prosecuted  for  redress  of  British  aggressions  upon 
American  rights,  but  became  a  British  war,  prosecuted  for  objects 
of  British  ambition,  to  be  accompanied  by  American  sacrifices. 
And  what  were  those  demands  ?  Here,  in  the  immediate  neigh- 
borhood of  a  sister  state  and  territories,  which  were  to  be  made  in 
part  the  victims,  they  must  have  been  felt,  and  their  enormity  justly 
appreciated.  They  consisted  of  the  erection  of  a  barrier  between 
Canada  and  the  United  States,  to  be  formed  by  cutting  off.  from 
Ohio  and  some  of  the  territories  a  country  more  extensive  than 
Great  Britain,  containing  thousands  of  freemen,  who  were  to  be 
abandoned  to  their  fate,  and  creating  a  new  power,  totally  unknown 
upon  the  continent  of  America ;  of  the  dismantling  of  our  fortresses, 
and  naval  power  on  the  lakes,  with  the  surrender  of  the  military 
occupation  of  those  waters  to  the  enemy,  and  of  an  arrondissement 
for  two  British  provinces.  These  demands,  boldly  asserted,  and 
one  of  them  declared  to  be  a  sine  qua  non,  were  finally  relinquished. 
Taking  this  view  of  the  subject,  if  there  be  loss  of  reputation  by 
either  party,  in  the  terms  of  peace,  who  has  sustained  it? 

The  effects  of  the  war  are  highly  satisfactory.  Abroad,  our 
character,  which  at  the  time  of  its  declaration  was  in  the  lowest 
state  of  degradation,  is  raised  to  the  highest  point  of  elevation.     It 


ON  HIS  RETURN  FROM  GHENT.  261 

is  impossible  for  any  American  to  visit  Europe,  without  being 
sensible  of  this  agreeable  change,  in  the  personal  attentions  which 
he  receives,  in  the  praises  which  are  bestowed  on  our  past  exertions, 
and  the  predictions  which  are  made  as  to  our  future  prospects.  At 
home,  a  government,  which,  at  its  formation,  was  apprehended  by 
its  best  friends,  and  pronounced  by  its  enemies  to  be  incapable  of 
standing  the  shock,  is  found  to  answer  all  the  purposes  of  its  insti- 
tution. In  spite  of  the  errors  which  have  been  committed  (and 
errors  have  undoubtedly  been  committed),  aided  by  the  spirit  and 
patriotism  of  the  people,  it  is  demonstrated  to  be  as  competent  to 
the  objects  of  effective  war,  as  it  has  been  before  proved  to  be  to 
the  concerns  of  a  season  of  peace.  Government  has  thus  acquired 
strength  and  confidence.  Our  prospects  for  the  future,  are  of  the 
brightest  kind.  With  every  reason  to  count  on  the  permanence  of 
peace,  it  remains  only  for  the  government  to  determine  upon 
military  and  naval  establishments  adapted  to  the  growth  and  exten- 
sion of  our  country  and  its  rising  importance,  keeping  in  view  a 
gradual  but  not  burdensome  increase  of  the  navy ;  to  provide  for 
the  payment  of  the  interest,  and  the  redemption  of  the  public  debt, 
and  for  the  current  expenses  of  government.  For  all  these  objects, 
the  existing  sources  of  the  revenue  promise  not  only  to  be  abun- 
dantly sufficient,  but  will  probably  leave  ample  scope  to  the  exercise 
of  the  judgment  of  congress,  in  selecting  for  repeal,  modification, 
or  abolition,  those  which  may  be  found  most  oppressive,  inconve- 
nient, or  unproductive. 

[The  eighteenth  and  last  toast  was,  'our  gue9t,  Henry  Clay.  We  welcome  his 
return  to  that  country,  whose  rights  and  interests  he  has  so  ably  maintained,  at  home 
and  abroad.'] 

My  friends,  I  must  again  thank  you  for  your  kind  and  affection- 
ate attention.  My  reception  has  been  more  like  that  of  a  brother, 
than  a  common  friend  or  acquaintance,  and  I  am  utterly  incapable 
of  finding  words  to  express  my  gratitude.  My  situation  is  like 
that  of  a  Swedish  gentleman,  at  a  dinner  given  in  England,  by  the 
Society  of  Friends  of  Foreigners  in  Distress.  A  toast  having 
been  given  complimentary  to  his  country,  it  was  expected,  as  is 
usual  on  such  occasions,  that  he  would  rise  and  address  the  com- 
pany. The  gentleman,  not  understanding  the  English  language, 
rose  under  great  embarrassment,  and  said,  'sir,  I  wish  you  to 
consider  me  A  Foreigner  in  Distress.'  I  wish  you,  gentlemen, 
to  consider  me  a  Friend  in  distress. 


ON  THE  UNITED  STATES  BANK  QUESTION. 

ADDRESS  TO  HIS  CONSTITUENTS  AT  LEXINGTON,  JUNE  3, 1816. 


[  Mr.  Clay  here  explains  to  the  electors  of  the  congressional  district  of  Kentucky 
which  he  represented,  the  grounds  of  his  change  of  opinion  on  the  subject  of  a 
national  bank.  We  have  seen,  by  his  speech  delivered  in  the  senate  of  the  United 
States,  in  1811,  that  he  had  opposed  the  renewal  of  the  charter  of  the  first  bank  of 
the  United  States,  and  now,  in  1816,  he  had  advocated  the  bill  brought  in  by  Mr. 
Calhoun,  of  South  Carolina,  for  incorporating  a  similar  institution,  which  bill  passed 
both  houses  of  congress,  and  received  the  signature  of  president  Madison.*  A  peru- 
sal of  the  following  address  will,  it  is,  believed,  satisfy  all  candid  persons  of  the 
sincerity  and  patriotism  of  Mr.  Clay,  on  both  occasions.  As  one  of  his  biographers 
remarks,  '  there  is  no  other  instance,  in  the  whole  history  of  his  life,  where  he  has 
changed  his  opinions,  on  an  important  subject.  His  ingenuousness  is  evinced  by  his 
having  changed  once,  but  his  firmness  by  his  having  done  so  6m/  once.  And  what  was 
it  that  wrought  this  single  revolution  in  his  sentiments'?  A  mighty  event,  whose 
consequences  could  be  learned  only  from  experience  —  the  occurrence  of  a  war 
with  Great  Britain,  which  changed,  not  only  his  views  of  the  policy  of  a  ba*nk,  but 
those  of  almost  every  other  leading  politician  in  the  country.'  ] 


On  one  subject,  that  of  the  bank  of  the  United  States,  to  which 
at  the  late  session  of  congress  he  gave  his  humble  support,  Mr. 
Clay  felt  particularly  anxious  to  explain  the  grounds  on  which  he 
had  acted.  This  explanation,  if  not  due  to  his  own  character,  the 
state,  and  the  district  to  which  he  belonged,  had  a  right  to  demand. 
It  would  have  been  unnecessary,  if  his  observations,  addressed  to 
the  house  of  representatives,  pending  the  measure,  had  been 
published;  but  they  were  not  published,  and  why  they  were  not 
published  he  was  unadvised. 

When  he  was  a  member  of  the  senate  of  the  United  States,  he 
was  induced  to  oppose  the  renewal  of  the  charter  to  the  old  bank 
of  the  United  States  by  three  general  considerations.  The  first 
was,  that  he  was  instructed  to  oppose  it  by  the  legislature  of  the 
state.  What  were  the  reasons  that  operated  with  the  legislature, 
in  giving  the  instruction,  he  did  not  know.  He  has  understood 
from  members  of  that  body,  at  the  time  it  was  given,  that  a  clause, 
declaring  that  congress  had  no  power  to  grant  the  charter,  was 
stricken  out ;  from  which  it  might  be  inferred,  either  that  the  legis- 

*  This  speech  was  never  published. 


ON     THE     BANK     QUESTION.  263 

lature  did  not  believe  a  bank  to  be  unconstitutional,  or  that  it  had 
formed  no  opinion  on  that  point.  This  inference  derives  additional 
strength  from  the  fact,  that,  although  the  two  late  senators  from  this 
state,  as  well  as  the  present  senators,  voted  for  a  national  bank,  the 
legislature,  which  must  have  been  well  apprized  that  such  a  meas- 
ure was  in  contemplation,  did  not  again  interpose,  either  to  protest 
against  the  measure  itself,  or  to  censure  the  conduct  of  those  sena- 
tors. From  this  silence  on  the  part  of  a  body  which  has  ever  fixed 
a  watchful  eye  upon  the  proceedings  of  the  general  government, 
he  had  a  right  to  believe,  that  the  legislature  of  Kentucky  saw, 
without  dissatisfaction,  the  proposal  to  establish  a  national  bank ; 
and  that  its  opposition  to  the  former  one  was  upon  grounds  of 
expediency,  applicable  to  that  corporation  alone,  or  no  longer  exist- 
ing. But  when,  at  the  last  session,  the  question  came  up  as  to  the 
establishment  of  a  national  bank,  being  a  member  of  the  house  of 
representatives,  the  point  of  inquiry  with  him,  was,  not  so  much 
what  was  the  opinion  of  the  legislature,  although  undoubtedly  the 
opinion  of  a  body  so  respectable  would  have  great  weight  with 
him  under  any  circumstances,  as,  what  were  the  sentiments  of  his 
immediate  constituents.  These  he  believed  to  be  in  favor  of  such 
an  institution,  from  the  following  circumstances.  In  the  first  place, 
his  predecessor  (Mr.  Hawkins)  voted  for  a  national  bank,  without 
the  slightest  murmur  of  discontent.  Secondly,  during  the  last  fall, 
when  he  was  in  his  district,  he  conversed  freely  with  many  of  his 
constituents  upon  that  subject,  then  the  most  common  topic  of 
conversation,  and  all,  without  a  single  exception,  as  far  as  he 
recollected,  agreed  that  it  was  a  desirable  if  not  the  only  efficient 
remedy  for  the  alarming  evils  in  the  currency  of  the  country. 
And,  lastly,  during  the  session,  he  received  many  letters  from  his 
constituents,  prior  to  the  passage  of  the  bill,  all  of  which  concurred, 
he  believed  without  a  solitary  exception,  in  advising  the  measure. 
So  far  then  from  being  instructed  by  his  district  to  oppose  the  bank, 
he  had  what  was  perhaps  tantamount  to  an  instruction  to  support 
it  —  the  acquiescence  of  his  constituents  in  the  vote  of  their  former 
representative,  and  the  communications,  oral  and  written,  of  the 
opinions  of  many  of  them  in  favor  of  a  bank. 

The  next  consideration  which  induced  him  to  oppose  the 
renewal  of  the  old  charter,  was,  that  he  believed  the  corporation 
had,  during  a  portion  of  the  period  of  its  existence,  abused  its 
powers,  and  had  sought  to  subserve  the  views  of  a  political  party. 
Instances  of  its  oppression,  for  that  purpose,  were  asserted  to  have 
occurred  at  Philadelphia  and  at  Charleston  ;  and,  although  denied  in 
congress  by  the  friends  of  the  institution,  during  the  discussions  on 
the  application  for  the  renewal  of  the  charter,  they  were,  in  his 
judgment,  satisfactorily  made  out.  This  oppression,  indeed,  was 
admitted  in  the  house  of  representatives,  in  the  debate  on  the 
present  bank,  by  a  distinguished  member  of  that  party  which  had 


264  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

so  warmly  espoused  the  renewal  of  the  old  charter.  It  may  be 
said,  what  security  is  there,  that  the  new  bank  will  not  imitate  this 
example  of  oppression  ?  He  answered,  the  fate  of  the  old  bank, 
warning  all  similar  institutions  to  shun  politics,  with  which  they 
ought  not  to  have  any  concern ;  the  existence  of  abundant  compe- 
tition, arising  from  the  great  multiplication  of  banks;  and  the 
precautions  which  arc  to  be  found  in  the  details  of  the  present  bill. 

A  third  consideration  upon  which  he  acted  in  1811,  was,  that  as 
the  power  to  create  a  corporation,  such  as  was  proposed  to  be 
continued,  was  not  specifically  granted  in  the  constitution,  and  did 
not  then  appear  to  him  to  be  necessary  to  carry  into  effect  any 
of  the  powers  which  were  specifically  granted,  congress  was  not  au- 
thorized to  continue  the  bank.  The  constitution,  he  said,  contained 
powers  delegated  and  prohibitory,  powers  expressed  and  construc- 
tive. It  vests  in  congress  all  powers  necessary  to  give  effect  to  the 
enumerated  powers  —  all  that  may  be  necessary  to  put  into  motion 
and  activity  the  machine  of  government  which  it  constructs.  The 
powers  that  may  be  so  necessary  are  deducible  by  construction. 
They  are  not  denned  in  the  constitution.  They  are,  from  their 
nature,  indefinable.  When  the  question  is  in  relation  to  one  of  these 
powers,  the  point  of  inquiry  should  be,  is  its  exertion  necessary  to 
carry  into  effect  any  of  the  enumerated  powers  and  objects  of  the 
general  government?  With  regard  to  the  degree  of  necessity, 
various  rules  have  been,  at  different  times,  laid  down  ;  but,  perhaps, 
at  last,  there  is  no  other  than  a  sound  and  honest  judgment  exer- 
cised, under  the  checks  and  control  which  belong  to  the  constitu- 
tion and  to  the  people. 

The  constructive  powers  being  auxiliary  to  the  specifically 
granted  powers,  and  depending  for  their  sanction  and  existence 
upon  a  necessity  to  give  effect  to  the  latter,  which  necessity  is  to  be 
sought  for  and  ascertained  by  a  sound  and  honest  discretion,  it  is 
manifest  that  this  necessity  may  not  be  perceived,  at  one  time, 
under  one  state  of  things,  when  it  is  perceived  at  another  time, 
under  a  different  state  of  things.  The  constitution,  it  is  true,  never 
changes ;  it  is  always  the  same ;  but  the  force  of  circumstances 
and  the  lights  of  experience  may  evolve  to  the  fallible  persons 
charged  with  its  administration,  the  fitness  and  necessity  of  a 
particular  exercise  of  constructive  power  to-day,  which  they  did 
not  see  at  a  former  period. 

Mr.  Clay  proceeded  to  remark,  that  when  the  application  was 
made  to  renew  the  old  charter  of  the  bank  of  the  United  States, 
such  an  institution  did  not  appear  to  him  to  be  so  necessary  to  the 
fulfilment  of  any  of  the  objects  specifically  enumerated  in  the 
constitution,  as  to  justify  congress  in  assuming,  by  construction,  a 
power  to  establish  it  It  was  supported  mainly  upon  the  ground 
that  it  was  indispensable  to  the  treasury  operations.  But  the  local 
institutions  in   the  several  states  were  at  that  time  in  prosperous 


ON     THE     BANK     QUESTION.  265 

existence,  confided  in  by  the  community,  having  a  confidence  in 
each  other,  and  maintaining  an  intercourse  and  connection  the 
most  intimate.  Many  of  them  were  actually  employed  by  the 
treasury  to  aid  that  department,  in  a  part  of  its  fiscal  arrangements ; 
and  they  appeared  to  him  to  be  fully  capable  of  affording  to  it  all 
the  facility  that  it  ought  to  desire  in  all  of  them.  They  superseded, 
in  his  judgment,  the  necessity  of  a  national  institution.  But  how* 
stood  the  case  in  1816,  when  he  was  called  upon  again  to  examine 
the  power  of  the  general  government  to  incorporate  a  national 
bank?  A  total  change  of  circumstances  was  presented;  events  of 
the  utmost  magnitude  had  intervened. 

A  general  suspension  of  specie  payments  had  taken  place,  and 
this  had  led  to  a  train  of  consequences  of  the  most  alarming  nature. 
He  beheld,  dispersed  over  the  immense  extent  of  the  United  States, 
about  three  hundred  banking  institutions,  enjoying  in  different 
degrees  the  confidence  of  the  public,  shaken  as  to  them  all,  under 
no  direct  control  of  the  general  government,  and  subject  to  no 
actual  responsibility  to  the  state  authorities.  These  institutions 
were  emitting  the  actual  currency  of  the  United  States  ;  a  currency 
consisting  of  a  paper,  on  which  they  neither  paid  interest  nor 
principal,  whilst  it  was  exchanged  for  the  paper  of  the  community, 
on  which  both  were  paid.  He  saw  these  institutions  in  fact  exercis- 
ing what  had  been  considered,  at  all  times  and  in  all  countries, 
one  of  the  highest  attributes  of  sovereignty,  the  regulation  of  the 
current  medium  of  the  country.  They  were  no  longer  competent 
to  assist  the  treasury  in  either  of  the  great  operations  of  collection, 
deposit,  or  distribution,  of  the  public  revenues.  In  fact,  the  paper 
which  they  emitted,  and  which  the  treasury,  from  the  force  of  events, 
found  itself  constrained  to  receive,  was  constantly  obstructing  the 
operations  of  that  department.  For  it  would  accumulate  where  it 
was  not  wanted,  and  could  not  be  used  where  it  was  wanted  for 
the  purposes  of  government,  without  a  ruinous  and  arbitrary 
brokerage.  Every  man  who  paid  or  received  from  the  government, 
paid  or  received  as  much  less  than  he  ought  to  have  done  as  was 
the  difference  between  the  medium  in  which  the  payment  was 
effected  and  specie.  Taxes  were  no  longer  uniform.  In  New 
England,  where  specie  payments  have  not  been  suspended,  the 
people  were  called  upon  to  pay  larger  contributions  than  where 
they  were  suspended.  In  Kentucky  as  much  more  was  paid  by 
the  people  in  their  taxes  than  was  paid,  for  example,  in  the  state  of 
Ohio,  as  Kentucky  paper  was  worth  more  than  Ohio  paper. 

It  appeared  to  Mr.  Clay,  that,  in  this  condition  of  things,  the 
general  government  could  depend  no  longer  upon  these  local 
institutions,  multiplied  and  multiplying  daily ;  coming  into  exist- 
ence by  the  breath  of  eighteen  state  sovereignties,  some  of  which 
by  a  single  act  of  volition  had  created  twenty  or  thirty  at  a  time. 
Even  if  the  resumption  of  specie  payments  could  have  been 
vol.  i.  34 


266  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

anticipated,  the  general  government  remaining  passive,  it  did  not 
seem  to  him  that  the  general  government  ought  longer  to  depend 
upon  these  local  institutions  exclusively  for  aid  in  its  operations. 
But  he  did  not  believe  it  could  be  justly  so  anticipated.  It  was 
not  the  interest  of  all  of  them  that  the  renewal  of  specie  payments 
should  take  place,  and  yet,  without  concert  between  all  or  most  of 
them  it  could  not  be  effected.  With  regard  to  those  disposed  to 
return  to  a  regular  state  of  things,  great  difficulties  might  arise,  as 
to  the  time  of  its  commencement. 

Considering,  then,  that  the  state  of  the  currency  was  such  that 
no  thinking  man  could  contemplate  it  without  the  most  serious 
alarm ;  that  it  threatened  general  distress,  if  it  did  not  ultimately  lead 
to  convulsion  and  subversion  of  the  government ;  it  appeared  to 
him  to  be  the  duty  of  congress  to  apply  a  remedy,  if  a  remedy 
could  be  devised.  A  national  bank,  with  other  auxiliary  measures, 
was  proposed  as  that  remedy.  Mr.  Clay  said,  he  determined  to 
examine  the  question  with  as  little  prejudice  as  possible  arising 
from  his  former  opinion.  He  knew  that  the  safest  course  to  him, 
if  he  pursued  a  cold,  calculating  prudence,  was  to  adhere  to  that 
opinion,  right  or  wrong.  He  was  perfectly  aware,  that  if  he 
changed,  or  seemed  to  change  it,  he  should  expose  himself  to  some 
censure.  But,  looking  at  the  subject  with  the  light  shed  upon  it  by 
events  happening  since  the  commencement  of  the  war,  he  could  no 
longer  doubt.  A  bank  appeared  to  him  not  only  necessary,  but 
indispensably  necessary,  in  connection  with  another  measure,  to 
remedy  the  evils  of  which  all  were  but  too  sensible.  He  preferred 
to  the  suggestions  of  the  pride  of  consistency,  the  evident  interests 
of  the  community,  and  determined  to  throw  himself  upon  their 
candor  and  justice.  That  which  appeared  to  him  in  1811,  under 
the  state  of  things  then  existing,  not  to  be  necessary  to  the  general 
government,  seemed  now  to  be  necessary,  under  the  present  state 
of  things.  Had  he  then  foreseen  what  now  exists,  and  no  objec- 
tion had  lain  against  the  renewal  of  the  charter  other  than  that 
derived  from  the  constitution,  he  should  have  voted  for  the  renewal. 

Other  provisions  of  the  constitution,  but  little  noticed,  if  noticed 
at  all,  on  the  discussions  in  congress  in  1811,  would  seem  to  urge 
that  body  to  exert  all  its  powers  to  restore  to  a  sound  state  the 
money  of  the  country.  That  instrument  confers  upon  congress 
the  power  to  coin  money,  and  to  regulate  the  value  of  foreign 
coins ;  and  the  states  are  prohibited  to  coin  money,  to  emit  bills  of 
credit,  or  to  make  any  thing  but  gold  and  silver  coin  a  tender  in 
payment  of  debts.  The  plain  inference  is,  that  the  subject  of  the 
general  currency  was  intended  to  be  submitted  exclusively  to  the 
general  government.  In  point  of  fact,  however,  the  regulation  of 
the  general  currency  is  in  the  hands  of  the  state  governments,  or, 
which  is  the  same  thing,  of  the  banks  created  by  them.  Their 
paper  has  every  quality  of  money,  except  that  of  being  made  a 


ON     THE     BANK     QUEST 

tender,  and  even  this  is  imparted  to  it  by  some  states,  in  the  law 
by  which  a  creditor  must  receive  it,  or  submit  to  a  ruinous  suspen- 
sion of  the  payment  of  his  debt.  It  was  incumbent  upon  congress 
to  recover  the  control  which  it  had  lost  over  the  general  currency. 
The  remedy  called  for,  was  one  of  caution  and  moderation,  but  of 
firmness.  Whether  a  remedy  directly  acting  upon  the  banks  and 
their  paper  thrown  into  circulation,  was  in  the  power  of  the  general 
government  or  not,  neither  congress  nor  the  community  were 
prepared  for  the  application  of  such  a  remedy.  An  indirect 
remedy,  of  a  milder  character,  seemed  to  be  furnished  by  a 
national  bank.  Going  into  operation,  with  the  powerful  aid  of 
the  treasury  of  the  United  States,  he  believed  it  would  be  highly 
instrumental  in  the  renewal  of  specie  payments.  Coupled  with  the 
other  measure  adopted  by  congress  for  that  object,  he  believed  the 
remedy  effectual.  The  local  banks  must  follow  the  example  which 
the  national  bank  would  set  them,  of  redeeming  their  notes  by  the 
payment  of  specie,  or  their  notes  will  be  discredited  and  put  down. 

If  the  constitution,  then,  warranted  the  establishment  of  a  bank, 
other  considerations,  besides  those  already  mentioned,  strongly 
urged  it.  The  want  of  a  general  medium  is  every  where  felt. 
Exchange  varies  continually,  not  only  between  different  parts 
of  the  union,  but  between  different  parts  of  the  same  city.  If 
the  paper  of  a  national  bank  were  not  redeemed  in  specie, 
it  would  be  much  better  than  the  current  paper,  since,  although  its 
value  in  comparison  with  specie  might  fluctuate,  it  would  afford  an 
uniform  standard. 

If  political  power  be  incidental  to  banking  corporations,  there 
ought,  perhaps,  to  be  in  the  general  government  some  counterpoise 
to  that  which  is  exerted  by  the  states.  Such  a  counterpoise  might 
not  indeed  be  so  necessary,  if  the  states  exercised  the  power  to 
incorporate  banks  equally,  or  in  proportion  to  their  respective 
populations.  But  that  is  not  the  case.  A  single  state  has  a  banking 
capital  equivalent,  or  nearly  so,  to  one-fifth  of  the  whole  banking 
capital  of  the  United  States.  Four  states  combined,  have  the 
major  part  of  the  banking  capital  of  the  United  States.  In  the 
event  of  any  convulsion,  in  which  the  distribution  of  banking 
institutions  might  be  important,  it  may  be  urged,  that  the  mischief 
would  not  be  alleviated  by  the  creation  of  a  national  bank,  since  its 
location  must  be  within  one  of  the  states.  But  in  this  respect  the 
location  of  the  bank  is  extremely  favorable,  being  in  one  of  the 
middle  states,  not  likely  from  its  position,  as  well  as  its  loyalty,  to 
concur  in  any  scheme  for  subverting  the  government.  And  a 
sufficient  security  against  such  contingency  is  to  be  found  in  the 
distribution  of  branches  in  different  states,  acting  and  reacting 
upon  the  parent  institution,  and  upon  each  other. 


ON  THE  DIRECT  TAX, 


AND  THE  STATE  OF  THE  NATION  AFTER  THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  WAR 
WITH  GREAT  BRITAIN. 

IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  JANUARY,  1816. 


[In  this  speech,  which  was  made  in  committee  of  the  whole,  on  a  proposition  to 
lay  a  direct  tax  for  the  purpose  of  providing  for  the  interest  on  the  public  debt,  and 
for  other  objects,  as  expressed  in  the  report  of  the  committee  of  ways  and  means, 
Mr.  Clay  enters  into  a  general  view  of  the  state  of  public  affairs,  as  they  existed  at 
the  conclusion  of  the  war  with  Great  Britain.  His  defence  of  the  policy  of  the  war, 
and  of  the  treaty  of  peace  concluded  by  himself  and  the  other  commissioners  at  Ghent, 
will  be  found  interesting  and  valuable,  as  a  portion  of  our  national  history.  On  the 
present  occasion,  it  wilf  be  observed.  Mr.  Clay  first  boldly  avows  his  sympathies  for 
the  cause  of  the  patriots  of  South  America;  thus  shadowing  forth,  at  this  early  period, 
the  feelings  which  prompted  him,  in  ISIS,  to  propose,  in  a  definite  form,  the  recogni- 
tion of  their  independence.  This  speech  concludes  with  a  masterly,  although  rapid, 
sketch  of  the  true  policy  of  the  country,  in  which  are  seen  the  outlines  of  the  Amer- 
ican system,  a  subject  always  prominent  in  the  thoughts  of  this  statesman.] 


Mr.  Clay  (speaker)  said,  the  course  had  been  pursued,  ever 
since  he  had  had  the  honor  of  a  seat  on  this  floor,  to  select  some 
subject  during  the  early  part  of  the  session,  on  which,  by  a  general 
understanding,  gentlemen  were  allowed  to  indulge  themselves  in 
remarks  on  the  existing  state  of  public  affairs.  The  practice  was 
a  very  good  one,  he  said,  and  there  could  be  no  occasion  more 
proper  than  that  of  a  proposition  to  lay  a  direct  tax. 

Those  who  have  for  fifteen  years  past  administered  the  affairs  of 
this  government,  have  conducted  this  nation  to  an  honorable  point 
of  elevation,  at  which  they  may  justly  pause,  challenge  a  retrospect, 
and  invite  attention  to  the  bright  field  of  prosperity  which  lies 
before  us. 

The  great  objects  of  the  committee  of  finance,  in  the  report 
under  consideration,  are,  in  the  first  place,  to  provide  for  the  pay- 
ment of  the  public  debts,  and  in  the  second,  to  provide  for  the 
support  of  the  government,  and  the  payment  of  such  expenses  as 
should  be  authorized  by  congress.  The  greater  part  of  the  debt, 
Mr.  Clay  admitted,  had  grown  out  of  the  late  war;  yet  a  consider- 
able portion  of  it  consisted  of  that  contracted  in  the  former  war  for 


ON     THE     DIRECT     TAX.  269 

independence,  and  a  portion  of  it,  perhaps,  of  that  which  arose  out 
of  the  wars  with  Tripoli  and  Algiers.  Gentlemen  had,  on  this 
occasion,  therefore,  fairly  a  right  to  examine  into  the  course  of 
administration  heretofore,  to  demonstrate  the  impolicy  of  those  wars, 
and  the  injudiciousness  of  the  public  expenditures  generally.  In 
the  cursory  view  which  he  should  take  of  this  subject,  he  must  be 
allowed  to  say,  he  should  pay  no  particular  attention  to  what  had 
passed  before,  in  debate.  An  honorable  colleague  (Mr.  Hardin) 
who  spoke  the  other  day,  like  another  gentleman  who  preceded 
him  in  debate,  had  taken  occasion  to  refer  to  his  (Mr.  Clay's)  late 
absence  from  this  country  on  public  business ;  but,  Mr.  Clay  said, 
he  trusted,  among  the  fruits  of  that  absence  were  a  greater  respect 
for  the  institutions  which  distinguish  this  happy  country,  a  greater 
confidence  in  them,  and  an  increased  disposition  to  cling  to  them. 
Yes,  sir ;  I  was  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  battle  of  Waterloo,  and 
some  lessons  I  did  derive  from  it ;  but  they  were  lessons  which 
satisfied  me,  that  national  independence  was  only  to  be  maintained 
by  national  resistance  against  foreign  encroachments ;  by  cherishing 
the  interests  of  the  people,  and  giving  to  the  whole  physical  power 
of  the  country  an  interest  in  the  preservation  of  the  nation.  I  have 
been  taught  that  lesson ;  that  we  should  never  lose  sight  of  the 
possibility,  that  a  combination  of  despots,  of  men  unfriendly  to 
liberty,  propagating  what  in  their  opinion  constitutes  the  principle 
of  legitimacy,  might  reach  our  happy  land,  and  subject  us  to  that 
tyranny  and  degradation  which  seems  to  be  one  of  their  objects  in 
another  country.  The  result  of  my  reflections  is,  the  determination 
to  aid  with  my  vote  in  providing  my  country  with  all  the  means  to 
protect  its  liberties,  and  guard  them  even  from  serious  menace. 
Motives  of  delicacy,  which  the  committee  would  be  able  to  under- 
stand and  appreciate,  prevented  him  from  noticing  some  of  his 
colleague's  (Mr.  Hardin's)  remarks ;  but  he  would  take  the  occasion 
to  give  him  one  admonition  —  that,  when  he  next  favored  the  house 
with  an  exhibition  of  his  talent  for  wit — with  a  display  of  those 
elegant  implements,  for  his  possession  of  which,  the  gentleman 
from  Virginia  had  so  handsomely  complimented  him  —  that  he 
would  recollect  that  it  is  bought,  and  not  borrowed  wit,  which  the 
adage  recommends  as  best.  With  regard  to  the  late  war  with 
Great  Britain,  history,  in  deciding  upon  the  justice  and  policy  of 
that  war,  will  determine  the  question  according  to  the  state  of  things 
which  existed  when  that  war  was  declared.  I  gave  a  vote  for  the 
declaration  of  war.  I  exerted  all  the  little  influence  and  talents  I 
could  command  to  make  the  war.  The  war  was  made  ;  it  is 
terminated;  and  I  declare  with  perfect  sincerity,  if  it  had  been 
permitted  me  to  lift  the  veil  of  futurity,  and  to  have  foreseen  the 
precise  series  of  events  which  has  occurred,  my  vote  would  have 
been  unchanged.  The  policy  of  the  war,  as  it  regarded  our  state 
of  preparation,  must  be  determined  with  reference  to  the  state  of 


270  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

things  at  the  time  that  war  was  declared.  He  need  not  take  up 
the  time  of  the  house,  in  demonstrating  that  we  had  cause  sufficient 
for  war.  We  had  been  insulted  and  outraged,  and  spoilatcd  upon 
by  almost  all  Europe  —  by  Great  Britain,  by  France,  Spain,  Den- 
mark, Naples,  and,  to  cap  the  climax,  by  the  little,  contemptible 
power  of  Algiers.  We  had  submitted  too  long  and  too  much.  We 
had  become  the  scorn  of  foreign  powers,  and  the  contempt  of  our 
own  citizens.  The  question  of  the  policy  of  declaring  war  at  the 
particular  time  when  it  was  commenced,  is  best  determined  by 
applying  to  the  enemy  himself ;  and  what  said  he! — that  of  all 
the  circumstances  attending  its  declaration,  none  was  so  aggravat- 
ing as  that  we  should  have  selected  the  moment  which  of  all 
others  was  most  inconvenient  to  him ;  when  he  was  struggling  for 
self-existence  in  a  last  effort  against  the  gigantic  power  of  France. 
The  question  of  the  state  of  preparation  for  war  at  any  time  is  a 
relative  question  —  relative  to  our  own  means,  the  condition  of  the 
other  power,  and  the  state  of  the  world  at  the  time  of  declaring  it. 
We  could  not  expect,  for  instance,  that  a  war  against  Algiers  would 
require  the  same  means  or  extent  of  preparation,  as  a  war  against 
Great  Britain ;  and  if  it  was  to  be  waged  against  one  of  the 
primary  powers  of  Europe,  at  peace  with  all  the  rest  of  the  world, 
and  therefore  all  her  force  at  command,  it  could  not  be  commenced 
with  so  little  preparation,  as  if  her  whole  force  were  employed  in 
another  quarter.  Jt  is  not  necessary  again  to  repel  the  stale,  ridic- 
ulous, false  story  of  French  influence,  originating  in  Great  Britain, 
and  echoed  here.  I  now  contend,  as  I  have  always  done,  that  we 
had  a  right  to  take  advantage  of  the  condition  of  the  world,  at  the 
time  war  was  declared.  If  Great  Britain  were  engaged  in  war,  we 
had  a  right  to  act  on  the  knowledge  of  the  fact,  that  her  means  of 
annoyance,  as  to  us,  were  diminished ;  and  we  had  a  right  to  obtain 
all  the  collateral  aid  we  could,  from  the  operations  of  other  powers 
against  her,  without  entering  into  those  connections  which  are- 
forbidden  by  the  genius  of  our  government.  But  it  was  rather  like 
disturbing  the  ashes  of  the  dead,  now  to  discuss  the  questions  of 
the  justice  or  expediency  of  the  war.  They  were  questions  long 
since  settled,  and  on  which  the  public  opinion  was  decisively  made 
up,  in  favor  of  the  administration. 

He  proceeded  to  examine  the  conditions  of  the  peace  and  the 
fruits  of  the  war — questions  of  more  recent  date,  and  more  imme- 
diately applicable  to  the  present  discussion.  The  terms  of  the 
peace  must  be  determined  by  the  same  rule  that  was  applicable  to 
the  declaration  of  war  —  that  rule  which  was  furnished  by  the  state 
of  the  world  at  the  lime  the  peace  was  made ;  and,  even  if  it  were 
true,  that  all  the  sanguine  expectations  which  might  have  been 
formed  at  the  time  of  the  declaration  of  war,  were  not  realized  by 
the  terms  of  the  subsequent  peace,  it  did  not  follow  that  the  war 
was  improperly  declared,  or  the  peace  dishonorable,  unless  the 


ON     THE     DIRECT     TAX.  271 

condition  of  the  parties,  in  relation  to  other  powers,  remained  sub- 
stantially the  same,  throughout  the  struggle,  and  at  the  time  of  the 
termination  of  the  war,  as  it  was  at  the  commencement  of  it. 
At  the  termination  of  the  war,  France  was  annihilated — blotted  out 
of  the  map  of  Europe;  the  vast  power  wielded  by  Bonaparte 
existed  no  longer.  Let  it  be  admitted,  that  statesmen,  in  laying 
their  course,  are  to  look  at  probable  events;  that  their  conduct  is  to 
be  examined,  with  reference  to  the  course  of  events,  which  in  all 
human  probability  might  have  been  anticipated;  and  is  there  a 
man  in  this  house,  in  existence,  who  can  say,  that  on  the  eighteenth 
day  of  June,  1812,  when  the  war  was  declared,  it  would  have  been 
anticipated,  that  Great  Britain,  by  the  circumstance  of  a  general 
peace,  resulting  from  the  overthrow  of  a  power  whose  base- 
ments were  supposed  to  be  deeper  laid,  more  ramified,  and  more 
extended,  than  those  of  any  power  ever  were  before,  would  be 
placed  in  the  attitude  in  which  she  stood  in  December,  1814? 
Would  any  one  say,  that  this  government  could  have  anticipated 
such  a  state  of  things,  and  ought  to  have  been  governed  in  its 
conduct  accordingly  ?  Great  Britain,  Russia,  Germany,  did  not 
expect — not  a  power  in  Europe  believed  —  as  late  even  as  January, 
1814,  that,  in  the  ensuing  March,  Bonaparte  would  abdicate,  and 
the  restoration  of  the  Bourbons  would  follow.  What,  then,  was 
the  actual  condition  of  Europe,  when  peace  was  concluded  ? 
A  perfect  tranquillity  reigned  throughout ;  for,  as  late  as  the  first  of 
March,  the  idea  of  Napoleon's  reappearing  in  France,  was  as  little 
entertained  as  that  of  a  man's  coming  from  the  moon  to  take  upon 
himself  the  government  of  the  country.  In  December,  1814,  a 
profound  and  apparently  a  permanent  peace  existed ;  Great  Britain 
was  left  to  dispose  of  the  vast  force,  the  accumulation  of  twenty- 
five  years,  the  work  of  an  immense  system  of  finance  and  protracted 
war;  she  was  at  liberty  to  employ  that  undivided  force  against  this 
country.  Under  such  circumstances,  it  did  not  follow,  according 
to  the  rules  laid  down,  either  that  the  war  ought  not  to  have  been 
made,  or  that  peace  on  such  terms  ought  not  to  have  been 
concluded. 

What,  then,  were  the  terms  of  the  peace?  The  regular  opposi- 
tion in  this  country,  the  gentlemen  on  the  other  side  of  the  house, 
had  not  come  out  to  challenge  an  investigation  of  the  terms  of  the 
peace,  although  they  had  several  times  given  a  sidewipe  at  the 
treaty,  on  occasions  with  which  it  had  no  necessary  connection.  It 
had  been  sometimes  said,  that  we  had  gained  nothing  by  the  war, 
that  the  fisheries  were  lost,  &c.  How,  he  asked,  did  this  question 
of  the  fisheries  really  stand  ?  By  the  first  part  of  the  third  article 
of  the  treaty  of  1783,  the  right  was  recognized  in  the  people  of  the 
United  States  to  take  fish  of  every  kind  on  the  Grand  Bank,  and 
on  all  the  other  banks  of  Newfoundland;  also  in  the  gulf  of  St. 
Lawrence,  and  at  all  other  places  in  the  sea,  where  the  inhabitants 


272  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

of  both  countries  used  at  any  time  to  fish.  This  right  was  a 
necessary  incident  to  our  sovereignty,  although  it  is  denied  to  some 
of  the  powers  of  Europe.  It  was  not  contested  at  Ghent ;  it  has 
never  been  drawn  in  question  by  Great  Britain.  But  by  the  same 
third  article  it  was  further  stipulated,  that  the  inhabitants  of  the 
United  States  shall  have  '  liberty  to  take  fish  of  every  kind  on  such 
part  of  the  coast  of  Newfoundland  as  British  fishermen  shall  use 
(but  not  to  dry  or  cure  the  same  on  that  island),  and  also  on  the 
coasts,  bays,  and  creeks,  of  all  other  of  his  Britannic  majesty's 
dominions  in  America;  and  that  the  American  fishermen  shall 
have  liberty  to  dry  and  cure  fish  in  any  of  the  unsettled  bays, 
harbors,  and  creeks  of  Nova  Scotia,  Magdalen  islands,  and  Lab- 
rador, so  long  as  the  same  shall  remain  unsettled ;  but  so  soon  as 
the  same  or  either  of  them  shall  be  settled,  it  shall  not  be  lawful 
for  the  said  fishermen  to  dry  or  cure  fish  at  such  settlement,  without 
a  previous  agreement  for  that  purpose  with  the  inhabitants,  propri- 
etors, or  possessors  of  the  ground.'  The  British  commissioners, 
assuming  that  these  liberties  had  expired  by  the  war  between  the 
two  countries,  at  an  early  period  of  the  negotiation,  declared  that 
they  would  not  be  revived  without  an  equivalent.  Whether  the 
treaty  of  1783  does  not  form  an  exception  to  the  general  rule, 
according  to  which  treaties  are  vacated  by  a  war  breaking  out 
between  the  parties,  is  a  question  on  which  he  did  not  mean  to 
express  an  opinion.  The  first  article  of  that  treaty,  by  which  the 
king  of  Great  Britain  acknowledges  the  sovereignty  of  the  United 
States,  certainly  was  not  abrogated  by  the  war ;  that  all  the  other 
parts  of  the  same  instrument,  which  define  the  limits,  privileges, 
and  liberties  attaching  to  that  sovereignty,  were  equally  unaffected 
by  the  war,  might  be  contended  for  with  at  least  much  plausibility. 
If  we  determined  to  offer  them  the  equivalent  required,  the  ques- 
tion was,  what  should  it  be?  When  the  British  commissioners 
demanded,  in  their  projet,  a  renewal  to  Great  Britain  of  the  right 
to  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi,  secured  by  the  treaty  of  1783, 
a  bare  majority  of  the  American  commissioners  offered  to  renew  it, 
upon  the  condition  that  the  liberties  in  question  were  renewed  to 
us.  He  was  not  one  of  that  majority.  He  would  not  trouble  the 
committee  with  his  reasons  for  being  opposed  to  the  offer.  A 
majority  of  his  colleagues,  actuated  he  believed  by  the  best  motives, 
made,  however,  the  offer,  and  it  was  refused  by  the  British  com- 
missioners. 

If  the  British  interpretation  of  the  treaty  of  1783  be  correct,  we 
have  lost  the  liberties  in  question.  What  the  value  of  them  really 
is,  he  had  not  been  able  to  meet  with  any  two  gentlemen  who 
agreed.  The  great  value  of  the  whole  mass  of  our  fishery  inter- 
ests, as  connected  with  our  navigation  and  trade,  was  sufficiently 
demonstrated  by  the  tonnage  employed ;  but  of  what  was  the  rela- 
tive importance  of  these  liberties,  there  was  great  contrariety  of 


ON     THE     DIRECT     TAX.  273 

statements.  They  were  liberties  to  be  exercised  within  a  foreign 
jurisdiction,  and  some  of  them  were  liable  to  be  destroyed  by  the 
contingency  of  settlement.  He  did  not  believe,  that  much  impor- 
tance attached  to  such  liberties.  And,  supposing  them  to  be  lost, 
we  are,  perhaps,  sufficiently  indemnified  by  the  redemption  of  the 
British  mortgage  upon  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi.  This 
great  stream,  on  that  supposition,  is  placed  where  it  ought  to  be,  in 
the  same  independent  condition  with  the  Hudson,  or  any  other  river 
in  the  United  States. 

If,  on  the  contrary,  the  opposite  construction  of  the  treaty  of 
1783  be  the  true  one,  these  liberties  remain  to  us,  and  the  right  to 
the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi,  as  secured  to  Great  Britain  by 
that  instrument,  continues  with  her. 

But  he  was  surprised  to  hear  a  gentleman  from  the  western 
country  (Mr.  Hardin)  exclaim,  that  we  had  gained  nothing  by  the 
war.  Great  Britain  acquired,  by  the  treaty  negotiated  by  Mr.  Jay, 
the  right  to  trade  with  the  Indians  within  our  territories.  It  was  a 
right  upon  which  she  placed  great  value,  and  from  the  pursuit  of 
which  she  did  not  desist  without  great  reluctance.  It  had  been 
exercised  by  her  agents  in  a  manner  to  excite  the  greatest  sensi- 
bility in  the  western  country.  This  right  was  clearly  lost  by  the 
war ;  for,  whatever  may  be  the  true  opinion  as  to  the  treaty  of 
1783,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  stipulations  of  that  of  1794  no 
longer  exist. 

It  had  been  said,  that  the  great  object,  in  the  continuation  of  the 
war,  had  been  to  secure  our  mariners  against  impressment,  and 
that  peace  was  made  without  accomplishing  it.  With  regard 
to  the  opposition,  he  presumed  that  they  would  not  urge  any  such 
argument.  For,  if  their  opinion  was  to  be  inferred  (though  he 
hoped  in  this  case  it  was  not)  from  that  of  an  influential  and 
distinguished  member  of  the  opposition,  we  had  reason  to  believe 
that  they  did  not  think  the  British  doctrines  wrong  on  this  subject. 
He  alluded  to  a  letter  said  to  be  written  by  a  gentleman  of  great 
consideration,  residing  in  an  adjoining  state,  to  a  member  of  this 
house,  in  which  the  writer  states,  that  he  conceives  the  British 
claim  to  be  right,  and  expresses  his  hope  that  the  president,  however 
he  might  kick  at  it,  would  be  compelled  to  swallow  the  bitter  pill. 
If  the  peace  had  really  given  up  the  American  doctrine,  it  would 
have  been,  according  to  that  opinion,  merely  yielding  to  the  force 
of  the  British  right.  In  that  view  of  the  subject,  the  error  of  the 
administration  would  have  been  in  contending  for  too  much  in 
behalf  of  this  country  ;  for  he  presumed  there  was  no  doubt,  that, 
whether  right  or  wrong,  it  would  be  an  important  principle  gained 
to  secure  our  seamen  against  British  impressment.  And  he  trusted 
in  God  that  all  future  administrations  would  rather  err  on  the  side 
of  contending  for  too  much  than  too  little  for  America. 

But  he  was  willing  to  admit,  that  the  conduct  of  the  administra- 
vol.  i.  35 


274  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

tion  ought  to  be  tried  by  their  own  opinions,  and  not  those  of  the 
opposition.  One  of  the  great  causes  of  the  war,  and  of  its  con- 
tinuance, was  the"  practice  of  impressment  exercised  by  Great 
Britain,  and  if  this  claim  has  been  admitted,  by  necessary  implica- 
tion or  express  stipulation,  the  administration  has  abandoned  the 
rights  of  our  seamen.  It  was  with  utter  astonishment  that  he  heard, 
that  it  had  been  contended  in  this  country,  that  because  our  right 
of  exemption  from  the  practice  had  not  been  expressly  secured  in 
the  treaty,  it  was  therefore  given  up  !  It  was  impossible  that  such 
an  argument  could  be  advanced  on  the  floor.  No  member  who 
regarded  his  reputation  would  have  dared  advance  such  an  argu- 
ment here. 

Had  the  war  terminated,  the  practice  continuing,  he  admitted 
that  such  might  be  a  fair  inference  ;  and  on  some  former  occasion 
he  had  laid  down  the  principle,  which  he  thought  correct,  that  if 
the  United  States  did  not  make  peace  with  Great  Britain,  the  war 
in  Europe  continuing,  and  therefore  she  continuing  the  exercise  of 
the  practice,  without  any  stipulation  to  secure  us  against  its  effects, 
the  plain  inference  would  be,  that  we  had  surrendered  the  right. 
But  what  is  the  fact?  At  the  time  of  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty 
of  peace,  Great  Britain  had  ceased  the  practice  of  impressment ; 
she  was  not  only  at  peace  with  all  the  powers  of  Europe,  but  there 
was  every  prospect  of  a  permanent  and  durable  peace.  The  treaty 
being  silent  on  the  subject  of  impressment,  the  only  plain  rational 
result  was,  that  neither  party  had  conceded  its  rights,  but  they  were 
left  totally  unaffected  by  it.  He  recollected  to  have  heard,  in  the 
British  house  of  commons,  whilst  he  was  in  Europe,  the  very 
reverse  of  the  doctrine  advanced  here  on  this  subject.  The 
British  ministry  were  charged  by  a  member  of  the  opposition  with 
having  surrendered  their  right  of  impressment,  and  the  same  course 
of  reasoning  was  employed  to  prove  it,  as  he  understood  was  em- 
ployed in  this  country  to  prove  our  acquiescence  in  that  practice. 
The  argument  was  this :  the  war  was  made  on  the  professed 
ground  of  resistance  of  the  practice  of  impressment ;  the  peace 
having  been  made  without  a  recognition  of  the  right  of  America, 
the  treaty  being  silent  on  the  subject,  the  inference  was,  that  the 
British  authorities  had  surrendered  the  right  —  that  they  had  failed 
to  secure  it,  and,  having  done  so,  had  in  effect  yielded  it.  The 
member  of  the  opposition  in  England  was  just  as  wrong  as  any 
member  of  the  house  would  be,  who  should  contend  that  the  right 
of  impressment  is  surrendered  to  the  British  government.  The 
fact  was,  neither  party  had  surrendered  its  rights  ;  things  remain  as 
though  the  war  had  never  been  made  —  both  parties  are  in  posses- 
sion of  all  the  rights  they  had  anterior  to  the  war.  Lest  it  might 
be  deduced  that  his  sentiments  on  the  subject  of  impressment  had 
undergone  a  change,  he  took  the  opportunity  to  say,  that,  although 
he  desired  to  preserve  peace  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United 


ON     THE     DIRECT     TAX.  275 

States,  and  to  maintain  between  them  lhat  good  understanding 
calculated  to  promote  the  interest  of  each,  yet,  whenever  Great 
Britain  should  give  satisfactory  evidence  of  her  design  to  apply  her 
doctrine  of  impressment  as  heretofore,  he  was,  for  one,  ready  to 
take  up  arms  again  to  oppose  her.  The  fact  was,  that  the  two 
nations  had  been  placed  in  a  state  of  hostility  as  to  a  practice 
growing  out  of  the  war  in  Europe.  The  war  ceasing  between 
Great  Britain  and  the  rest  of  Europe,  left  England  and  America 
engaged  in  a  contest  on  an  aggression  which  had  also  practically 
ceased.  The  question  had  then  presented  itself,  whether  the  United 
States  should  be  kept  in  war,  to  gain  an  abandonment  of  what 
had  become  a  mere  abstract  principle ;  or,  looking  at  the  results, 
and  relying  on  the  good  sense  and  sound  discretion  of  both 
countries,  we  should  not  recommend  the  termination  of  the  war. 
When  no  practical  evil  could  result  from  the  suspension  of  hostili- 
ties, and  there  was  no  more  than  a  possibility  of  the  removal  of 
the  practice  of  impressment,  I,  as  one  of  the  mission,  consented 
with  sincere  pleasure  to  the  peace,  satisfied  that  we  gave  up  no 
right,  sacrificed  no  honor,  compromited  no  important  principle. 
He  said,  then,  applying  the  rule  of  the  actual  state  of  things,  as 
that  by  which  to  judge  of  the  peace,  there  was  nothing  in  the 
conditions  or  terms  of  the  peace  that  was  dishonorable,  nothing  for 
reproach,  nothing  for  regret. 

Gentlemen  have  complained,  that  we  had  lost  the  islands 
in  the  bay  of  Passamaquoddy.  JIave  they  examined  into  that 
question,  and  do  they  know  the  grounds  on  which  it  stands  ? 
Prior  to  the  war  we  occupied  Moose  Island,  the  British  Grand 
Menan.  Each  party  claimed  both  islands ;  America,  because  they 
are  within  the  limits  of  the  United  States,  as  defined  by  the  treaty 
of  1783  ;  and  Great  Britain,  because,  as  she  alleges,  they  were  in 
the  exception  contained  in  the  second  article  of  that  treaty  as  to 
islands  within  the  limits  of  the  province  of  Nova  Scotia.  All  the 
information  which  he  had  received  concurred  in  representing 
Grand  Menan  as  the  most  valuable  island.  Does  the  treaty,  in 
stipulating  for  an  amicable  and  equitable  mode  of  settling  this 
controversy,  yield  one  foot  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States  ? 
If  our  title  to  Moose  Island  is  drawn  in  question,  that  of  Great 
Britain  to  Grand  Menan  is  equally  so,  If  we  may  lose  the  one, 
she  may  the  other.  The  treaty,  it  was  true,  contained  a  provision 
that  the  party  in  possession,  at  the  time  of  its  ratification,  may  hold 
on  until  the  question  of  right  is  decided.  The  committee  would 
observe,  that  this  stipulation,  as  to  possession,  was  not  limited  to 
the  moment  of  the  signature,  but  looked  to  the  period  of  the  rati- 
fication of  the  treaty.  The  American  commissioners  had  thought 
they  might  safely  rely  on  the  valor  of  Massachusetts,  or  the  arms 
of  the  United  States,  to  drive  the  invader  from  our  soil ;  and  had 
also  hoped  that  we  might  obtain  possession  of  Grand  Menan.     It 


276  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

is  true,  they  have  been  disappointed  in  the  successful  application 
of  the  force  of  that  state  and  of  that  of  the  union.     But  it  is  not 
true   that  we   have  parted  with  the   right.     It  is  fair  to  presume 
that  Great  Britain  will,  with  good  faith,  cooperate  in  carrying  the 
stipulations   into    effect;  and    she    has,  in   fact,  already  promptly 
proceeded  to  the  appointment  of  commissioners  under  the  treaty. 
What  have  we  gained  by  the  war  ?     He  had  shown  we  had  lost 
nothing  in  rights,  territory,  or  honor ;  nothing  for  which  we  ought 
to  have  contended,  according  to  the  principles  of  the  gentlemen  on 
the  other  side,  or  according  to  our  own.     Have  we  gained  nothing 
by  the  war?     Let  any  man  look  at  the  degraded  condition  of  this 
country  before  the  war  —  the  scorn  of  the  universe,  the  contempt 
of  ourselves  —  and  tell  me,  if  we  have  gained  nothing  by  the  war  ? 
What   is    our   present   situation  ?      Respectability    and    character 
abroad  ;  security  and  confidence  at  home.    If  we  have  not  obtained, 
in  the  opinion  of  some,  the  full  measure  of  retribution,  our  charac- 
ter and  constitution  are  placed  on  a  solid  basis,  never  to  He  shaken. 
The  glory  acquired  by  our  gallant  tars,  by  our  Jacksons  and  our 
Browns  on  the  land,  is  that  nothing?     True,  we  have   had  our 
vicissitudes  —  that  there  were  humiliating  events  which  the  patriot 
could  not  review  without  deep  regret.     But  the    great   account, 
when  it  came  to  be  balanced,  thank  God,  would  be  found  vastly 
in  our  favor.    Is  there  a  man,  he  asked,  who  would  have  obliterated 
from  the  proud  pages  of  our  history  the  brilliant  achievements  of 
Jackson,  Brown,  Scott,  and  the  host  of  heroes  on  land  and  sea 
whom  he  would  not  enumerate  ?     Is  there  a  man  who  could  not 
desire  a  participation  in  the  national  glory  acquired  by  the  war?  — 
yes,  national  glory  ;  which,  however  the  expression  may  be  con- 
demned by  some,  must  be   cherished  by  every  genuine  patriot. 
What  do  I  mean  by  national  glory  ?     Glory  such  as  Hull,  of  the 
Constitution,  Jackson,  Lawrence,  Perry,  have  acquired.     And  are 
gentlemen    insensible    to  their   deeds?    to    the  value  of  them,  in 
animating  the  country  in  the  hour  of  peril  hereafter?     Did  the 
battle  of  Thermopylae  preserve    Greece   but   once  ?     WThilst  the 
Mississippi  continues  to  bear  the  tributes  of  the   Iron   mountains 
and  the   Alleghany  to  her  Delta  and  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  the 
eighth  of  January  shall  be  remembered,  and  the  glory  of  that  day 
shall  stimulate  future  patriots,  and  nerve  the  arms  of  unborn  freemen, 
in    driving   the  presumptuous   invader   from   our   country's    soil! 
Gentlemen  may  boast  of  their  insensibility  to  feelings  inspired  by 
the  contemplation   of  such   events.     But  he  would  ask,  does  the 
recollection  of  Bunker's  hill,  of  Saratoga,  of  York-town,  afford  them 
no  pleasure  ?     Every  act  of  noble  sacrifice  to  the  country  —  overy 
instance  of  patriotic  devotion   to    her  cause  —  has    its    beneficial 
influence.     A  nation's  character  is  the  sum  of  its  splendid  deeds. 
They  constitute  one  common  patrimony  —  the  nation's  inheritance. 
They  awe  foreign  powers.     They  arouse  and  animate  our  own 


ON     THE     DIRECT     TAX.  277 

people.  Do  gentlemen  derive  no  pleasure  from  the  recent  transac- 
tions in  the  Mediterranean  ?  Can  they  regard  unmoved  the  honor- 
able issue  of  a  war,  in  support  of  our  national  rights,  declared, 
prosecuted,  and  terminated  by  a  treaty  in  which  the  enemy 
submitted  to  a  carte  blanche,  in  the  short  period  of  forty  days  ? 
The  days  of  chivalry  are  not  gone.  They  have  been  revived  in 
the  person  of  commodore  Decatur,  who,  in  releasing  from  infidel 
bondage  Christian  captives  —  the  subjects  of  a  foreign  power  — 
and  restoring  them  to  their  country  and  their  friends,  has  placed 
himself  beside  the  most  renowned  knights  of  former  times.  I  love 
true  glory.  It  is  this  sentiment  which  ought  to  be  cherished  ;  and 
in  spite  of  cavils  and  sneers  and  attempts  to  put  it  down,  it  will 
finally  conduct  this  nation  to  that  height  to  which  God  and  nature 
have  destined  it.  Three  wars,  those  who  at  present  administer 
this  government  may  say,  and  say  with  proud  satisfaction,  they 
have  safely  conducted  us  through.  Two  with  powers,  which, 
though  otherwise  contemptible,  have  laid  almost  all  Europe  under 
tribute  —  a  tribute  from  which  we  are  exonerated.  The  third,  with 
one  of  the  most  gigantic  powers  that  the  world  ever  saw.  These 
struggles  have  not  been  without  their  sacrifices,  nor  without  their 
lessons.  They  have  created,  or  rather  greatly  increased,  the  public 
debt.  They  have  taught,  that,  to  preserve  the  character  we  have 
established,  preparation  for  war  is  necessary. 

The  public  debt  exists.  However  contracted,  the  faith  of  the 
nation  is  pledged  for  its  redemption.  It  can  only  be  paid  by 
providing  an  excess  of  revenue  beyond  expenditure,  or  by  retrench- 
ment. Did  gentlemen  contend  that  the  results  of  the  report  were 
inaccurate  —  that  the  proceeds  of  the  revenue  would  be  greater,  or 
the  public  expenses  less,  than  the  estimate  ?  On  these  subjects, 
he  believed  it  would  be  presumption  in  him,  wThen  the  defence  of 
the  report  was  in  such  able  hands  (Mr.  Lowndes's),  to  attempt  its 
vindication.  Leaving  the  task  to  that  gentleman,  he  should 
assume,  for  the  present,  its  accuracy.  He  would  lay  down  a 
general  rule,  from  which  there  ought  never  to  be  a  departure, 
without  absolute  necessity  —  that  the  expenses  of  the  year  ought 
to  be  met  by  the  revenue  of  the  year.  If  in  time  of  war  it  were 
impossible  to  observe  this  rule,  we  ought,  in  time  of  peace,  to 
provide  for  as  speedy  a  discharge  of  the  debt  contracted  in  the 
preceding  war  as  possible.  This  can  only  be  done  by  an  effective 
sinking  fund,  based  upon  an  excess  of  revenue  beyond  expendi- 
ture, and  a  protraction  of  the  period  of  peace.  If  in  England  the 
sinking  fund  had  not  fulfilled  what  was  promised,  it  was  because 
of  a  failure  to  provide  such  a  revenue,  and  because  the  interests  of 
peace  in  that  country  had  been  too  few  and  too  short.  From  the 
revolution  to  1812,  a  period  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-four  years, 
there  had  been  sixty-three  years  of  war,  and  only  sixty-one  of 
peace  ;  and  there  had  been  contracted  £638,129,577  of  debt,  and 


278  SPEECHE3     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

discharged  only  £39,594,305.  The  national  debt  at  the  peace  of 
Utrecht  amounted  to  £52,681,076,  and  during  the  peace  which 
followed,  being  twenty-seven  years,  from  1714  to  1740,  there  was 
discharged  only  £7,231,503.  When  the  operations  of  our  sinking 
fund  were  contrasted  with  those  of  Great  Britain,  they  would  be  found 
to  present  the  most  gratifying  results.  Our  public  debt,  existing  on 
the  first  day  of  January,  1802,  amounted  to  $78,754,568  70 ;  and  on 
the  first  of  January,  1815,  we  had  extinguished  $33,873,463  98. 
Thus  in  thirteen  years,  one  half  the  period  of  peace  that  followed 
the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  we  had  discharged  more  public  debt  than 
Great  Britain  did  during  that  period.  In  twenty-six  years  she  did 
not  pay  much  more  than  a  seventh  of  her  debt.  In  thirteen  years 
we  paid  more  than  a  third  of  ours.  If,  then,  a  public  debt,  con- 
tacted in  a  manner,  he  trusted,  satisfactory  to  the  country,  imposed 
upon  us  a  duty  to  provide  for  its  payment ;  if  we  were  encouraged, 
by  past  experience,  to  persevere  in  the  application  of  an  effective 
sinking  fund,  he  would  again  repeat,  that  the  only  alternatives 
were  the  adoption  of  a  system  of  taxation  producing  the  revenue 
estimated  by  the  committee  of  ways  and  means,  or  by  great 
retrenchment  of  the  public  expenses. 

In  what  respect  can  a  reduction  of  the  public  expenses  be  effected? 
Gentlemen  who  assailed  the  report  on  this  ground  have,  by  the  in- 
definite nature  of  the  attack,  great  advantage  on  their  side.  Instead 
of  contenting  themselves  with  crying  out  retrenchment !  retrench- 
ment !  a  theme  always  plausible,  an  object  always  proper,  when 
the  public  interest  will  admit  of  it,  let  them  point  the  attention  of 
the  house  to  some  specified  subject.  If  they  really  think  a  reduc- 
tion of  the  army  and  navy,  or  either  of  them,  be  proper,  let  them 
lay  a  resolution  upon  the  table  to  that  effect.  They  had  generally, 
it  was  true,  singled  out,  in  discussing  this  report,  (and  he  had  no 
objection  to  meet  them  in  this  way,  though  he  thought  the  other 
the  fairest  course,)  the  military  establishment.  He  was  glad  that 
the  navy  had  fought  itself  into  favor,  and  that  no  one  appeared 
disposed  to  move  its  reduction  or  to  oppose  its  gradual  augmenta- 
tion. But  the  '  standing  army '  is  the  great  object  of  gentlemen's 
apprehensions.  And  those  who  can  bravely  set  at  defiance 
hobgoblins,  the  creatures  of  their  own  fertile  imaginations,  are 
trembling  for  the  liberties  of  the  people,  endangered  by  a  standing 
army  of  ten  thousand  men.  Those  who  can  courageously  vote 
against  taxes,  are  alarmed  for  the  safety  of  the  constitution  and 
the  country,  at  such  a  force  scattered  over  our  extensive  territory ! 
This  could  not  have  been  expected,  at  least  in  the  honorable 
gentleman  (Mr.  Ross),  who,  if  he  had  been  storming  a  fort,  could 
not  have  displayed  more  cool,  collected  courage  than  he  did,  when 
he  declared,  that  he  would  show  to  Pennsylvania,  that  she  had  one 
faithful  representative,  bold  and  independent  enough  to  vote  against 
a  tax ! 


ON     THE     DIRECT     TAX.  279 

He  had  happened,  very  incidentally,  the  other  day,  and  in  a 
manner  which  he  had  supposed  could  not  attract  particular  atten- 
tion, to  state,  that  the  general  condition  of  the  world  admonished 
us  to  shape  our  measures  with  a  view  to  the  possible  conflicts  into 
which  we  might  be  drawn  ;  and  he  said,  he  did  not  know  when  he 
should  cease  to  witness  the  attacks  made  upon  him  in  consequence 
of  that  general  remark ;  when  he  should  cease  to  hear  the  cry  of 
'  standing  army,'  '  national  glory,'  &c.  &c.  From  the  tenor  of  gen- 
tlemen's observations,  it  would  seem  as  if,  for  the  first  time  in  the 
history  of  this  government,  it  was  now  proposed,  that  a  certain 
regular  force  should  constitute  a  portion  of  the  public  defence. 
But  from  the  administration  of  general  Washington,  down  to  this 
time,  a  regular  force,  a  standing  army  (if  gentlemen  please),  had 
existed,  and  the  only  question  about  it,  at  any  time,  had  been,  what 
should  be  the  amount.  Gentlemen  themselves,  who  most  loudly 
decry  this  establishment,  did  not  propose  an  entire  disbandment  of 
it;  and  the  question,  ever  with  them, is,  not  whether  a  regular  force  be 
necessary,  but  whether  a  regular  force  of  this  or  that  amount  be 
called  for  by  the  actual  state  of  our  affairs. 

The  question  is  not,  on  any  side  of  the  house,  as  to  the  nature, 
but  the  quantum  of  the  force.  He  maintained  the  position,  that, 
if  there  was  the  most  profound  peace  that  ever  existed  ;  if  we  had 
no  fears  from  any  quarter  whatever ;  if  all  the  world  was  in  a  state 
of  the  most  profound  and  absolute  repose ;  a  regular  force  of  ten 
thousand  men  was  not  too  great  for  the  purposes  of  this  govern- 
ment. We  knew  too  much,  he  said,  of  the  vicissitudes  of  human 
affairs,  and  the  uncertainty  of  all  our  calculations,  not  to  know,  that, 
even  in  the  most  profound  tranquillity,  some  tempest  may  suddenly 
arise,  and  bring  us  into  a  state  requiring  the  exertion  of  military 
force,  which  cannot  be  created  in  a  moment,  but  requires  time  for 
its  collection,  organization,  and  discipline.  When  gentlemen 
talked  of  the  force  which  was  deemed  sufficient  some  twenty  years 
ago,  what  did  they  mean  ?  That  this  force  was  not  to  be  progres- 
sive ?  That  the  full  grown  man  ought  to  wear  the  clothes  and 
habits  of  his  infancy  ?  That  the  establishment  maintained  by  this 
government,  when  its  population  amounted  to  four  or  five  millions 
only,  should  be  the  standard  by  which  our  measures  should  be 
regulated,  in  all  subsequent  states  of  the  country  ?  If  gentlemen 
meant  this,  as  it  seemed  to  him  they  did,  he  and  they  should  not 
agree.  He  contended,  that  establishments  ought  to  be  commen- 
surate with  the  actual  state  of  the  country,  should  grow  with  its 
growth,  and  keep  pace  with  its  progress.  Look  at  that  map  (said 
he,  pointing  to  the  large  map  of  the  United  States,  which  hangs  in 
the  hall  of  representatives)  —  at  the  vast  extent  of  that  country  which 
stretches  from  the  Lake  of  the  Woods,  in  the  northwest,  to  the  Bay 
of  Fundy,  in  the  east.  Look  at  the  vast  extent  of  our  maritime 
coast;  recollect  we   have    Indians  and   powerful  nations   conter- 


280  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

minous  on  the  whole  frontier;  and  that  we  know  not  at  what 
moment  the  savage  enemy,  or  Great  Britain  herself,  may  seek  to 
make  war  with  us.  Ought  the  force  of  the  country  to  be  graduated 
by  the  scale  of  our  exposure,  or  are  we  to  be  uninfluenced  by  the 
increase  of  our  liability  to  war?  Have  we  forgotten  that  the 
power  of  France,  as  a  counterpoise  to  that  of  Great  Britain,  is 
annihilated  —  gone,  never  to  rise  again,  I  believe,  under  the  weak, 
unhappy,  and  imbecile  race  who  now  sway  her  destinies  ?  Any 
individual  must,  I  think,  come  to  the  same  conclusion  with  myself, 
who  takes  these  considerations  into  view,  and  reflects  on  our  growth, 
the  state  of  our  defence,  the  situation  of  the  nations  of  the  world, 
and  above  all,  of  that  nation  with  whom  we  are  most  likely  to 
come  into  collision  —  for  it  is  in  vain  to  conceal  it;  this  country 
must  have  many  a  hard  and  desperate  tug  with  Great  Britain,  let 
the  two  governments  be  administered  how  and  by  whom  they  may. 
That  man  must  be  blind  to  the  indications  of  the  future,  who  cannot 
see  that  we  are  destined  to  have  war  after  war  with  Great  Britain, 
until,  if  one  of  the  two  nations  be  not  crushed,  all  grounds  of 
collision  shall  have  ceased  between  us.  I  repeat,  if  the  condition 
of  France  were  that  of  perfect  repose,  instead  of  that  of  a  volcano, 
ready  to  burst  out  again  with  a  desolating  eruption ;  if  with  Spain 
our  differences  were  settled ;  if  the  dreadful  war  raging  in  South 
America  were  terminated;  if  the  marines  of  all  the  powers  of 
Europe  were  resuscitated  as  they  stood  prior  to  the  revolution  of 
France  ;  if  there  was  universal  repose,  and  profound  tranquillity 
among  all  the  nations  of  the  earth ;  considering  the  actual  growth 
of  our  country,  in  my  judgment,  the  force  of  ten  thousand  men 
would  not  be  too  great  for  its  exigences.  Do  gentlemen  ask,  if  I 
rely  on  the  regular  force  entirely  for  the  defence  of  the  country  ? 
I  answer,  it  is  for  garrisoning  and  keeping  in  order  our  fortifica- 
tions, for  the  preservation  of  the  national  arms,  for  something  like 
a  safe  depository  of  military  science  and  skill,  to  which  we  may 
recur  in  time  of  danger,  that  I  desire  to  maintain  an  adequate 
regular  force.  I  know,  that  in  the  hour  of  peril,  our  great  reliance 
must  be  on  the  whole  physical  force  of  the  country,  and  that  no 
detachment  of  it  can  be  exclusively  depended  on.  History  proves 
that  no  nation,  not  destitute  of  the  military  art,  whose  people  were 
united  in  its  defence,  ever  was  conquered.  It  is  true,  that  in 
countries  where  standing  armies  have  been  entirely  relied  on,  ihe 
armies  have  been  subdued,  and  the  subjugation  of  the  nation  has 
been  the  consequence  of  it ;  but  no  example  is  to  be  found  of  a 
united  people  being  conquered,  who  possessed  an  adequate  degree 
of  military  knowledge.  Look  at  the  Grecian  republics,  struggling 
successfully  against  the  overwhelming  force  of  Persia;  look  more 
recently  at  Spain.  I  have  great  confidence  in  the  militia,  and  I 
would  go  with  my  honorable  colleague  (Mr.  M'Kee),  whose  views 
I  know  are  honest,  hand  in  hand,  in   arming,  disciplining,  and 


ON     THE     DIRECT     TAX.  281 

rendering  effective,  the  militia  ;  I  am  for  providing  the  nation  with 
every  possible  means  of  resistance.  I  ask  my  honorable  colleague, 
after  I  have  gone  thus  far  with  him,  to  go  a  step  further  with  me, 
and  let  us  retain  the  force  we  now  have  for  the  purposes  I  have 
already  described.  J  ask  gentlemen  who  propose  to  reduce  the 
army,  if  they  have  examined  in  detail  the  number  and  extent  of 
the  posts  and  garrisons  on  our  maritime  and  interior  frontier?  If 
they  have  not  gone  through  ihis,  process  of  reasoning,  how  shall 
we  arrive  at  the  result  that  we  can  reduce  the  army  with  safety? 
There  is  not  one  of  our  forts  adequately  garrisoned  at  this  moment; 
and  there  is  nearly  one  fourth  of  them  that  have  not  one  solitary 
man.  I  said  the  other  day,  that  I  would  rather  vote  for  the  aug- 
mentation than  the  reduction  of  the  army.  When  returning  to  my 
country  from  its  foreign  service,  and  looking  at  this  question,  it 
appeared  to  me  that  the  maximum  was  twenty  thousand,  the 
minimum  ten  thousand  of  the  force  we  ought  to  retain.  And  I 
again  say,  that  rather  than  reduce  I  would  vote  to  increase  the 
present  force. 

A  standing  army  had  been  deemed  necessary,  from  the  com- 
mencement of  the  government  to  the  present  time.  The  question 
was  only  as  to  the  quantum  of  force ;  and  not  whether  it  should 
exist.  No  man  who  regards  his  political  reputation,  would  place 
himself  before  the  people,  on  a  proposition  for  its  absolute  disband- 
ment.  He  admitted  a  question  as  to  quantum  might  be  carried  so 
far  as  to  rise  into  a  question  of  principle.  If  we  were  to  propose 
to  retain  an  army  of  thirty,  or  forty,  or  fifty  thousand  men,  then 
truly  the  question  would  present  itself,  whether  our  rights  were  not 
in  some  danger  from  such  a  standing  army ;  whether  reliance  was 
to  be  placed  altogether  on  a  standing  army,  or  on  that  natural  safe 
defence  which,  according  to  the  habits  of  the  country  and  the 
principles  of  our  government,  is  considered  the  bulwark  of  our 
liberties.  But,  between  five  and  ten  thousand  men,  or  any  number 
under  ten  thousand,  it  could  not  be  a  question  of  principle ;  for, 
unless  gentlemen  were  afraid  of  spectres,  it  was  utterly  impossible 
that  any  danger  could  be  apprehended  from  ten  thousand  men, 
dispersed  on  a  frontier  of  many  thousand  miles ;  here  twenty  or 
thirty,  there  an  hundred ;  and  the  largest  amount,  at  Detroit,  not 
exceeding  a  thin  regiment.  And  yet,  brave  gentlemen  —  gentle- 
men who  are  not  alarmed  at  hobgoblins  —  who  can  intrepidly  vote 
even  against  taxes  —  are  alarmed  by  a  force  of  this  extent!  What, 
he  asked,  was  the  amount  of  the  army  in  the  time  of  Mr.  Jefferson  — 
a  time,  the  orthodoxy  of  which  had  been  so  ostentatiously  pro- 
claimed? It  was  true,  when  that  gentleman  came  into  power, 
it  was  with  a  determination  to  retrench,  as  far  as  practicable. 
Under  the  full  influence  of  these  notions,  in  1802,  the  bold  step  of 
wholly  disbanding  the  army,  never  was  thought  of.  The  military 
peace  establishment  was  then  fixed  at  about  four  thousand  men* 
v6l.  i.  36 


282  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

But,  before  Mr.  Jefferson  went  out  of  power,  what  was  done — 
that  is,  in  April,  1808  ?  In  addition  to  the  then  existing  peace 
establishment,  eight  regiments,  amounting  to  between  five  and  six 
thousand  men,  were  authorized,  making  a  total  force  precisely- 
equal  to  the  present  peace  establishment.  It  was  true,  that  all  this 
force  had  never  been  actually  enlisted  and  embodied;  that  the 
recruiting  service  had  been  suspended ;  and  that  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  war  we  had  far  from  this  number ;  and  we  have  not  now 
actually  ten  thousand  men  —  being  at  least  two  thousand  deficient 
of  that  number.  He  adverted  to  what  had  been  said,  on  this  and 
other  occasions,  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  not  having  seized  the  favorable 
moment  for  war,  which  was  afforded  by  the  attack  on  the  Chesa- 
peake. He  had  always  entertained  the  opinion,  he  said,  that  Mr. 
Jefferson  on  that  occasion  took  the  correct,  manly,  and  frank  course, 
in  saying  to  the  British  government,  your  officers  have  done  this ; 
it  is  an  enormous  aggression;  do  you  approve  the  act;  do  you 
make  it  your  cause,  or  not  ?  That  government  did  not  sanction 
the  act ;  it  disclaimed  it,  and  promptly  too  ;  and  although  they  for 
a  long  time  withheld  the  due  redress,  it  was  ultimately  tendered. 
If  Mr.  Jefferson  had  used  his  power  to  carry  the  country  into  a 
war  at  that  period,  it  might  have  been  supported  by  public  opinion, 
during  the  moment  of  fever,  but  it  would  soon  abate,  and  the 
people  would  begin  to  ask,  why  this  war  had  been  made  without 
understanding  whether  the  British  government  avowed  the  conduct 
of  its  officers,  and  so  forth.  If  the  threatening  aspect  of  our  rela- 
tions with  England  had  entered  into  the  consideration  which  had 
caused  the  increase  of  the  army  at  that  time,  there  were  considera- 
tions equally  strong  at  this  time,  with  our  augmented  population, 
for  retaining  our  present  force.  If,  however,  there  were  no  threat- 
enings  from  any  quarter;  if  the  relative  force  of  European  nations, 
and  the  general  balance  of  power  existing  before  the  French 
revolution  were  restored;  if  South  America  had  not  made  the 
attempt,  in  which  he  trusted  in  God  she  would  succeed,  to  achieve 
her  independence ;  if  our  affairs  with  Spain  were  settled,  he  would 
repeat,  that  ten  thousand  men  would  not  be  too  great  a  force  for 
the  necessities  of  the  country,  and  with  a  view  to  future  emergences. 
He  had  taken  the  liberty,  the  other  day.  to  make  some  observa- 
tions which  he  might  now  repeat  as  famishing  auxiliary  considera- 
tions for  adopting  a  course  of  prudence  and  precaution.  He  had 
then  said,  that  our  affairs  with  Spain  were  not  settled ;  that  the 
Spanish  minister  was  reported  to  have  made  some  inadmissible 
demands  of  our  government.  The  fact  turned  out  as  he  had 
presented  it.  It  appeared  that  what  was  then  rumor,  was  now  fact ; 
and  Spain  had  taken  the  ground,  not  only  that  there  must  be  a 
discussion  of  our  title  to  that  part  of  Louisiana,  formerly  called 
West  Florida,  (which  it  might  be  doubted  whether  it  ought  to  take 
place,)  but  had  required  that  we  must  surrender  the  territory  first, 


ON     THE     DIRECT     TAX.  2S3 

and  discuss  the  right  to  it  afterwards.  Besides  this  unsettled  state 
of  our  relations  with  Spain,  he  said,  there  were  other  rumors,  and 
he  wished  to  God  we  had  the  same  means  of  ascertaining  their 
correctness,  as  we  had  found  of  ascertaining  the  truth  of  the  rumor 
just  noticed ;  it  was  rumored  that  the  Spanish  province  of  Florida 
had  been  ceded,  with  all  her  pretensions,  to  Great  Britain.  Would 
gentlemen  tell  him,  then,  that  this  was  a  time  when  any  statesman 
would  pursue  the  hazardous  policy  of  disarming  entirely,  of  quietly 
smoking  our  pipes  by  our  firesides,  regardless  of  impending 
danger  ?  It  might  be  a  palatable  doctrine  to  some,  but  he  was 
persuaded  was  condemned  by  the  rules  of  conduct  in  private  life, 
by  those  maxims  of  sound  precaution  by  which  individuals  would 
regulate  their  private  affairs.  He  did  not  here  mean  to  take  up 
the  question  in  relation  to  South  America.  Still,  it  was  impossible 
not  to  see,  that,  in  the  progress  of  things,  we  might  be  called  on  to 
decide  the  question,  whether  we  would  or  would  not  lend  them  our 
aid.  This  opinion  he  boldly  declared,  and  he  entertained  it,  not  in 
any  pursuit  of  vain  glory,  but  from  a  deliberate  conviction  of  its 
being  conformable  to  the  best  interests  of  the  country ;  that,  having 
a  proper  understanding  with  foreign  powers — that  understanding 
which  prudence  and  a  just  precaution  recommended — it  would 
undoubtedly  be  good  policy  to  take  part  with  the  patriots  of 
South  America.  He  believed  it  could  be  shown,  that,  on  the 
strictest  principles  of  public  law,  we  have  a  right  to  take  part  with 
them,  that  it  is  our  interest  to  take  part  with  them,  and  that  our 
interposition  in  their  favor  would  be  effectual.  But  he  confessed, 
with  infinite  regret,  that  he  saw  a  supineness  on  this  interesting 
subject,  throughout  our  country,  which  left  him  almost  without 
hope,  that  what  he  believed  the  correct  policy  of  the  country  would 
be  pursued.  He  considered  the  release  of  any  part  of  America 
from  the  dominions  of  the  old  world,  as  adding  to  the  general 
security  of  the  new.  He  could  not  contemplate  the  exertions  of 
the  people  of  South  America,  without  wishing  that  they  might 
triumph,  and  nobly  triumph.  He  believed  the  cause  of  humanity 
would  be  promoted  by  the  interposition  of  any  foreign  power 
which  should  terminate  the  contest  between  the  friends  and  enemies 
of  independence  in  that  quarter,  for  a  more  bloody  and  cruel  war 
never  had  been  carried  on  since  the  days  of  Adam,  than  that  which 
is  now  raging  in  South  America  ;  in  which  not  the  least  regard  is 
paid  to  the  laws  of  war,  to  the  rights  of  capitulation,  to  the  rights 
of  prisoners,  nor  even  to  the  rights  of  kindred.  I  do  not  offer 
these  views,  expecting  to  influence  the  opinions  of  others ;  they 
are  opinions  of  my  own.  But,  on  the  question  of  general  policy, 
whether  or  not  we  shall  interfere  in  the  war  in  South  America,  it 
may  turn  out  that,  whether  we  will  or  will  not  choose  to  interfere 
in  their  behalf,  we  shall  be  drawn  into  the  contest  in  the  course  of 
its  progress.     Among  other  demands  by  the  minister  of  Spain,  is 


284  SPEECHES     OF    HENRY     CLAY. 

the  exclusion  of  the  flag  of  Buenos  Ayres,  and  other  parts  of  South 
America,  from  our  ports.  Our  government  has  taken  a  ground  on 
this  subject,  of  which  I  think  no  gentleman  can  disapprove  —  that 
all  parties  shall  be  admitted  and  hospitably  treated  in  our  ports, 
provided  ihey  conform  to  our  laws  whilst  among  us.  What  course 
Spain  may  take  on  this  subject,  it  was  impossible  now  to  say. 
Although  I  would  not  urge  this  as  an  argument  for  increasing  our 
force,  I  would  place  it  among  those  considerations  which  ought  to 
have  weight  with  every  enlightened  mind,  in  determining  upon 
the  propriety  of  its  reduction.  It  is  asserted  that  Great  Britain  has 
strengthened,  and  is  strengthening  herself  in  the  provinces  adjoin- 
ing us.  Is  this  a  moment  when  in  prudence  we  ought  to  disarm  ? 
No,  sir.  Preserve  your  existing  force.  It  would  be  extreme  indis- 
cretion to  lessen  it. 

Mr.  Clay  here  made  some  observations,  to  show  that  a  reduction 
of  the  army  to  from  four  to  five  thousand  men,  as  had  been  sug- 
gested, would  not  occasion  such  a  diminution  of  expense  as  to 
authorize  the  rejection  of  the  report,  or  any  essential  alteration  in 
the  amount  of  revenue,  which  the  system  proposes  to  raise  from 
internal  taxes,  and  his  colleague  (Mr.  M'Kee)  appeared  equally 
hostile  to  all  of  them.  Having,  however,  shown  that  we  cannot  in 
safety  reduce  the  army,  he  would  leave  the  details  of  the  report  in 
the  abler  hands  of  the  honorable  chairman  (Mr.  Lowndes),  who, 
he  had  no  doubt,  could  demonstrate,  that  with  all  the  retrenchments 
which  had  been  recommended,  the  government  would  be  bankrupt 
in  less  than  three  years,  if  most  of  these  taxes  were  not  continued. 
He  would  now  hasten  to  that  conclusion,  at  which  the  committee 
could  not  regret  more  than  he  did,  that  he  had  not  long  since 
arrived, 
p  As  to  the  attitude  in  which  this  country  should  be  placed,  the 
duty  of  congress  could  not  be  mistaken.  My  policy  is  to  preserve 
the  present  force,  naval  and  military ;  to  provide  for  the  augmenta- 
tion of  the  navy ;  and,  if  the  danger  of  war  should  increase,  to 
increase  the  army  also.  Arm  the  militia,  and  give  it  the  most 
effective  character  of  which  it  is  susceptible.  Provide  in  the  most 
ample  manner,  and  place  in  proper  depots,  all  the  munitions  and 
instruments  of  war.  Fortify  and  strengthen  the  weak  and  vulner- 
able points  indicated  by  experience.  Construct  military  roads  and 
canals,  particularly  from  the  Miami  of  the  Ohio  to  the  Miami  of 
Erie ;  from  the  Sciota  to  the  bay  of  Sandusky ;  from  the  Hudson 
to  Ontario  ;  that  the  facilities  of  transportation  may  exist,  of  the  men 
and  means  of  the  country,  to  points  where  they  may  be  wanted.  I 
would  employ  on  this  subject  a  part  of  the  army,  which  should  also 
be  employed  on  our  line  of  frontier,  territorial  and  maritime,  in 
strengthening  the  works  of  defence.  I  would  provide  steam  batteries 
for  the  Mississippi,  for  Borgne  and  Ponchartrain,  and  for  the  Ches- 
apeake, and  for  any  part  ot  the  north  or  east,  where  they  might  be 


ON     THE     DIRECT     TAX.  285 

beneficially  employed.  In  short,  I  would  act  seriously,  effectively  act, 
on  the  principle,  that  in  peace  we  ought  to  prepare  for  war ;  for  I 
repeat,  again  and  again,  that,  in  spite  of  all  the  prudence  exerted 
by  the  government,  and  the  forbearance  of  others,  the  hour  of  trial 
will  come.  These  halcyon  days  of  peace,  this  calm  will  yield  to 
the  storm  of  war,  and  when  that  comes,  I  am  for  being  prepared 
to  breast  it.  Has  not  the  government  been  reproached  for  the  want 
of  preparation  at  the  commencement  of  the  late  war?  And  yet 
the  same  gentlemen  who  utter  these  reproaches,  instead  of  taking 
counsel  from  experience,  would  leave  the  country  in  an  unprepared 
condition. 

He  would  as  earnestly  commence  the  great  work,  too  long 
delayed,  of  internal  improvement.  He  desired  to  see  a  chain  of 
turnpike  roads  and  canals,  from  Passamaquoddy  to  New  Orleans ; 
and  other  similar  roads  intersecting  the  mountains,  to  facilitate 
intercourse  between  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  to  bind  and 
connect  us  together.  He  would  also  effectually  protect  our  manu- 
factories. We  had  given,  at  least,  an  implied  pledge  to  do  so,  by 
the  course  of  administration.  He  would  afford  them  protection, 
not  so  much  for  the  sake  of  the  manufacturers  themselves,  as  for 
the  general  interest.  We  should  thus  have  our  wants  supplied, 
when  foreign  resources  are  cut  off,  and  we  should  also  lay  the 
basis  of  a  system  of  taxation,  to  be  resorted  to  when  the  revenue 
from  imports  is  stopped  by  war.  Such,  Mr.  Chairman,  is  a  rapid 
sketch  of  the  policy  which  it  seems  to  me  it  becomes  us  to  pursue. 
It  is  for  you  now  to  decide,  whether  we  shall  draw  wisdom  from 
the  past,  or,  neglecting  the  lessons  of  recent  experience,  we  shall 
go  on  headlong  without  foresight,  meriting  and  receiving  the 
reproaches  of  the  community.  I  trust,  sir,  notwithstanding  the 
unpromising  appearances  sometimes  presenting  themselves,  during 
the  present  session,  we  shall  yet  do  our  duty.  I  appeal  to  the 
friends  around  me,  with  whom  I  have  been  associated  for  years  in 
public  life ;  who  nobly,  manfully  vindicated  the  national  character  by 
a  war,  waged  by  a  young  people,  unskilled  in  arms,  single-handed, 
against  a  veteran  power  —  a  war  which  the  nation  has  emerged 
from,  covered  with  laurels ;  let  us  now  do  something  to  ameliorate 
the  internal  condition  of  the  country ;  let  us  show  that  objects  of 
domestic,  no  less  than  those  of  foreign  policy,  receive  our  attention; 
let  us  fulfil  the  just  expectations  of  the  public,  whose  eyes  are 
anxiously  directed  towards  this  session  of  congress ;  let  us,  by  a 
liberal  and  enlightened  policy,  entitle  ourselves,  upon  our  return 
home,  to  that  best  of  all  rewards,  the  grateful  exclamation,  c  well 
done,  thou  good  and  faithful  servant., 


ON  THE  BILL  FOR  ENFORCING  NEUTRALITY, 

IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  JANUARY  24,  1817. 


[President  Madison,  in  a  message  dated  December  26,  1816,  had  apprized  con- 
gress, that  the  existing  laws  did  not  enable  him  to  preserve  the  peace  of  the  United 
States  with  foreign  powers.  The  subject  having  been  referred  to  the  committee  on 
foreign  relations,  that  committee,  through  their  chairman,  Mr.  Forsyth,  of  Georgia, 
reported  a  bill  for  enforcing  neutrality.  This  bill  was  debated  in  committee  of  the 
whole,  on  the  24th  of  January,  1817,  by  Messrs.  Forsyth,  Smith,  of  Maryland, 
Grosvenor,  of  New  York,  Randolph,  of  Virginia,  Sharp,  of  Kentucky,  Sheffey,  of  Vir- 
ginia, Hopkinson,  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Clay  (speaker).  In  the  brief  remarks  of  Mr. 
Clay  it  will  be  observed,  that  he  renews  the  expression  of  his  sympathies  with  the 
people  of  South  America  in  their  struggle  for  independence;  and,  considering  the  bill 
tinder  discussion  as  intended  to  discountenance  that  revolution,  he  avowed  his  oppo- 
sition to  it.] 


Mr.  Clay  (speaker).  As  long  as  the  government  abstained 
from  taking  any  part  in  the  contest  now  carrying  on  in  the  southern 
part  of  this  continent,  it  was  unquestionably  its  duty  to  maintain  a 
strict  neutrality.  On  that  point  there  was  and  could  be  no  difference 
of  opinion.  It  ought  not,  however,  to  be  overlooked,  that  the  two 
parties  stood  with  this  government  on  unequal  ground.  One  of 
them  had  an  accredited  minister  here,  to  watch  over  its  interests, 
and  to  remonstrate  against  any  acts  of  which  it  might  complain; 
whilst  the  other,  being  wholly  unrepresented,  had  no  organ 
through  which  to  communicate  its  grievances.  This  inequality  of 
condition  in  the  contending  parties,  imposed  upon  us  the  duty  of 
great  circumspection  and  prudence  in  what  we  might  do. 

Whenever  a  war  exists,  whether  between  two  independent  states 
or  between  parts  of  a  common  empire,  he  knew  of  but  two  rela- 
tions in  which  other  powers  could  stand  towards  the  belligerents ; 
the  one  was  that  of  neutrality,  and  the  other  that  of  a  belligerent. 

Being  then  in  a  state  of  neutrality  respecting  the  contest,  and 
bound  to  maintain  it,  the  question  was,  whether  the  provisions  of 
the  bill  were  necessary  to  the  performance  of  that  duty  ?  It  will 
be  recollected  that  we  have  an  existing  law,  directed  against  arma- 
ments, such  as  are  described  in  the  bill.  That  law  was  passed  in 
1794.  It  was  intended  to  preserve  our  neutrality  in  the  contest 
between  France  and  her  enemies.  The  circumstances  under  which 
it  was  passed,  must  be  yet  fresh  in  our  recollection.    The  French 


BILL     FOR    ENFORCING     NEUTRALITY.  297 

revolution  had  excited  a  universal  enthusiasm  in  the  cause  of  liberty. 
The  flame  reached  this  country,  and  spread  with  electric  rapidity 
throughout  the  continent.  There  was  not  a  state,  county,  city,  or 
village,  exempted  from  it.  An  ardent  disposition  to  enter  into  the  con- 
flict, on  the  side  of  France,  was  every  where  felt.  General  Washing- 
ton thought  it  the  interest  of  this  country  to  remain  neutral,  and  the 
law  of  1794  was  enacted,  to  restrain  our  citizens  from  taking  part 
in  the  contest.  If  that  law  had  been  effectual  to  preserve  the  neu- 
trality of  this  country,  during  the  stormy  period  of  the  French  revo- 
lution, we  ought  to  pause  before  we  assent  to  the  adoption  of  new 
penalties  and  provisions.  If  the  law  did  not  reach  the  case  (which 
he  understood  to  be  doubtful  from  some  judicial  decisions),  he  was 
willing  to  legislate  so  far  as  to  make  it  comprehend  it.  Further 
than  that,  as  at  present  advised,  he  was  not  willing  to  go. 

But  the  present  bill  not  only  went  further,  but,  in  his  judgment, 
contained  provisions  not  demanded  of  us  by  our  neutral  duties. 
It  contained  two  principles  not  embraced  by  the  law  of  1794.  The 
first  was,  the  requisition  of  a  bond  from  the  owners  of  armed  ves- 
sels, that  persons,  to  whom  they  might  sell  these  vessels,  should 
not  use  them  in  the  contest.  The  second  was,  the  power  vested 
in  the  collectors  to  seize  and  detain,  under  certain  circumstances, 
any  such  vessels.  Now,  with  regard  to  the  first  provision,  it  is  not 
denied  that  an  armed  vessel  may  be  lawfully  sold  by  an  American 
citizen  to  a  foreign  subject,  other  than  a  subject  of  Spain.  But  on 
what,  ground  is  it  possible,  then,  to  maintain,  that  it  is  the  duty  of 
the  American  citizen  to  become  responsible  for  the  subsequent  use 
which  may  be  made  of  such  vessel  by  the  foreign  subject  ?  We 
are  bound  to  take  care  that  our  own  citizens  do  not  violate  our 
neutrality,  but  we  are  under  no  such  obligation  as  it  respects  the 
subjects  of  foreign  powers.  It  is  the  business  of  those  foreign 
powers  to  guard  the  conduct  of  their  own  subjects.  If  it  be  true, 
as  he  had  heard  it  asserted,  that  Fell's  Point  exhibits  an  activity  in 
hostile  preparation,  not  surpassed  during  the  late  war,  we  had 
enough  to  do  with  our  own  citizens.  It  was  not  incumbent  upon, 
us,  as  a  neutral  power,  to  provide,  after  a  legal  sale  had  been  made 
of  an  armed  vessel  to  a  foreign  subject,  against  any  illegal  use  of 
the  vessel. 

Gentlemen  have  contended,  that  this  bill  ought  to  be  considered 
as  intended  merely  to  enforce  our  own  laws ;  as  a  municipal  regu- 
lation, having  no  relation  to  the  war  now  existing.  It  was  impos- 
sible to  deceive  ourselves,  as  to  the  true  character  of  the  measure. 
Bestow  on  it  what  denomination  you  please,  disguise  it  as  you 
may,  it  is  a  law,  and  will  be  understood  by  the  whole  world  as  a 
law,  to  discountenance  any  aid  being  given  to  the  South  American 
colonies  in  a  state  of  revolution  against  the  parent  country.  With 
respect  to  the  nature  of  that  struggle,  he  had  not  now,  for  the  first 
time,  to  express  his  opinion  and  his  wishes.     An  honorable  gentle- 


288  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

man  from  Virginia  (Mr.  Sheffey)  had  said,  the  people  of  South 
America  were  incapable,  from  the  ignorance  and  superstition 
which  prevail  among  them,  of  achieving  independence  or  enjoying 
liberty.  And  to  what  cause  is  that  ignorance  and  superstition 
owing?  Was  it  not  to  the  vices  of  their  government?  to  the 
tyranny  and  oppression,  hierarchical  and  political,  under  which 
they  groaned  ?  If  Spain  succeeded  in  riveting  their  chains  upon 
them,  would  not  that  ignorance  and  superstition  be  perpetuated  ? 
In  the  event  of  that  success,  he  feared  the  time  would  never  arrive, 
when  the  good  wishes  of  the  honorable  gentleman  from  Virginia 
would  be  conciliated  in  behalf  of  that  oppressed  and  suffering 
people.  For  his  part,  he  wished  their  independence.  It  was  the 
first  step  towards  improving  their  condition.  Let  them  have  free 
government,  if  they  be  capable  of  enjoying  it;  but  let  them  have, 
at  all  events,  independence.  Yes,  from  the  inmost  recesses  of  my 
soul,  I  wish  them  independence.  I  may  be  accused  of  an  impru- 
dent utterance  of  my  feelings,  on  this  occasion.  I  care  not ;  when 
the  independence,  the  happiness,  the  liberty  of  a  whole  people  is  at 
stake,  and  that  people  our  neighbors,  our  brethren,  occupying  a 
portion  of  the  same  continent,  imitating  our  example,  and  partici- 
pating of  the  same  sympathies  with  ourselves,  I  will  boldly  avow 
my  feelings  and  my  wishes  in  their  behalf,  even  at  the  hazard  of 
such  an  imputation. 

-  But,  notwithstanding  the  feelings  which  he  cherished  on  this 
subject,  Mr.  Clay  admitted  that  it  became  us  not  to  exhibit  the 
spectacle  of  a  people  at  war  and  a  government  at  peace.  We 
ought  to  perform  our  neutral  duties,  whilst  we  are  neutral,  without 
regard  to  the  unredressed  injuries  inflicted  upon  us  by  old  Spain, 
on  the  one  hand,  or  to  the  glorious  object  of  the  struggle  of  the  South 
American  patriots  on  the  other.  We  ought  to  render  strict  justice, 
and  no  more.  If  the  bill  on  the  table  was  limited  to  that  object, 
he  would  vote  for  it.  But  he  thought  it  wTent  further;  that  it 
assumed  obligations  which  we  were  not  bound  to  incur,  and, 
thinking  so,  he  could  not,  in  its  present  shape,  give  to  it  his  assent. 


ON  COMMERCIAL  RESTRICTIONS  WITH 
FOREIGN  NATIONS. 

IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  JANUARY  30, 1817. 


[  On  the  fifth  of  February,  1816,  Mr.  Cyrus  King,  of  Massachusetts,  presented  for 
consideration  a  resolution,  instructing  the  committee  on  foreign  relations  to  inquire 
into  the  expediency  of  excluding  from  the  ports  of  the  United  States  all  foreign 
vessels,  owned  in.  coming  from,  bound  to,  or  touching  at  any  of  his  Britannic 
majesty's  possessions  in  the  West  Indies,  and  in  the  continent  of  North  America, 
from  which  the  vessels  of  the  United  States  are  excluded  5  and  of  prohibiting  or 
increasing  the  duties  on  the  importation  in  foreign  vessels,  of  any  articles,  the  growth, 
produce,  or  manufacture  of  such  possessions.  This  resolution  underwent  much  dis- 
cussion, but  was  finally  laid  upon  the  table,  and  the  subject  not  again  introduced 
during  the  same  session.  But  on  the  twenty-seventh  of  January,  1817,  there  was 
introduced  'a  bill  to  prohibit  all  commercial  intercourse  with  ports  or  places,  into  or 
with  which,  the  vessels  of  the  United  States  are  not  ordinarily  permitted  to  enter  or 
trade.'  On  the  thirtieth  of  January,  this  bill  was  called  up  and  debated  in  committee 
of  the  whole.  Among  the  speakers  on  the  subject,  were  Messrs.  Cyrus  King,  of 
Massachusetts,  Smith,  of  Maryland,  Wilde,  of  Georgia,  Randolph,  of  Virginia, 
Lowndes,  of  South  Carolina,  Hopkinson,  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Clay  (speaker). 

The  whole  subject  was  finally  again  laid  on  the  table.  The  following  are  Mr. 
Clay's  remarks  in  this  debate.  ] 


Mr.  Clay  (speaker)  said,  that  in  one  sentiment  expressed  by 
the  gentleman  from  Georgia  he  most  heartily  concurred ;  that  the 
measure  contemplated  by  the  bill,  or  by  the  proposed  substitute, 
was  the  most  important,  as  respected  at  least  our  foreign  relations, 
that  had  come  before  congress  at  this  session,  or  would  probably 
be  brought  before  it  for  some  years ;  a  measure,  which,  whatever 
fate  attended  it,  ought  to  attract  the  attention  of  honorable  members 
of  this  house,  and  to  which,  he  hoped,  before  the  final  question  on 
it,  they  would  give  the  most  mature  consideration. 

The  importance  of  the  question  by  no  means  depended  simply 
on  the  value  of  the  trade  between  this  country  and  the  colonies 
of  Great  Britain.  But  considering  the  question  as  it  related 
merely  to  that  trade,  when  the  fact  was  stated,  that  it  consisted  of 
six  millions  of  dollars  imports,  and  of  course  a  like  amount  of 
exports,  it  must  be  admitted,  the  question  was  one  of  deep  import, 
compared  to  any  which  at  present  presented  itself  to  the  attention 
of  congress.  But,  as  was  stated  in  the  president's  message,  it  was 
not  solely  important  on  account  of  the  effect  of  the  colonial  system 
vol.  1.  37 


290  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

on  that  trade,  but  the  fact  was,  that  the  exclusion  from  a  participa- 
tion in  that  navigation,  essentially  affected  the  trade  between  this 
country  and  the  British  European  possessions,  and,  by  the  opera- 
tion of  the  system,  deprived  us,  in  a  great  measure,  of  the  benefits 
of  the  convention  of  commerce  with  Great  Britain,  which  provided 
for  the  establishment  of  a  perfect  reciprocity  of  commerce  between 
the  United  States  and  the  British  European  possessions.  Even  if 
gentlemen  were  not  disposed  to  do  something  to  obtain  for  the 
navigation  of  this  country  a  participation  in  the  colonial  trade, 
they  ought  to  go  so  far  as  to  place  them  on  an  equal  footing  as 
regarded  the  European  trade.  Some  measure  ought  to  be  devised, 
by  which  the  navigation  of  Great  Britain  should  be  prevented 
from  enjoying  peculiar  advantages  over  us,  in  a  trade  wherein 
reciprocity  had  been  solemnly  promised  by  the  convention,  to 
which  he  had  alluded. 

Let  us,  then,  inquire  into  the  character  of  the  evil  proposed  to 
be  remedied,  and  of  the  remedy  that  is  offered.  What  is  the  evil  ? 
Great  Britain  says,  that  the  whole  commerce  between  her  colonies 
and  the  United  States  shall  be  carried  on  in  British  ships,  absolutely 
excluding  American  ships  from  any  participation  in  it.  The  most 
natural  course  of  the  exchange  of  commodities  between  nations 
might  be  thus  defined ;  that  each  nation  should  carry  its  own 
products  to  market ;  that  we  should  carry  of  our  produce  what  we 
do  not  want,  but  they  do,  to  British  ports ;  and  that  they  should 
bring  what  they  do  not  want,  but  we  do,  to  our  ports.  With  this 
course,  however,  Great  Britain  was  not  satisfied.  The  next  and 
perhaps  the  most  equal  and  best  mode  of  providing  for  the  free 
and  fair  interchange  of  commodities,  was,  to  open  the  trade  equally 
and  reciprocally  to  both  parties,  to  let  each  carry  the  commodities 
of  both  countries,  in  a  fair  competition.  Great  Britain  was  not, 
however,  disposed  to  do  this.  She  not  only  prohibited  the  carriage 
of  her  colonial  commodities  in  our  vessels ;  not  only  entirely 
engrossed  the  export  trade  from  her  colonies,  but  refused  to  allow 
us  any  participation,  by  conventional  regulation  or  otherwise,  in 
the  trade  to  the  colonies.  The  effect  was,  to  deprive  us  of  the 
advantages,  in  the  augmentation  of  our  commerce  and  increase  of 
our  seamen,  which  would  result  from  the  carriage  of  our  own 
produce,  to  the  amount  of  six  millions  of  dollars  annually. 

With  regard  to  the  importance  of  encouraging  our  navigation, 
he  said,  he  need  not  resort  to  argument.  The  question  of  the 
importance  of  a  navy,  to  maintain  and  defend  our  rights,  which 
had  been  some  years  ago  a  question  of  a  theoretical  nature,  was  no 
longer  so  ;  it  was  now  a  question  of  practical  experience.  All  felt  its 
importance,  and  all  acknowledged  the  expediency  of  cherishing,  by 
all  means  in  our  power,  that  important  branch  of  national  defence. 

Gentlemen  alarmed  themselves  by  the  apprehension,  that  the 
other  party  wo  aid  view  as  inimical  any  regulations  countervailing 


ON     COMMERCIAL     RESTRICTIONS.  291 

her  colonial  policy,  and  that  the  issue  of  this  conflict  of  commercial 
regulations  would  be  war.  He  believed  in  no  such  result.  If  an 
exclusion  of  the  navigation  and  shipping  of  Great  Britain  from  our 
ports  be  a  measure  of  a  hostile  character,  said  Mr.  Clay,  Great 
Britain  has  set  us  the  example  ;  for  she  excludes  our  navigation 
and  shipping  from  an  extensive  range  of  her  ports.  He  considered 
this  rather  as  a  diplomatic  than  a  hostile  measure ;  but,  if  it  were 
otherwise,  she  had  set  the  example,  which  she  could  not  complain 
if  we  followed. 

But,  said  he,  let  us  look  to  the  fact.  What  would  be  the  light  in 
which  Great  Britain  would  view  any  such  regulations  as  are  pro- 
posed by  the  bill  ?  The  convention  of  London  contains  an  express 
stipulation  on  the  subject ;  and  I  will  observe  to  gentlemen,  that  the 
clause  which  exempts  the  colonial  trade  from  the  second  article  of 
the  convention,  was  introduced  with  the  express  view  of  retaining 
in  our  hands  the  right  to  countervail  the  British  regulations  in  this 
respect.  It  was  so  understood  by  the  framers  of  that  convention. 
But  we  have  later  evidence  than  that  which  is  furnished  by  the 
terms  of  the  convention.  The  president,  in  his  message  at  the 
opening  of  the  session,  says,  that  it  is  ascertained,  \  that  the  British 
government  declines  all  negotiation  on  this  subject ;  with  a  dis- 
avowal, however,  of  any  disposition  to  view  in  an  unfriendly  light, 
whatever  countervailing'  regulations  the  United  States  may  oppose 
to  the  regulations  of  which  they  complain.'  Thus,  then,  we  have 
evidence,  both  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  and  from  the  express 
declarations  of  the  British  government,  that  it  will  not,  because  it 
cannot,  view  in  an  unfriendly  light  any  regulations  which  this  gov- 
ernment may  find  it  expedient  to  adopt,  to  countervail  their  policy. 
Mr.  Clay  said,  he  did  not  think  that  the  adoption  of  this  policy  on 
the  part  of  Great  Britain,  ought  to  excite  any  hostile  feeling  towards 
her.  She  was  not  singular  in  this  respect.  Every  country  that  has 
colonies  in  the  West  Indies,  and  which  is  not  too  weak  to  defend 
them,  endeavored,  he  said,  to  appropriate  to  itself  all  the  advantages 
of  the  trade  with  those  colonies  ;  and  it  would  be  found  that  the 
relaxation  of  the  rigor  of  that  system  by  one  nation  or  another,  was 
precisely  graduated  by  the  degree  of  ability  to  maintain  their  colo- 
nies in  peace,  and  defend  them  in  war.  There  was  nothing  in  the 
regulations  of  Great  Britain,  which  could  be  offensive,  or  possibly 
lead  to  war.  They  might  be  complained  of  as  selfish  or  unfriendly, 
they  certainly  were  the  former.  But  Great  Britain  had  a  perfect 
right  to  set  the  example  before  us ;  and  the  question  was,  whether 
the  total  exclusion  of  our  ships  from  the  colonial  ports  of  Britain, 
was  such  a  measure  as  we  ought  to  fold  our  arms  and  submit  to, 
without  an  effort  to  obtain  some  part  of  the  trade  which  she  had 
attempted  to  appropriate  exclusively  to  herself  ? 

Gentlemen  had  properly  said,  that  this  was  a  question  which 
ought  to  be  well  weighed  before  decided.      Whatever  we  do,  it 


292  SPEECHES      OF      HENRY      CLAY. 

ought  to  be  with  a  determination  to  adhere  firmly  to  it.  For,  depend 
upon  it,  Great  Britain  will  never  lightly  relax  her  policy. 

The  policy  of  Great  Britain  was  deeply  laid  in  selfish  consider- 
ations ;  a  policy  which  she  had  never  relaxed,  except  in  periods  of 
war,  when  it  became  her  interest  to  do  so,  from  the  commencement 
of  her  colonies  to  this  time.  The  measure  which  we  address  to  her 
interest,  to  induce  her  to  relax  from  the  rigor  of  her  colonial  policy, 
should  be  a  measure  framed  with  ample  deliberation,  which,  when 
we  adopt  with  resolution,  we  will  maintain  with  fortitude.  For, 
the  first  conclusion  of  the  British  government  would  undoubtedly 
be,  that  the  American  government  would  be  incapable  of  maintain- 
ing its  regulations  for  any  length  of  time  ;  and  that  government,- in 
the  expectation  of  a  retraction  of  the  measure,  would  persevere  in 
its  policy  as  long  as  it  could. 

The  question  which  presents  itself,  then,  is,  whether  we  will 
adopt  measures  to  induce  a  relaxation  so  desirable  to  our  interest  ? 

What  ought  to  be  done,  if  any  thing  is  ?  There  were  two  prop- 
ositions before  the  house,  and  the  question  now  was,  on  substituting 
high  duties  for  the  prohibitory  system.  He  preferred  the  prohibi- 
tion ;  and  if  any  gentleman  would  candidly  compare  the  merits  of 
the  two  proposed  remedies,  he  would  find  that  the  whole  value 
of  the  remedy,  by  the  imposition  of  duties,  was  derived  from  its 
approximation  to  prohibition. 

Suppose  the  measure  of  prohibition  be  adopted,  what  would  be 
its  effect  ?  In  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Clay,  a  mere  change  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  trade.  St.  Domingo  would  be  opened  to  us,  St.  Thomas, 
Vera  Cruz,  and  possibly  St.  Bartholomews,  and  other  islands  and 
ports.  But,  if  not  one  port  should  be  open,  the  necessity  Great 
Britain  would  be  under,  to  obtain  supplies  for  her  colonies,  would 
dictate  the  expediency  of  opening  some  port  at  which  an  inter- 
change of  commodities  could  take  place.  If  this  operation  took 
place,  all  that  is  proposed  to  be  effected  by  the  bill  is  accomplished, 
by  the  participation  of  our  navigation  in  the  transportation  of  the 
articles  thus  exchanged.  Our  ships  will  have  obtained  an  employ- 
ment, in  carrying  our  products  to  that  entrepot,  and  bringing  return 
cargoes,  of  the  same  amount  they  would  have  now,  if  American, 
instead  of  British  ships,  wholly  engrossed  the  trade.  There  might, 
in  the  case  supposed,  be  some  little  increase  in  the  cost  of  the  arti- 
cles, but  so  inconsiderable,  as  not  to  amount  to  any  offset  to  the 
great  advantages  accruing  to  this  country,  from  the  employment  of 
its  tonnage. 

The  present  moment  Mr.  Clay  considered  as  particularly  pro- 
pitious to  the  adoption  of  this  regulation  ;  because,  as  regarded  the 
great  direct  trade  between  the  United  States  and  British  ports  in 
Europe,  that  was  regulated  and  unalterable  for  nearly  three  years. 
It  stood  on  the  footing  of  convention ;  and  we  should  not,  by  any 
regulation  adopted  in  regard  to  the  colonial  trade,  put  to  hazard  the 
advantages  in  the  other,  at  least  until  that  convention  expired. 


ON      COMMERCIAL      RESTRICTIONS.  293 

Regarding  this  regulation  in  another  view,  he  anticipated  bene- 
ficial effects  from  it.  In  consequence  of  the  weakness  of  some  of 
the  powers  of  Europe  in  their  maritime  force,  they  had  found  it 
convenient  to  open  ports  to  us,  which  were  formerly  shut,  and  we 
could  thence  draw  our  supplies,  thus  effecting  a  mere  change  in 
the  channel  of  supply  with  the  advantage  of  the  employment  of  our 
own  navigation,  as  already  stated.  South  America,  besides,  would 
be  open  to  us,  and  we  could  there  obtain  a  large  portion  of  the 
commodities  we  import  from  the  West  Indies,  except,  perhaps,  the 
article  of  rum.  Whether  that  could  be  obtained  there  or  not,  he 
did  not  know.  Sugar  might  be  obtained,  in  quantity,  from  Louis- 
iana, where  the  product  of  that  article  increased  every  year.  Georgia, 
and  a  portion  of  South  Carolina,  too,  had  turned  their  attention  to 
that  object ;  and  the  effect  of  this  measure  would  be,  to  encourage 
the  cultivation  of  that  article.  With  respect  to  the  article  of  spirits, 
if  its  importation  were  totally  cut  off,  he  thought  it  would  be  a  ben- 
efit. He  believed,  he  said,  that  America  was  the  only  country  that 
imported  as  great  a  quantity  of  spirituous  liquors ;  every  other 
country  he  was  acquainted  with,  used  more  of  its  own  man- 
ufacture. 

I  think  that  the  suffering  of  the  navigating  interest,  to  which  the 
attention  of  congress  is  attracted,  is  one  which  calls  loudly  on  this 
body  to  do  something  to  alleviate  it.  It  is  attributable  greatly  to 
the  colonial  system  of  Great  Britain,  though  no  doubt  also  greatly 
to  the  state  of  peace,  and  the  consequent  resumption  of  their  naviga- 
tion by  the  powers  of  Europe,  who,  during  war,  suspended  a  great 
proportion  of  it.  Taking  care  of  the  interests  of  the  nation,  and 
guarding  our  commerce  against  the  effect  of  foreign  regulations,  it 
becomes  us  to  act  on  this  subject.  He  should,  he  said,  cheerfully 
give  his  assent,  therefore,  to  the  bill  before  the  house ;  and  should 
vote  for  it,  but  with  reluctance,  if  the  amendment  proposed  by  Mr. 
Forsyth  should  succeed. 

The  great  question  was,  the  modus  operandi  of  this  bill,  to  use  a 
favorite  expression  of  a  member  of  another  body.  Operating  on 
the  sympathy  as  well  as  the  direct  interest  of  the  parent  country,  it 
would  induce  her  to  relax  her  system.  Great  Britain  would  find  a 
greater  interest  in  securing  the  amount  of  six  millions  of  trade, 
necessary  to  support  and  cherish  her  colonies,  than  she  would  gain 
merely  on  the  transportation  of  the  articles  of  which  that  trade  con- 
sists. That  was  the  question  on  which  the  British  people  would 
be  called  on  to  decide ;  and  he  believed  the  effect  of  this  measure 
would  be  such  as  to  induce  them  to  decide  in  favor  of  admitting  us, 
on  a  footing  of  reciprocity,  into  the  West  India  trade.  If  the  British 
government  did  not  take  this  course,  it  would  have  to  wink  at  the 
formation  of  entrepots,  by  which  the  object  proposed  by  the  bill 
would  be  substantially  accomplished. 


ON  INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENT. 

IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  FEBRUARY  4,  1817. 


[  The  house  resolved  itself  into  a  committee  of  the  whole  on  the  bill  to  set  apart, 
and  pledge,  as  a  fund  for  internal  improvement,  the  bonus  and  United  States  share  of 
the  dividends  of  the  national  bank.  The  discussion  was  commenced  by  Mr.  Calhoun, 
of  South  Carolina,  who  advocated  the  constitutionality,  importance,  and  expediency 
of  a  system  of  internal' improvements,  under  the  authority  of  the  general  government. 
The  same  views  were  expressed  by  Mr.  Clay  (speaker),  Mr.  Gold,  of  New  York,  Mr. 
ShefFey,  of  Virginia,  and  others.  The  bill  finally  passed  both  houses  (but  was 
vetoed  by  president  Madison,  on  constitutional  grounds,  on  the  third  of  March,  1817). 
In  the  brief*  remarks  of  Mr.  Clay  on  this  occasion,  which  are  subjoined,  he  expresses 
the  same  sentiments  as  will  be  found  more  at  length  in  his  subsequent  speeches  on 
this  subject.] 


Mr.  Clay  (speaker)  observed,  that  it  was  not  his  intention  to 
enter  into  the  general  discussion  of  the  subject;  he  wished  only  to 
say,  that  he  had  long  thought  that  there  were  no  two  subjects  which 
could  engage  the  attention  of  the  national  legislature,  more  worthy 
of  its  deliberate  consideration,  than  those  of  internal  improvements 
and  domestic  manufactures. 

As  to  the  constitutional  point  which  had  been  made,  he  had  not 
a  doubt  on  his  mind ;  but  it  was  not  necessary,  in  his  judgment,  to 
embarrass  the  passage  of  the  bill  with  the  argument  of  that  point 
at  this  time.  It  was  a  sufficient  answer  to  say,  that  the  power  was 
not  now  to  be  exercised.  It  was  proposed  merely  to  designate  the 
fund,  and,  from  time  to  time,  as  the  proceeds  of  it  came  in,  to  invest 
them  in  the  funded  debt  of  the  United  States.  It  would  thus  be 
accumulating;  and  congress  could,  at  some  future  day,  examine 
into  the  constitutionality  of  the  question,  and  if  it  has  the  power,  it 
would  exercise  it ;  if  it  has  not,  the  constitution,  there  could  be  very 
little  doubt,  would  be  so  amended  as  to  confer  it  It  was  quite 
obvious,  however,  that  congress  might  so  direct  the  application  of 
the  fund,  as  not  to  interfere  with  the  jurisdiction  of  the  several 
states,  and  thus  avoid  the  difficulty  which  had  been  started.  It 
might  distribute  it  among  those  objects  of  private  enterprise  which 
called  for  national  patronage  in  the  form  of  subscriptions  to  the 
capital  stock  of  incorporated  companies,  such  as  that  of  the  Dela- 
ware and  Chesapeake  canal,  and  other  similar  institutions.    Perhaps 


ON  INTERNAL   IMPROVEMENT.  295 

that  might  be  the  best  way  to  employ  the  fund ;  but,  he  repeated, 
this  was  not  the  time  to  go  into  this  inquiry. 

With  regard  to  the  general  importance  of  the  proposition ; 
the  effect  of  internal  improvements  in  cementing  the  union; 
ill  facilitating  internal  trade ;  in  augmenting  the  wealth  and 
the  population  of  the  country ;  he  would  not  consume  the  time 
of  the  committee  in  discussing  those  interesting  topics,  after 
the  able  manner  in  which  they  had  been  treated  by  his  friend 
from  South  Carolina.  In  reply  to  those  who  thought  that  in- 
ternal improvements  had  better  be  left  to  the  several  states,  he 
would  ask,  he  would  put  it  to  the  candor  of  every  one,  if  there 
were  not  various  objects  in  which  many  states  were  interested,  and 
which,  requiring  therefore  their  joint  cooperation,  would,  if  not 
taken  up  by  the  general  government,  be  neglected,  either  for  the 
want  of  resources,  or  from  the  difficulty  of  regulating  their  respec- 
tive contributions.  Such  was  the  case  with  the  improvement  of 
the  navigation  of  the  Ohio  at  the  rapids ;  the  canal  from  the 
Hudson  to  the  lakes;  the  great  turnpike  road,  parallel  with  the 
coast  from  Maine  to  Louisiana.  These,  and  similar  objects  were 
stamped  with  a  national  character ;  and  they  required  the  wisdom 
and  the  resources  of  the  nation  to  accomplish  them.  No  particular 
state  felt  an  individual  interest,  sufficient  to  execute  improvements 
of  such  magnitude.  They  must  be  patronised,  efficaciously 
patronised,  by  the  general  government,  or  they  never  would  be 
accomplished. 

The  practical  effect  of  turnpike  roads  in  correcting  the  evil,  if  it 
be  one,  of  the  great  expansion  of  our  republic,  and  in  conquering 
space  itself,  as  was  expressed  by  the  gentleman  from  South 
Carolina,  is  about  to  be  demonstrated  by  the  great  turnpike  road 
from  Cumberland  to  Wheeling.  That  road  is  partially  executed, 
and  will  probably  be  completed  in  about  three  years.  In  the 
mean  time,  Maryland  is  extending  a  line  of  turnpike  roads  from 
Baltimore  to  Cumberland,  which  is  also  partially  finished,  and 
will  be  completed  in  the  same  period.  Three  years  from  the 
present  time,  we  shall  have  a  continued  line  of  turnpike  roads 
from  Baltimore  to  Ohio.  The  ordinary  time  requisite  to  travel 
from  Wheeling  to  Baltimore,  prior  to  the  erection  of  these  roads, 
was  eight  days.  When  the  roads  are  completed,  the  same  journey 
may  be  performed  in  three  days.  The  distance,  in  effect,  between 
those  two  points,  will  be  diminished  in  the  proportion  of  five 
eighths,  or,  in  other  words,  they  will  be  brought  five  days  nearer 
to  each  other.  Similar  results  will  follow  wherever  this  species 
of  improvement  is  effected. 

Mr.  Clay  owned  that  he  felt  anxiously  desirous  for  the  success 
of  this  measure.  He  was  anxious,  from  its  intrinsic  merits ;  from 
his  sincere  conviction  of  its  tendency  greatly  to  promote  the 
welfare  of  our  common  country.      He  was  anxious  from  other, 


296  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

perhaps  more  selfish,  considerations.  He  wished  the  fourteenth 
congress  to  have  the  merit  of  laying  the  foundations  of  this  great 
work.  He  wished  this  congress,  who,  in  his  opinion,  had  so 
many  other  just  grounds  for  the  national  approbation,  notwith- 
standing the  obloquy  which  had  attended  a  single  unfortunate 
measure,  to  add  this  new  claim  to  the  public  gratitude. 


ON  THE  WAR  BETWEEN  SPAIN  AND  HER 
COLONIES. 

IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  DECEMBER  3,  1817. 


[The  president's  message  being  under  consideration  in  committee  of  the  whole, 
Mr.  Taylor  moved  a  series  of  resolutions,  embracing  references  of  various  parts  of  the 
message. 

The  first  resolution  having  been  read  for  consideration,  Mr.  Clay  (speaker)  moved 
to  amend  the  same  by  adding  to  the  end  thereof  the  following  words  : 

'  And  that  the  said  committee  be  instructed  to  inquire,  whether  any,  and,  if  any, 
what  provisions  of  law  are  necessary  to  insure,  to  the  American  colonies  of  Spain,  a 
just  observance  of  the  duties  incident  to  the  neutral  relation  in  which  the  United 
States  stand,  in  the  existing  war  between  them  and  Spain.'] 


Mr.  Clay  said,  that  his  presenting,  at  so  early  a  period  of  the 
session,  this  subject  to  the  consideration  of  the  house,  was  in 
consequence  of  certain  proceedings  which  he  had  seen  represented 
in  the  public  prints  as  having  taken  place  before  certain  of  our 
courts  of  justice.  Two  or  three  cases  bearing  on  this  subject  had 
come  to  his  knowledge,  which  he  wished  to  state  to  the  house. 
The  first  had  occurred  at  Philadelphia,  before  the  circuit  court  of 
the  United  States  held  in  that  city.  The  circumstances  of  the 
case,  for  which,  however,  he  did  not  pretend  to  vouch,  having 
received  them  through  the  channel  already  indicated,  were  these  ; 
if  they  were  incorrectly  stated,  he  was  happy  that  a  gentleman  had 
taken  his  seat  this  morning  from  that  city,  who  would  be  able  to 
correct  him  :  that  nine  or  ten  British  disbanded  officers  had  formed 
in  Europe  the  resolution  to  unite  themselves  with  the  Spanish 
patriots  in  the  contest  existing  between  them  and  Spain ;  that,  to 
carry  into  effect  this  intention,  they  had  sailed  from  Europe,  and  in 
their  transit  to  South  America  had  touched  at  the  port  of  Philadel- 
phia ;  that  during  their  residence  in  Philadelphia,  wearing  perhaps 
the  arms  and  habiliments  of  military  men,  making  no  disguise  of 
their  intention  to  participate  in  the  struggle,  they  took  passage  in  a 
vessel  bound  to  some  port  in  South  America ;  that  a  knowledge 
of  this  fact  having  come  to  the  ears  of  the  public  authorities,  or, 
perhaps,  at  the  instigation  of  some  agent  of  the  Spanish  govern- 
ment, a  prosecution  was  commenced  against  these  officers,  who, 
vol.  i.  38 


298  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

from  their  inability  to  procure  bail,  were  confined  in  prison.  If, 
said  Mr.  Clay,  the  circumstances  attending  this  transaction  be 
correctly  stated,  it  becomes  an  imperious  duty  in  the  house  to 
institute  the  inquiry  contemplated  by  the  amendment  which  I  have 
proposed.  That  this  was  an  extraordinary  case,  was  demonstrated 
by  the  fact  of  the  general  sensation  which  it  had  excited  on  the 
subject,  in  the  place  where  it  had  occurred.  Filled,  as  that  respect- 
able and  populous  city  is,  with  men  who  differ  widely  on  political 
topics,  and  entertaining  various  views  of  public  affairs,  but  one 
sentiment  prevailed  on  this  subject,  which  was  favorable  to  the 
persons  thus  arraigned.  With  regard  to  the  conduct  of  the  court 
on  this  occasion,  he  would  say  nothing.  The  respect  which,  whilst  he 
had  a  seat  on  this  floor,  he  should  always  show  to  every  branch  of  the 
government,  the  respect  he  entertained  for  the  honorable  judge  who 
had  presided,  forbade  him  from  pronouncing  the  decision  of  that 
court  to  have  been  unwarranted  by  law.  But  he  felt  himself 
perfectly  sustained  in  saying,  that  if  the  proceeding  was  warranted 
by  the  existing  law,  it  was  the  imperious  duty  of  congress  to  alter 
the  law  in  this  respect.  For  what,  he  asked,  was  the  neutral  obli- 
gation which  one  nation  owed  to  another  engaged  in  war?  The 
essence  of  it  is  this  ;  that  the  belligerent  means  of  the  neutral  shall 
not  be  employed  in  the  war  in  favor  of  either  of  the  parties.  That 
is  the  whole  of  the  obligation  of  a  third  party  in  a  war  between  two 
others ;  it  certainly  does  not  require  of  one  nation  to  restrain  the 
belligerent  means  of  other  nations.  If  those  nations  choose  to 
permit  their  means  to  be  employed  in  behalf  of  either  party,  it  is 
their  business  to  look  to  it,  and  not  ours.  Let  the  conduct  of  the 
persons  prosecuted  be  regarded  in  the  most  unfavorable  light ;  let  it 
be  considered  as  the  passage  of  troops  through  our  country,  and 
there  was  nothing  in  our  neutral  obligations  forbidding  it.  The 
passage  of  troops  through  a  neutral  country,  according  to  his 
impressions,  was  a  question  depending  on  the  particular  interest, 
quiet,  or  repose,  of  the  country  traversed,  and  might  be  granted  or 
refused  at  its  discretion,  without  in  any  degree  affecting  the  obliga- 
tions of  the  neutral  to  either  of  the  parties  engaged  in  the  contro- 
versy. But,  surely,  this  was  not  a  case  of  the  passage  of  troops ; 
the  persons  apprehended  not  being  in  sufficient  number,  nor 
organized  or  equipped  in  such  manner,  as,  under  any  construc- 
tion, to  constitute  a  military  corps.  On  this  case  he  would  detain 
the  house  no  longer,  he  said ;  for  he  was  satisfied  they  could  not 
but  agree  with  him,  if  the  law  justified  the  proceeding  that  had 
taken  place,  that  law  ought  to  be  immediately  amended.  Other 
cases  had  occurred,  in  which  it  appeared  to  him  it  became  the 
congress  to  interpose  its  authority.  Persons  sailing  under  the  flag 
of  the  provinces  had  been  arraigned  in  our  courts,  and  tried  for 
piracy ;  in  one  case,  after  having  been  arraigned,  tried,  and 
acquitted  of  piracy,  the  same  individuals,  on  the  instigation  of  a 
Spanish  officer  or  agent,  had  been  again  arraigned  for  the  same 


WAR     BETWEEN     SPAIN     AND     HER     COLONIES.      299 

offence.  The  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  would  correct  him  if 
he  was  wrong,  for  the  case  had  occurred  in  the  town  of  Boston. 
We  admit  the  flag  of  these  colonies  into  our  ports  ;  we  profess  to 
be  neutral ;  but  if  our  laws  pronounce,  that  the  moment  the 
property  and  persons  under  that  flag  enter  our  ports,  they .  shall  be 
seized,  the  one  claimed  by  the  Spanish  minister  or  consul  as  the 
property  of  Spain,  and  the  other  prosecuted  as  pirates,  that  law 
ought  to  be  altered,  if  we  mean  to  perform  our  neutral  professions. 
I  have  brought  the  subject  before  this  house  thus  promptly,  because 
I  trust  that  in  this  house  the  cause  will  find  justice  ;  that,  however 
treated  elsewhere,  on  this  floor  will  be  found  a  guardian  interest 
attending  to  our  performance  of  the  just  obligations  of  neutrality. 
Hitherto,  he  said,  whatever  might  have  been  our  intentions,  our 
acts  had  been  all  on  the  other  side.  From  the  proclamation  of 
1815,  issued  to  terminate  an  expedition  supposed  to  be  organizing 
in  Louisiana,  an  expedition  only  in  the  mind  of  Chevalier  de  Onis, 
down  to  the  late  act  —  whether  the  measure  was  a  proper  one  or 
not,  he  did  not  say ;  his  confidence  in  the  executive  led  him  to 
suppose  it  was  adopted  on  sufficient  grounds  —  down  to  the  order 
for  suppressing,  as  it  was  called,  the  establishments  at  Amelia 
Island  and  Galveston  —  all  the  acts  of  the  government  had  been 
on  one  side ;  they  all  bore  against  the  colonies,  against  the  cause 
in  which  the  patriots  of  South  America  were  arduously  engaged. 
It  became  us,  he  said,  to  look  to  the  other  side,  honestly  intending 
neutrality,  as  he  believed  we  did.  Let  us  recollect  the  condition 
of  the  patriots  ;  no  minister  here  to  spur  on  our  government,  as  was 
said  in  an  interesting,  and,  it  appeared  to  him,  a  very  candid  work, 
recently  published  in  this  country,  respecting  the  progress  of  the 
South  American  revolution  ;  no  minister  here  to  be  rewarded  by 
noble  honors,  in  consequence  of  the  influence  he  is  supposed  to 
possess  with  the  American  government.  No  ;  their  unfortunate 
case  was  what  ours  had  been,  in  the  years  1778  and  1779 ;  their 
ministers,  like  our  Franklins  and  Jays  at  that  day,  were. skulking 
about  Europe,  imploring  inexorable  legitimacy  for  one  kind  look 
—  some  aid  to  terminate  a  war  afflicting  to  humanity.  Nay,  their 
situation  was  worse  than  ours ;  for  we  had  one  great  and  magnan- 
imous ally  to  recognize  us,  but  no  nation  had  stepped  forward  to 
acknowledge  any  of  these  provinces.  Such  disparity  between  the 
parties,  demanded  a  just  attention  to  the  interests  of  the  party 
which  was  unrepresented ;  and  if  the  facts  which  he  had  men- 
tioned, and  others  which  had  come  to  his  knowledge,  were  correct, 
they  loudly  demanded  the  interposition  of  congress.  He  trusted 
the  house  would  give  the  subject  their  attention,  and  show  that 
here,  in  this  place,  the  obligations  of  neutrality  would  be  strictly 
regarded  in  respect  to  South  America. 

[Mr.  Sergeant,  of  Philadelphia,  said  the  statement  made  by  Mr.  Clay  was  substan- 
tially correct,  and,  after  a  few  other  remarks  by  the  same  gentleman,  the  amendment 
moved  by  Mr.  Clay  was  agreed  to,  without  opposition.] 


ON  INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENT. 

IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  MARCH  13,  1818. 


[The  bill  making  appropriations  for  purposes  of  internal  improvement,  which 
passed  congress  in  1817,  having  been  vetoed  by  president  Madison,  on  the  last  day  of 
his  term,  March  third,  1817  ;  his  successor,  Mr.  Monroe,  in  his  first  message  to  con- 
gress, declared  his  sentiments  on  the  subject,  concurring  with  Mr.  Madison  in  the 
opinion  that  the  power  of  making  internal  improvements  was  not  vested  in  congress. 
Three  national  executives  having  decided  against  the  constitutionality  of  the  power, 
a  great  effort  was  made  by  the  friends  of  the  system,  to  obtain  a  contrary  and  favora- 
ble expression  by  congress.  A  resolution  was  offered  in  the  house  of  representatives, 
declaring  that  congress  had  power,  under  the  constitution,  to  appropriate  money  for 
the  construction  of  military  roads,  post  roads,  and  canals.  On  this  interesting  occa- 
sion, the  resolution  being  under  discussion  in  committee  of  the  whole,  Mr.  Clay  made 
the  following  speech,  in  vindication  of  the  constitutionality  of  internal  improvements 
by  the  national  government,  in  which  views  he  was  sustained  by  the  house,  in  the 
adoption  of  the  resolution,  by  a  vote  of  ninety  to  seventy-five.  This  triumph  in  the 
face  of  a  new  and  popular  administration,  may  be  considered  one  of  the  most  splen- 
did events  in  parliamentary  history.] 


I  have  been  anxious  to  catch  the  eye  of  the  chairman  for  a  few 
moments,  to  reply  to  some  of  the  observations  which  have  fallen 
from  various  gentlemen.  I  am  aware  that,  in  doing  this,  I  risk  the 
loss  of  what  is  of  the  utmost  value  —  the  kind  favor  of  the  house, 
wearied  as  its  patience  is,  by  this  prolonged  debate.  But  when  I 
feel  what  a  deep  interest  the  union  at  large,  and  particularly  that 
quarter  of  it  whence  I  cqme,  has,  in  the  decision  of  the  present 
question,  I  cannot  omit  any  opportunity  of  earnestly  urging  upon 
the  house  the  propriety  of  retaining  the  important  power  which 
this  question  involves.  It  will  be  recollected,  that  if  unfortunately 
there  should  be  a  majority  both  against  the  abstract  proposition 
asserting  the  power,  and  against  its  practical  execution,  the  power 
is  gone  for  ever  —  the  question  is  put  at  rest,  so  long  as  the  consti- 
tution remains  as  it  is ;  and  with  respect  to  any  amendment,  in  this 
particular,  I  confess  I  utterly  despair.  It  will  be  borne  in  mind, 
that  the  bill  which  passed  congress  on  this  subject,  at  the  last 
session,  was  rejected  by  the  late  president  of  the  United  States ; 
that  at  the  commencement  of  the  present  session,  the  president 
communicated  his  clear  opinion,  after  every  effort  to  come  to  a 
different  conclusion,  that  congress  does  not  possess  the  power 
contended  for,  and  called  upon  us  to  take  up  the  subject,  in  the 


ON  INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENT.  301 

shape  of  an  amendment  to  the  constitution ;  and,  moreover,  that  the 
predecessor  of  the  present  and  late  presidents,  has  also  intimated 
his  opinion,  that  congress  does  not  possess  the  power.  With  the 
great  weight  and  authority  of  the  opinions  of  these  distinguished 
men  against  the  power,  and  with  the  fact,  solemnly  entered  upon 
the  record,  that  this  house,  after  a  deliberate  review  of  the  ground 
taken  by  it  at  the  last  session,  has  decided  against  the  existence  of 
it,  (if  such,  fatally,  shall  be  the  decision,)  the  power,  I  repeat,  is 
gone  —  gone  for  ever,  unless  restored  by  an  amendment  of  the 
constitution.  With  regard  to  the  practicability  of  obtaining  such 
an  amendment,  I  think  it  altogether  out  of  the  question.  Two 
different  descriptions  of  persons,  entertaining  sentiments  directly 
opposed,  will  unite  and  defeat  such  an  amendment ;  one  embracing 
those  who  believe  that  the  constitution,  fairly  interpreted,  already 
conveys  the  power ;  and  the  other,  those  who  think  that  congress 
has  not  and  ought  not  to  have  it.  As  a  large  portion  of  congress, 
and  probably  a  majority,  believes  the  power  to  exist,  it  must  be 
evident,  if  I  am  right  in  supposing  that  any  considerable  number 
of  that  majority  would  vote  against  an  amendment  which  they  do 
not  believe  necessary,  that  any  attempt  to  amend  would  fail.  Con- 
sidering, as  I  do,  the  existence  of  the  power  as  of  the  first  impor- 
tance, not  merely  to  the  preservation  of  the  union  of  the  states, 
paramount  as  that  consideration  ever  should  be  over  all  others,  but 
to  the  prosperity  of  every  great  interest  of  the  country,  agriculture, 
manufactures,  commerce,  in  peace  and  in  war,  it  becomes  us  sol- 
emnly, and  deliberately,  and  anxiously,  to  examine  the  constitution, 
and  not  to  surrender  it,  if  fairly  to  be  collected  from  a  just  interpre- 
tation of  that  instrument. 

With  regard  to  the  alarm  sought  to  be  created,  as  to  the  nature 
of  the  power,  by  bringing  up  the  old  theme  of  'state  rights,'  I 
would  observe,  that  if  the  illustrious  persons  just  referred  to  are 
against  us  in  the  construction  of  the  constitution,  they  are  on  our 
side  as  to  the  harmless  and  beneficial  character  of  the  power.  For 
it  is  not  to  be  conceived,  that  each  of  them  would  have  recom- 
mended an  amendment  to  the  constitution,  if  they  believed  that 
the  possession  of  such  a  power,  by  the  general  government,  would 
be  detrimental,  much  less  dangerous,  to  the  independence  and 
liberties  of  the  states.  What  real  ground  is  there  for  this  alarm  ? 
Gentlemen  have  not  condescended  to  show  how  the  subversion  of 
the  rights  of  the  states  is  to  follow  from  the  exercise  of  the  power 
of  internal  improvements  by  the  general  government.  We  contend 
for  the  power  to  make  roads  and  canals,  to  distribute  the  intelli- 
gence, force,  and  productions  of  the  country,  through  all  its  parts ; 
and  for  such  jurisdiction  only  over  them,  as  is  necessary  to  their 
preservation  from  wanton  injury  and  from  gradual  decay.  Sup- 
pose such  a  power  is  sustained  and  in  full  operation ;  imagine  it 
to  extend  to  every  canal  made,  or  proposed  to  be  made,  and  to 


302  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

every  post-road  ;  how  inconsiderable  and  insignificant  is  the  power 
in  a  political  point  of  view,  limited  as  it  is,  with  regard  to  place 
and  to  purpose,  when  contrasted  with  the  great  mass  of  powers 
retained  by  the  state  sovereignties !  What  a  small  subtraction 
from  the  mass!  Even  upon  these  roads  and  canals,  the  state 
governments,  according  to  our  principles,  will  still  exercise  juris- 
diction over  every  possible  case  arising  upon  them,  whether  of 
crime  or  of  contract,  or  any  other  human  transaction,  except  only 
what  immediately  affects  their  existence  and  preservation.  Thus 
defined,  thus  limited,  and  stripped  of  all  factitious  causes  of  alarm, 
I  will  appeal  to  the  candor  of  gentlemen  to  say,  if  the  power  really 
presents  any  thing  frightful  in  it  ?  With  respect  to  post-roads,  our 
adversaries  admit  the  right  of  way  in  the  general  government. 
There  have  been,  however,  on  this  question,  some  instances  of 
conflict,  but  they  have  passed  away  without  any  serious  difficulty. 
Connecticut,  if  I  have  been  rightly  informed,  disputed,  at  one 
period,  the  right  of  passage  of  the  mail  on  the  Sabbath.  The 
general  government  persisted  in  the  exercise  of  the  right,  and 
Connecticut  herself,  and  every  body  else,  have  acquiesced  in  it. 

The  gentleman  from  Virginia  (Mr.  H.  Nelson)  has  contended,  that 
I  do  not  adhere,  in  the  principles  of  construction  which  I  apply  to 
the  constitution,  to  the  republican  doctrines  of  1798,  of  which  that 
gentleman  would  have  us  believe  he  is  the  constant  disciple.  Let 
me  call  the  attention  of  the  committee  to  the  celebrated  state  paper 
to  which  we  both  refer  for  our  principles  in  this  respect  —  a  paper 
which,  although  I  have  not  seen  it  for  sixteen  years,  (until  The 
gentleman  had  the  politeness  to  furnish  me  with  it  during  this 
debate,)  made  such  an  impression  on  my  mind,  that  I  shall  never 
forget  the  satisfaction  with  which  I  perused  it.  I  find  that  I  have 
used,  without  having  been  aware  of  it,  when  I  formerly  addressed 
the  committee,  almost  the  same  identical  language  employed  by 
Mr.  Madison  in  that  paper.  It  will  be  recollected,  that  I  claimed 
no  right  to  exercise  any  power  under  the  constitution,  unless  such 
power  was  expressly  granted,  or  necessary  and  proper  to  carry  into 
effect  some  granted  power.  I  have  not  sought  to  derive  power 
from  the  clause  which  authorizes  congress  to  appropriate  money. 
I  have  been  contented  with  endeavoring  to  show,  that  according  to 
the  doctrines  of  1798,  and  according  to  the  most  rigid  interpretation 
which  any  one  will  put  upon  the  instrument,  it  is  expressly  given 
in  one  case,  and  fairly  deducible  in  others. 


[Here  Mr.  Clay  read  sundry  passages  from  Mr.  Madison's  report  to  the  Virginia 
legislature,  in  an  answer  to  the  resolutions  of  several  states,  concerning  the  alien  and 
sedition  laws,  showing  that  there  were  no  powers  in  the  general  government  but 
what  were  granted ;  and  that,  whenever  a  power  was  claimed  to  be  exercised  by  it, 
such  power  must  be  shown  to  be  granted,  or  to  be  necessary  and  proper  to  carry  into 
effect  one  of  the  specified  powers.] 


ON  INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENT.  303 

It  will  be  remarked,  that  Mr.  Madison,  in  his  reasoning  on  the 
constitution,  has  not  employed  the  language  fashionable  during 
this  debate  ;  he  has  not  said,  that  an  implied  power  must  be  abso- 
lutely necessary  to  carry  into  effect  the  specified  power,  to  which  it 
is  appurtenant,  to  enable  the  general  government  to  exercise  it. 
No !  This  was  a  modern  interpretation  of  the  constitution.  Mr. 
Madison  has  employed  the  language  of  the  instrument  itself,  and 
has  only  contended  that  the  implied  power  must  be  necessary  and 
proper  to  carry  into  effect  the  specified  power.  He  has  only 
insisted,  that  when  congress  applied  its  sound  judgment  to  the 
constitution  in  relation  to  implied  powers,  it  should  be  clearly  seen 
that  they  were  necessary  and  proper  to  effectuate  the  specified 
powers.  These  are  my  principles  ;  but  they  are  not  those  of  the 
gentleman  from  Virginia  and  his  friends  on  this  occasion.  They 
contend  for  a  degree  of  necessity  absolute  and  indispensable  ;  that 
by  no  possibility  can  the  power  be  otherwise  executed. 

That  there  are  two  classes  of  powers  in  the  constitution,  I  believe 
has  never  been  controverted  by  an  American  politician.  We 
cannot  foresee  and  provide  specifically  for  all  contingences.  Man 
and  his  language  are  both  imperfect.  Hence  the  existence  of 
construction,  and  of  constructive  powers.  Hence  also  the  rule,  that 
a  grant  of  the  end  is  a  grant  of  the  means.  If  you  amend  the 
constitution  a  thousand  times,  the  same  imperfection  of  our  nature 
and  our  language  will  attend  our  new  works.  There  are  two 
dangers  to  which  we  are  exposed.  The  one  is,  that  the  general 
government  may  relapse  into  the  debility  which  existed  in  the  old 
confederation,  and  finally  dissolve  from  the  want  of  cohesion.  The 
denial  to  it  of  powers  plainly  conferred,  or  clearly  necessary  and 
proper  to  execute  the  conferred  powers,  may  produce  this  effect. 
And  I  think,  with  great  deference  to  the  gentleman  on  the  other 
side,  this  is  the  danger  to  which  their  principles  directly  tend.  The 
other  danger,  that  of  consolidation,  is,  by  the  assumption  of  powers 
not  granted  nor  incident  to  granted  powers,  or  the  assumption  of 
powers  which  have  been  withheld  or  expressly  prohibited.  This 
was  the  danger  of  the  period  of  1798-9.  For  instance,  that,  in  direct 
contradiction  to  a  prohibitory  clause  of  the  constitution,  a  sedition 
act  was  passed ;  and  an  alien  law  was  also  passed,  in  equal  violation 
of  the  spirit,  if  not  of  the  express  provisions,  of  the  constitution. 
It  was  by  such  measures  that  the  federal  party,  (if  parties  might  be 
named,)  throwing  off  the  veil,  furnished  to  their  adversaries  the  most 
effectual  ground  of  opposition.  If  they  had  not  passed  those  acts, 
I  think  it  highly  probable  that  the  current  of  power  would  have 
continued  to  flow  in  the  same  channel ;  and  the  change  of  parties 
in  1801,  so  auspicious  to  the  best  interests  of  the  country,  as  I 
believe,  would  never  have  occurred. 

I  beg  the  committee  —  I  entreat  the  true  friends  of  the  confed- 
erated union  of  these  states  —  to  examine  this  doctrine  of  state  rights, 


304  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

and  see  to  what  abusive,  if  not  dangerous  consequences,  it  may 
lead,  to  what  extent  it  has  been  carried,  and  how  it  has  varied  by 
the  same  state  at  different  times.  In  alluding  to  the  state  of  Massa- 
chusetts, I  assure  the  gentlemen  from  that  state,  and  particularly 
the  honorable  chairman  of  the  committee  to  whom  the  claim  of 
Massachusetts  has  been  referred,  that  I  have  no  intention  to  create 
any  prejudice  against  that  claim.  I  hope  that  when  the  subject  is 
taken  up  it  will  be  candidly  and  dispassionately  considered,  and 
that  a  decision  will  be  made  on  it  consistent  with  the  rights  of  the 
union,  and  of  the  state  of  Massachusetts.  The  high  character, 
amiable  disposition,  and  urbanity  of  the  gentleman  to  whom  I  have 
alluded,  (Mr.  Mason,  of  Massachusetts,)  will,  if  I  had  been  other- 
wise inclined,  prevent  me  from  endeavoring  to  make  impressions 
unfavorable  to  the  claim,  whose  justice  that  gentleman  stands 
pledged  to  manifest.  But  in  the  period  of  1798  -  9,  what  was  the 
doctrine  promulgated  by  Massachusetts  ?  It  was,  that  the  states, 
in  their  sovereign  capacity,  had  no  right  to  examine  into  the 
constitutionality  or  expediency  of  the  measures  of  the  general 
government. 

[Mr.  Clay  here  quoted  several  passages  from  the  answer  of  the  state  of  Massachu- 
setts to  the  Virginia  and  Kentucky  resolutions,  concerning  the  alien  and  sedition  laws, 
to  prove  his  position.] 

We  see  here  an  express  disclaimer,  on  the  part  of  Massachusetts, 
of  any  right  to  decide  on  the  constitutionality  or  expediency  of  the 
acts  of  the  general  government.  But  what  was  the  doctrine  which 
the  same  state,  in  1813,  thought  proper  to  proclaim  to  the  world, 
and  that,  too,  when  the  union  was  menaced  on  all  sides  ?  She  not 
only  claimed  but  exercised  the  right  which,  in  1799,  she  had  so 
solemnly  disavowed.  She  claimed  the  right  to  judge  of  the  pro- 
priety of  the  call  made  by  the  general  government  for  her  militia, 
and  she  refused  the  militia  called  for.  There  is  so  much  plausi- 
bility in  the  reasoning  employed  by  that  state  in  support  of  her 
modern  doctrine  of  state  rights,  that,  were  it  not  for  the  unpopular- 
ity of  the  stand  she  took  in  the  late  war,  or  had  it  been  in  other 
times,  and  under  other  circumstances,  she  would  very  probably 
have  escaped  a  great  portion  of  that  odium  which  has  so  justly 
fallen  to  her  lot.  The  constitution  gives  to  congress  power  to 
provide  for  calling  out  the  militia  to  execute  the  laws  of  the  union, 
to  suppress  insurrections,  and  to  repel  invasions ;  and  in  no  other 
cases.  The  militia  was  called  out  by  the  general  government, 
during  the  late  war,  to  repel  invasions.  Massachusetts  said,  as  you 
have  no  right  to  the  militia,  but  in  certain  contingences,  she  was 
competent  to  decide  whether  those  contingences  had  or  had  not 
occurred.  And,  having  examined  the  facts,  what  then  ?  She  said, 
all  was  peace  and  quietness  in  Massachusetts  —  no  non-execution 
of  the  laws ;  no  insurrection  at  home  ;  no  invasion  from  abroad, 


ON  INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENT.  305 

nor  any  immediate  danger  of  invasion.  And,  in  truth,  I  believe 
there  was  no  actual  invasion  for  nearly  two  years  after  the  requisi- 
tion. Under  these  circumstances,  were  it  not  for  the  supposed 
motive  of  her  conduct,  would  not  the  case  which  Massachusetts 
made  out  have  looked  extremely  plausible  ?  I  hope  it  is  not 
necessary  for  me  to  say,  that  it  is  very  far  from  my  intention  to 
convey  any  thing  like  approbation  of  the  conduct  of  Massachusetts. 
No !  My  doctrine  is,  that  the  states,  as  states,  have  no  right  to  oppose 
the  execution  of  the  powers  which  the  general  government  asserts. 
Any  state  has  undoubtedly  the  right  to  express  its  opinion,  in  the 
form  of  resolution  or  otherwise,  and  to  proceed,  by  constitutional 
means,  to  redress  any  real  or  imaginary  grievance;  but  it  has  no 
right  to  withhold  its  military  aid,  when  called  upon  by  the  high 
authorities  of  the  general  government,  much  less  to  obstruct  the 
execution  of  a  law  regularly  passed.  To  suppose  the  existence  of 
such  an  alarming  right,  is  to  suppose,  if  not  disunion  itself,  such  a 
state  of  disorder  and  confusion  as  must  inevitably  lead  to  it. 

Greatly  as  I  venerate  the  state  which  gave  me  birth,  and  much 
as  I  respect  the  judges  of  its  supreme  court,  several  of  whom  are 
my  personal  friends,  I  am  obliged  to  think  that  some  of  the 
doctrines  which  that  state  has  recently  held  concerning  state  rights, 
are  fraught  with  much  danger.  If  those  doctrines  had  been  asserted 
during  the  late  war,  a  large  share  of  the  public  disapprobation 
which  has  been  given  to  Massachusetts  would  have  fallen  to  Vir- 
ginia. What  are  these  doctrines  ?  The  courts  of  Virginia  assert, 
that  they  have  a  right  to  determine  on  the  constitutionality  of  any 
law  or  treaty  of  the  United  States,  and  to  expound  them  according 
to  their  own  views,  even  if  they  should  vary  from  the  decision  of  the 
supreme  court  of  the  United  States.  They  assert  more  —  that 
from  their  decision  there  can  be  no  appeal  to  the  supreme  court  of 
the  United  States ;  and  that  there  exists  in  congress  no  power  to 
frame  a  law,  obliging  the  court  of  the  state,  in  the  last  resort,  to 
submit  its  decision  to  the  supervision  of  the  supreme  court  of  the 
United  States;  or,  if  I  do  not  misunderstand  the  doctrine,  to 
withdraw  from  the  state  tribunal,  controversies  involving  the  law3 
of  the  United  States,  and  to  place  them  before  the  federal  judiciary. 
I  am  a  friend,  a  true  friend,  to  state  rights ;  but  not  in  all  cases  as 
they  are  asserted.  The  states  have  their  appointed  orbit ;  so  has 
the  union ;  and  each  should  be  confined  within  its  fair,  legitimate, 
and  constitutional  sphere.  We  should  equally  avoid  that  subtle 
process  of  argument  which  dissipates  into  air  the  powers  of  this 
government,  and  that  spirit  of  encroachment  which  would  snatch 
from  the  state,  powers  not  delegated  to  the  general  government. 
We  shall  thus  escape  both  the  dangers  I  have  noticed  —  that  of 
relapsing  into  the  alarming  weakness  of  the  confederation,  which 
is  described  as  a  mere  rope  of  sand ;  and  also  that  other,  perhaps 
not  the  greatest  danger,  consolidation.  No  man  deprecates  more 
vol.  i.  39 


3C6  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

than  I  do,  the  idea  of  consolidation ;  yet,  between  separation  and 
consolidation,  painful  as  would  be  the  alternative,  I  would  greatly 
prefer  the  latter. 

I  will  now  proceed  to  endeavor  to  discover  the  real  difference,  in 
the  interpretation  of  the  constitution,  between  the  gentlemen  on  the 
other  side  and  myself.  It  is  agreed,  that  there  is  no  power  in  the 
general  government  but  that  which  is  expressly  granted,  or  which 
is  impliable  from  an  express  grant.  The  difference,  then,  must  be 
in  the  application  of  this  rule.  The  gentleman  from  Virginia,  who 
has  favored  the  house  with  so  able  an  argument  on  the  subject,  has 
conceded,  though  somewhat  reluctantly,  the  existence  of  incidental 
powers,  but  he  contended  that  they  must  have  a  direct  and  neces- 
sary relation  to  some  specified  power.  Granted.  But  who  is  to 
judge  of  this  relation  ?  And  what  rule  can  you  prescribe,  different 
from  that  which  the  constitution  has  required,  that  it  should  be 
necessary  and  proper?  Whatever  may  be  the  rule,  in  whatever 
language  you  may  choose  to  express  it,  there  must  be  a  certain 
degree  of  discretion  left  to  the  agent  who  is  to  apply  it.  But  gen- 
tlemen are  alarmed  at  this  discretion  —  that  law  of  tyrants,  on  which 
they  contend  there  is  no  limitation.  It  should  be  observed,  in  the 
first  place,  that  the  gentlemen  arc  brought,  by  the  very  course  of 
reasoning  which  they  themselves  employ,  by  all  the  rules  which 
they  would  lay  down  for  the  constitution,  to  cases  where  discretion 
must  exist.  But  is  there  no  limitation,  no  security  against  the  abuse 
of  it  ?  Yes,  there  is  such  security  in  the  fact  of  our  being  members 
of  the  same  society,  equally  affected  ourselves  by  the  laws  we  pro- 
mulgate. There  is  the  further  security  in  the  oath  which  is  taken 
to  support  the  constitution,  and  which  will  tend  to  restrain  congress 
from  deriving  powers  which  are  not  proper  and  necessary.  There 
is  the  yet  further  security,  that,  at  the  end  of  every  two  years,  the 
members  must  be  amenable  to  the  people  for  the  manner  in  which 
their  trusts  have  been  performed.  And  there  remains  also  that 
further,  though  awful  security,  the  last  resort  of  society,  which  I 
contend  belongs  alike  to  the  people  and  to  the  states  in  their 
sovereign  capacity,  to  be  exercised  in  extreme  cases,  and  when 
oppression  becomes  intolerable,  the  right  of  resistance.  Take  the 
gentleman's  own  doctrine,  (Mr.  Barbour,)  the  most  restricted  which 
has  been  asserted,  and  what  other  securities  have  we  against  the 
abuse  of  power,  than  those  which  I  have  enumerated  ?  Say  that 
there  must  be  an  absolute  necessity  to  justify  the  exercise  of  an 
implied  power,  who  is  to  define  that  absolute  necessity,  and  then  to 
apply  it?  "Who  is  to  be  the  judge  ?  Where  is  the  security  against 
transcending  that  limit?  The  rule  the  gentleman  contends  for  has 
no  greater  security  than  that  insisted  upon  by  us.  It  equally  leads 
to  the  same  discretion,  a  sound  discretion,  exercised  under  all  the 
responsibility  of  a  solemn  oath,  of  a  regard  to  our  fair  fame,  of  a 
knowledge  that  we  are  ourselves  the  subjects  of  those  laws  which 


ON  INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENT.  307 

we  pass,  and,  lastly,  of  the  right  of  resisting  insupportable  tyranny. 
And,  by  way  of  illustration,  if  the  sedition  act  had  not  been 
condemned  by  the  indignant  voice  of  the  community,  the  right  of 
resistance  would  have  accrued.  If  congress  assumed  the  power  to 
control  the  right  of  speech,  and  to  assail,  by  penal  statutes,  the 
greatest  of  all  the  bulwarks  of  liberty,  the  freedom  of  the  press,  and 
there  were  no  other  means  to  arrest  their  progress,  but  that  to  which 
I  have  referred,  lamentable  as  would  be  the  appeal,  such  a  monstrous 
abuse  of  power,  I  contend,  would  authorize  a  recurrence  to 
that  right. 

If,  then,  the  gentlemen  on  the  other  side  and  myself  differ  so 
little  in  our  general  principles,  as  I  think  I  have  shown,  I  will 
proceed,  for  a  few  moments,  to  look  at  the  constitution  a  little  more 
in  detail.  I  have  contended,  that  the  power  to  construct  post-roads 
is  expressly  granted  in  the  power  to  establish  post-roads.  If  it  be, 
there  is  an  end  of  the  controversy ;  but  if  not,  the  next  inquiry  is, 
whether  that  power  may  be  fairly  deduced,  by  implication,  from 
any  of  the  special  grants  of  power.  To  show  that  the  power  is 
expressly  granted,  I  might  safely  appeal  to  the  arguments  already 
used,  to  prove  that  the  word  establish,  in  this  case,  can  mean  only 
one  thing  —  the  right  of  making.  Several  gentlemen  have  con- 
tended, that  the  word  has  a  different  sense  ;  and  one  has  resorted 
to  the  preamble  of  the  constitution,  to  show  that  the  phrase  '  to 
establish  justice,'  there  used,  does  not  convey  the  power  of  creation. 
If  the  word  '  establish'  is  there  to  be  taken  in  the  sense  which  gentle- 
men claim  for  it,  that  of  adoption  or  designation,  congress  could 
have  a  choice  only  of  systems  of  justice  preexisting.  Will  any 
gentleman  contend,  that  we  are  obliged  to  take  the  Justinian  code, 
the  Napoleon  code,  the  code  of  civil,  or  the  code  of  common  or 
canon  law?  Establishment  means  in  the  preamble,  as  in  other 
cases,  construction,  formation,  creation.  Let  me  ask,  in  all  cases 
of  crime,  which  are  merely  malum  prohibitum,  if  you  do  not  resort 
to  construction,  to  creating,  when  you  make  the  offence  ?  By  your 
laws  denouncing  certain  acts  as  criminal  offences,  laws  which  the 
good  of  society  requires  you  to  pass,  and  to  adapt  to  our  peculiar 
condition,  you  do  construct  and  create  a  system  of  rules,  to  be 
administered  by  the  judiciary.  But  gentlemen  say,  that  the  word 
cannot  mean  make;  that  you  w^ould  not  say,  for  example,  to 
establish  a  ship,  to  establish  a  chair.  In  the  application  of  this, 
as  of  all  other  terms,  you  must  be  guided  by  the  nature  of  the 
subject ;  and  if  it  cannot  properly  be  used  in  all  cases,  it  does  not 
follow  that  it  cannot  be  in  any.  And  when  we  take  into  considera- 
tion, that,  under  the  old  articles  of  confederation,  congress  had  over 
the  subject  of  post-roads  just  as  much  power  as  gentlemen  allow 
to  the  existing  government,  that  it  was  the  general  scope  and  spirit 
of  the  new  constitution  to  enlarge  the  powers  of  the  general 
government,  and   that,  in  fact,  in  this  very  clause,  the  power  to 


308  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

establish  post-offices,  which  was  alone  possessed  by  the  former 
government,  I  think  that  I  may  safely  consider  the  argument,  on 
this  part  of  the  subject,  as  successfully  maintained.  With  respect 
to  military  roads,  the  concession  that  they  may  be  made  when  called 
for  by  the  emergency,  is  admitting  that  the  constitution  conveys 
the  power.  And  we  may  safely  appeal  to  the  judgment  of  the 
candid  and  enlightened,  to  decide  between  the  wisdom  of  these 
two  constructions,  of  which  one  requires  you  to  wait  for  the 
exercise  of  your  power  until  the  arrival  of  an  emergency,  which 
may  not  allow  you  to  exert  it,  and  the  other,  without  denying  you 
the  power,  if  you  can  exercise  it  during  the  emergency,  claims  the 
right  of  providing  beforehand  against  the  emergency. 

One  member  has  stated  what  appeared  to  him  a  conclusive 
argument  against  the  power  to  cut  canals,  that  he  had  understood 
that  a  proposition,  made  in  the  convention  to  insert  such  a  power, 
was  rejected.  To  this  argument  more  than  one  sufficient  answer 
can  be  made.  In  the  first  place,  the  fact  itself  has  been  denied, 
and  I  have  never  yet  seen  any  evidence  of  it.  But,  suppose  that 
the  proposition  had  been  made  and  overruled,  unless  the  motives 
of  the  refusal  to  insert  it  are  known,  gentlemen  are  not  authorized 
to  draw  the  inference  that  it  was  from  hostility  to  the  power,  or  from 
a  desire  to  withhold  it  from  congress.  May  not  one  of  the  objec- 
tions be,  that  the  power  was  fairly  to  be  inferred  from  some  of  the 
specific  grants  of  power,  and  that  it  was  therefore  not  necessary  to 
insert  the  proposition  ;  that  to  adopt  it,  indeed,  might  lead  to 
weaken  or  bring  into  doubt  other  incidental  powers  not  enumer- 
ated? A  member  from  New  York,  (Mr.  Storrs,)  whose  absence  I 
regret  on  this  occasion,  not  only  on  account  of  the  great  aid  which 
might  have  been  expected  from  him,  but  from  the  cause  of  that 
absence,  has  informed  me,  that,  in  the  convention  of  that  state,  one 
of  the  objections  to  the  constitution  by  the  anti-federalists  was,  that 
it  was  understood  to  convey  to  the  general  government  the  power 
to  cut  canals.  How  often,  in  the  course  of  the  proceedings  of  this 
house,  do  we  reject  amendments,  upon  the  sole  ground  that  they 
are  not  necessary,  the  principle  of  the  amendment  being  already 
contained  in  the  proposition. 

I  refer  to  the  Federalist,  for  one  moment,  to  show  that  the  only 
notice  taken  of  that  clause  of  the  constitution  which  relates  to  post- 
roads,  is  favorable  to  my  construction.  The  power,  that  book  says, 
must  always  be  a  harmless  one.  I  have  endeavored  to  show,  not 
only  that  it  is  perfectly  harmless,  but  that  every  exercise  of  it  must 
be  necessarily  beneficial.  Nothing  which  tends  to  facilitate  inter- 
course among  the  states,  says  the  Federalist,  can  be  unworthy  of 
the  public  care.  What  intercourse?  Even  if  restricted  on  the 
narrowest  theory  of  gentlemen  on  the  other  side,  to  the  intercourse 
of  intelligence,  they  deny  that  to  us,  since  they  will  not  admit  that 
we  have  the  power  to  repair  or  improve  the  way,  the  right  of  which 


ON  INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENT.  309 

they  yield  us.  In  a  more  liberal  and  enlarged  sense  of  the  word, 
it  will  comprehend  all  those  various  means  of  accomplishing  the 
object,  which  are  calculated  to  render  us  a  homogeneous  people  — 
one  in  feeling,  in  interest,  and  affection;  as  we  are  one  in  our 
political  relation. 

Is  there  not  a  direct  and  intimate  relation  between  the  power  to 
make  war,  and  military  roads  and  canals?  It  is  in  vain  that  the 
convention  have  confided  to  the  general  government  the  tremendous 
power  of  declaring  war;  have  imposed  upon  it  the  duty  to  employ 
the  whole  physical  means  of  the  nation  to  render  the  war,  whatever 
may  be  its  character,  successful  and  glorious ;  if  the  power  is  with- 
held of  transporting  and  distributing  those  means.  Let  us  appeal 
to  facts,  which  are  sometimes  worth  volumes  of  theory.  We  have 
recently  had  a  war  raging  on  all  the  four  quarters  of  the  union. 
The  only  circumstance  which  gave  me  pain  at  the  close  of  that 
war,  the  detention  of  Moose  Island,  would  not  have  occurred,  if 
we  had  possessed  military  roads.  Why  did  not  the  union,  why 
did  not  Massachusetts,  make  a  struggle  to  reconquer  the  island  ? 
Not  for  the  want  of  men  ;  not  for  the  want  of  patriotism,  I  hope ; 
but  from  the  want  of  physical  ability  to  march  a  force  sufficient  to 
dislodge  the  enemy.  On  the  northwestern  frontier,  millions  of 
money,  and  some  of  the  most  precious  blood  of  the  state  from 
which  I  have  the  honor  to  come,  was  wastefully  expended  for  the 
want  of  such  roads.  My  honorable  friend  from  Ohio  (General 
Harrison),  who  commanded  the  army  in  that  quarter,  could  furnish 
a  volume  of  evidence  on  this  subject.  What  now  paralyses  our 
arms  on  the  southern  frontier,  and  occasioned  the  recent  massacre 
of  fifty  of  our  brave  soldiers  ?  What,  but  the  want  of  proper 
means  for  the  communication  of  intelligence,  and  for  the  transpor- 
tation of  our  resources  from  point  to  point  ?  Whether  we  refer  to 
our  own  experience,  or  that  of  other  countries,  we  cannot  fail  to 
perceive  the  great  value  of  military  roads.  Those  great  masters  of 
the  world,  the  Romans,  how  did  they  sustain  their  power  so  many 
centuries,  diffusing  law  and  liberty,  and  intelligence,  all  around 
them  ?  They  made  permanent  military  roads ;  and  among  the 
objects  of  interest  which  Europe  now  presents  are  the  remains 
of  those  Roman  roads,  which  are  shown  to  the  curious  inquirer. 
If  there  were  no  other  monument  remaining  of  the  sagacity  and 
of  the  illustrious  deeds  of  the  unfortunate  captive  of  St.  Helena, 
the  internal  improvements  which  he  made,  the  road  from  Ham- 
burgh to  Basle,  would  perpetuate  his  memory  to  future  ages.  In 
making  these  allusions,  let  me  not  be  misunderstood.  I  do  not 
desire  to  see  military  roads  established  for  the  purpose  of  conquest, 
but  of  defence ;  and  as  a  part  of  that  preparation  which  should  be 
made  in  a  season  of  peace  for  a  season  of  war.  I  do  not  wish  to 
see  this  country  ever  in  that  complete  state  of  preparation  for  war, 
for  which  some  contend ;  that  is,  that  we  should  constantly  have  a 


310  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

large  standing  army,  well  disciplined,  and  always  ready  to  act.  I 
want  to  see  the  bill  reported  by  my  friend  from  Ohio,  or  some  other, 
embracing  an  effective  militia  system,  passed  into  a  law ;  and  a 
chain  of  roads  and  canals,  by  the  aid  of  which  our  physical  means 
can  be  promptly  transported  to  any  required  point.  These,  con- 
nected with  a  small  military  establishment  to  keep  up  our  forts  and 
garrisons,  constitute  the  kind  of  preparation  for  war,  which,  it 
appears  to  me,  this  country  ought  to  make.  No  man,  who  has  paid 
the  least  attention  to  the  operations  of  modern  war,  can  have  failed 
to  remark,  how  essential  good  roads  and  canals  are  to  the  success  of 
those  operations.  How  often  have  battles  been  won  by  celerity 
and  rapidity  of  movement!  It  is  one  of  the  most  essential 
circumstances  in  war.  But,  without  good  roads,  it  is  impossible. 
Members  will  recall  to  their  recollection  the  fact,  that,  in  the  senate, 
several  years  ago,  an  honorable  friend  of  mine  (Mr.  Bayard),  whose 
premature  death  I  shall  ever  deplore,  who  was  an  ornament  to 
the  councils  of  his  country,  and  who,  when  abroad,  was  the  able 
and  fearless  advocate  of  her  rights,  did,  in  supporting  a  subscrip- 
tion which  he  proposed  the  United  States  bank  should  make  to  the 
stock  of  the  Delaware  and  Chesapeake  canal  company,  earnestly 
recommend  the  measure  as  connected  with  our  operations  in  war. 
I  listened  to  my  friend  with  some  incredulity,  and  thought  he  pushed 
his  argument  too  far.  I  had,  soon  after,  a  practical  evidence  of  its 
justness.  For,  in  travelling  from  Philadelphia,  in  the  fall  of  1813, 
I  saw  transporting,  by  government,  from  Elk  river  to  the  Delaware, 
large  quantities  of  massy  timbers  for  the  construction  of  the 
Guerriere  or  the  Franklin,  or  both ;  and,  judging  from  the  number 
of  wagons  and  horses,  and  the  number  of  days  employed,  I  believe 
the  additional  expense  of  that  single  operation  would  have  gone 
very  far  to  complete  that  canal,  whose  cause  was  espoused  with  so 
much  eloquence  in  the  senate,  and  with  so  much  effect,  too  ;  bills 
having  passed  that  body  more  than  once  to  give  aid,  in  some  shape 
or  other,  to  that  canal.  With  notorious  facts  like  this,  is  it  not 
obvious,  that  a  line  of  military  canals  is  not  only  necessary  and 
proper,  but  almost  indispensable  to  the  war-making  power  ? 

One  of  the  rules  of  construction  which  has  been  laid  down,  I 
acknowledge  my  incapacity  to  comprehend.  Gentlemen  say,  that 
the  power  in  question  is  a  substantive  power;  and  that  no  substan- 
tive power  can  be  derived  by  implication.  What  is  their  definition 
of  a  substantive  power?  Will  they  favor  us  with  the  principle  of 
discrimination  between  powers  which,  being  substantive,  are  not 
grantable  but  by  express  grant,  and  those  which,  not  being  substan- 
tive, may  be  conveyed  by  implication  ?  Although  I  do  not  perceive 
why  this  power  is  more  entitled  than  many  implied  powers,  to  the 
denomination  of  substantive,  suppose  that  be  yielded,  how  do 
gentlemen  prove  that  it  may  not  be  conveyed  by  implication  ?  If 
the  positions  were  maintained,  which   have  not  yet  been  proved, 


ON  INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENT.  311 

that  the  power  is  substantive,  and  that  no  substantive  power  can 
be  implied,  yet  I  trust  it  has  been  satisfactorily  shown  that  there  is 
an  express  grant. 

My  honorable  friend  from  Virginia,  (Mr.  Nelson,)  has  denied  the 
operation  of  executive  influence  on  his  mind ;  and  has  informed 
the  committee,  that  from  that  quarter  he  has  nothing  to  expect,  to 
hope,  or  to  fear.  I  did  not  impute  to  my  honorable  friend  any 
such  motive  ;  I  knew  his  independence  of  character  and  of  mind 
too  well  to  do  so.  But  I  entreat  him  to  reflect,  if  he  does  not 
expose  himself  to  such  an  imputation  by  those  less  friendly  disposed 
towards  him  than  myself.  Let  us  look  a  little  at  facts.  The  pres- 
ident recommends  the  establishment  of  a  bank.  If  ever  there  were 
a  stretch  of  implied  powers  conveyed  by  the  constitution,  it  has 
been  thought  that  the  grant  of  the  charter  of  the  national  bank  was 
one.  But  the  president  recommends  it.  Where  was  then  my 
honorable  friend,  the  friend  of  state  rights,  who  so  pathetically 
calls  upon  us  to  repent,  in  sackcloth  and  ashes,  our  meditated 
violation  of  the  constitution  ;  and  who  kindly  expresses  his  hope, 
that  we  shall  be  made  to  feel  the  public  indignation  ?  Where  was 
he  at  that  awful  epoch  ?  Where  was  that  eloquent  tongue,  which 
we  have  now  heard  with  so  much  pleasure  ?  Silent !  Silent  as 
the  grave ! 

[Mr.  Nelson  said,  across  the  house,  that  he  had  voted  against  the  bank  bill  when 
first  recommended.] 

Alas !  my  honorable  friend  had  not  the  heart  to  withstand  a 
second  recommendation  from  the  president ;  but,  when  it  came, 
yielded,  no  doubt  most  reluctantly,  to  the  executive  wishes,  and 
voted  for  the  bank.  At  the  last  session  of  congress,  Mr.  Madison 
recommended,  (and  I  will  presently  make  some  remarks  on  that 
subject,)  an  exercise  of  all  the  existing  powers  of  the  general 
government,  to  establish  a  comprehensive  system  of  internal 
improvements.  Where  was  my  honorable  friend  on  that  occasion? 
Not  silent  as  the  grave,  but  he  gave  a  negative  vote,  almost  as 
silent.  No  effort  was  made  on  his  part,  great  as  he  is  when  he 
exerts  the  powers  of  his  well-stored  mind,  to  save  the  common- 
wealth from  that  greatest  of  all  calamities,  a  system  of  internal 
improvement.  No;  although  a  war  with  all  the  allies,  he  now 
thinks,  would  be  less  terrible  than  the  adoption  of  this  report,  not 
one  word  then  dropped  from  his  lips  against  the  measure. 

[Mr.  Nelson  said  he  voted  against  the  bill.] 

That  he  whispered  out  an  unwilling  negative,  I  do  not  deny  ! 
but  it  was  unsustained  by  that  torrent  of  eloquence  which  he  has 
poured  out  on  the  present  occasion.  But  we  have  an  executive 
message  noiv,  not  quite  as  ambiguous  in  its  terms,  nor  as  oracular 


312  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

in  its  meaning,  as  that  of  Mr.  Madison  appears  to  have  been.  No! 
the  president  now  says,  that  he  has  made  great  efforts  to  vanquish 
his  objections  to  the  power,  and  that  he  cannot  but  believe  that  it 
does  not  exist.  Then  my  honorable  friend  rouses,  thunders  forth 
the  danger  in  which  the  constitution  is,  and  sounds  the  tocsin  of 
alarm.  Far  from  insinuating  that  he  is  at  all  biased  by  the  execu- 
tive wishes,  I  appeal  to  his  candor  to  say,  if  there  is  not  a  remark- 
able coincidence  between  his  zeal  and  exertions,  and  the  opinions 
of  the  chief  magistrate? 

Now  let  us  review  those  opinions,  as  communicated  at  different 
periods.  It  was  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  that,  although  there 
was  no  general  power  vested  by  the  constitution  in  congress,  to 
construct  roads  and  canals,  without  the  consent  of  the  states,  yet 
such  a  power  might  be  exercised  wilh  their  assent.  Mr.  Jefferson 
not  only  held  this  opinion  in  the  abstract,  but  he  practically  execu- 
ted it  in  the  instance  of  the  Cumberland  road;  and  how?  First, 
by  a  compact  made  with  the  state  of  Ohio,  for  the  application  of  a 
specified  fund,  and  then  by  compacts  with  Virginia,  Pennsylvania, 
and  Maryland,  to  apply  the  fund  so  set  apart  within  their  respective 
limits.  If,  however,  I  rightly  understood  my  honorable  friend  the 
other  day,  he  expressly  denied  (and  in  that  I  concur  with  him)  that 
the  power  could  be  acquired  by  the  mere  consent  of  the  state. 
Yet  he  defended  the  act  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  the  case  referred  to. 

[Mr.  Nelson  expressed  his  dissent  to  this  statement  of  his  argument.] 

It  is  far  from  my  intention  to  misstate  the  gentleman.  I  cer- 
tainly understood  him  to  say,  that,  as  the  road  was  first  stipulated 
for,  in  the  compact  with  Ohio,  it  was  competent  afterwards  to  carry 
it  through  the  states  mentioned,  with  their  assent.  Now,  if  we 
have  not  the  right  to  make  a  road  in  virtue  of  one  compact  made 
with  a  smgle  state,  can  we  obtain  it  by  two  contracts  made  with 
several  states?  The  character  of  the  fund  cannot  affect  the  ques- 
tion. It  is  totally  immaterial  whether  it  arises  from  the  sales  of 
the  public  lands,  or  from  the  general  revenue.  Suppose  a  contract 
made  with  Massachusetts,  that  a  certain  portion  of  the  revenue, 
collected  at  the  port  of  Boston,  from  foreign  trade,  should  be 
expended  in  making  roads  and  canals  leading  to  that  state,  and 
that  a  subsequent  compact  should  be  made  with  Connecticut  or 
New  Hampshire,  for  the  expenditure  of  the  fund  on  these  objects, 
within  their  limits.  Can  we  acquire  the  power,  in  this  manner, 
over  internal  improvements,  if  we  do  not  possess  it  independently 
of  such  compacts  ?  I  conceive,  clearly  not.  And  I  am  entirely  at 
a  loss  to  comprehend  how  gentlemen,  consistently  with  their  own 
principles,  can  justify  the  erection  of  the  Cumberland  road.  No 
man  is  prouder  than  I  am  of  that  noble  monument  of  the  provi- 
dent care  of  the  nation,  and  of  the  public  spirit  of  its  projectors; 


ON  INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENT.  313 

and  I  trust  that,  in  spite  of  all  constitutional  and  other  scruples, 
here  or  elsewhere,  an  appropriation  will  be  made  to  complete  that 
road.  I  confess,  however,  freely,  that  I  am  entirely  unable  to  con- 
ceive of  any  principle  on  which  that  road  can  be  supported,  that 
would  not  uphold  the  general  power  contended  for. 

I  will  now  examine  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Madison.  Of  all  the 
acts  of  that  pure,  virtuous,  and  illustrious  statesman,  whose  admin- 
istration has  so  powerfully  tended  to  advance  the  glory,  honor,  and 
prosperity  of  this  country,  I  most  regret,  for  his  sake  and  for  the 
sake  of  the  country,  the  rejection  of  the  bill  of  the  last  session.  I 
think  it  irreconcilable  with  Mr.  Madison's  own  principles  —  those 
great,  broad,  and  liberal  principles,  on  which  he  so  ably  administered 
the  government.  And,  sir,  when  I  appeal  to  the  members  of  the 
last  congress,  who  are  now  in  my  hearing,  I  am  authorized  to  say, 
with  regard  to  the  majority  of  them,  that  no  circumstance,  not  even 
an  earthquake,  that  should  have  swallowed  up  one  half  of  this  city, 
could  have  excited  more  surprise  than  when  it  was  first  communi- 
cated to  this  house,  that  Mr.  Madison  had  rejected  his  own  bill — I 
say  his  own  bill,  for  his  message  at  the  opening  of  the  session 
meant  nothing,  if  it  did  not  recommend  such  an  exercise  of  power 
as  was  contained  in  that  bill.  My  friend,  who  is  near  me,  (Mr. 
Johnson,  of  Virginia,)  the  operations  of  whose  vigorous  and  inde- 
pendent mind,  depend  upon  his  own  internal  perceptions,  has 
expressed  himself  with  becoming  manliness,  and  thrown  aside  the 
authority  of  names,  as  having  no  bearing  with  him  on  the  question. 
But  their  authority  has  been  referred  to,  and  will  have  influence 
with  others.  It  is  impossible,  moreover,  to  disguise  the  fact,  that 
the  question  is  now  a  question  between  the  executive  on  the  one 
side,  and  the  representatives  of  the  people  on  the  other.  So  it  is 
understood  in  the  country,  and  such  is  the  fact.  Mr.  Madison 
enjoys,  in  his  retreat  at  Montpelier,  the  repose  and  the  honors  due 
to  his  eminent  and  laborious  services ;  and  I  would  be  among  the 
last  to  disturb  it.  However  painful  it  is  to  me  to  animadvert  upon 
any  of  his  opinions,  I  feel  perfectly  sure  that  the  circumstance  can 
only  be  viewed  by  him  with  an  enlightened  liberality.  What  are 
the  opinions  which  have  been  expressed  by  Mr.  Madison  on  this 
subject?  I  will  not  refer  to  all  the  messages  wherein  he  has 
recommended  internal  improvements ;  but  to  that  alone  which  he 
addressed  to  congress,  at  the  commencement  of  the  last  session, 
which  contains  this  passage : 

'  I  particularly  invite  again  the  attention  of  congress  to  the  expediency  of  exercis- 
ing their  existing  powers,  and,  where  necessary,  of  resorting  to  the  prescribed  mode  of 
enlarging  them,  in  order  to  effectuate  a  comprehensive  system  of  roads  and  canals,  such  as 
will  have  the  effect  of  drawing  more  closely  together  every  part  of  our  country,  by 
promoting  intercourse  and  improvements,  and  by  increasing  the  share  of  every  part 
in  the  common  stock  of  national  prosperity.' 

vol.  i.  40 


314  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

In  the  examination  of  this  passage,  two  positions  force  themselves 
upon  our  attention.  The  first  is,  the  assertion  that  there  are  existing 
powers  in  congress  to  effectuate  a  comprehensive  system  of  roads 
and  canals,  the  effect  of  which  would  be  to  draw  the  different  parts 
of  the  country  more  closely  together.  And  I  would  candidly  admit, 
in  the  second  place,  that  it  was  intimated,  that,  in  the  exercise  of 
those  existing  powers,  some  defect  might  be  discovered  which 
would  render  an  amendment  of  the  constitution  necessary.  Noth- 
ing could  be  more  clearly  affirmed  than  the  first  position ;  but  in 
the  message  of  Mr.  Madison  returning  the  bill,  passed  in  conse- 
quence of  his  recommendation,  he  has  not  specified  a  solitary  case 
to  which  those  existing  powers  are  applicable;  he  has  not  told  us 
what  he  meant  by  those  existing  powers ;  and  the  general  scope  of 
his  reasoning,  in  that  message,  if  well  founded,  proves  that  there  are 
no  existing  powers  whatever.  It  is  apparent,  that  Mr.  Madison 
himself  has  not  examined  some  of  those  principal  sources  of  the 
constitution  from  which,  during  this  debate,  the  power  has  been 
derived.  I  deeply  regret,  and  I  know  that  Mr.  Madison  regretted, 
that  the  circumstances  under  which  the  bill  was  presented  to  him 
(the  last  day  but  one  of  a  most  busy  session)  deprived  him  of  an 
opportunity  of  that  thorough  investigation  of  which  no  man  is 
more  capable.  It  is  certain,  that,  taking  his  two  messages  at  the 
same  session  together,  they  are  perfectly  irreconcilable.  What, 
moreover,  was  the  nature  of  that  bill  ?  It  did  not  apply  the  money 
to  any  specific  object  of  internal  improvement,  nor  designate  any 
particular  mode  in  w^hich  it  should  be  applied;  but  merely  set  apart 
and  pledged  the  fund  to  the  general  purpose,  subject  to  the  future 
disposition  of  congress.  If,  then,  there  were  any  supposable  case 
whatever,  to  which  congress  might  apply  money  in  the  erection  of 
a  road,  or  cutting  a  canal,  the  bill  did  not  violate  the  constitution. 
And  it  ought  not  to  have  been  anticipated,  that  money  constitu- 
tionally appropriated  by  one  congress  would  be  unconstitutionally 
expended  by  another. 

I  come  now  to  the  message  of  Mr.  Monroe;  and  if,  by  the  com- 
munication of  his  opinion  to  congress,  he  intended  to  prevent  dis- 
cussion, he  has  most  wofully  failed.  I  know  that,  according  to  a 
most  venerable  and  excellent  usage,  the  opinion,  neither  of  the 
president  nor  of  the  senate,  upon  any  proposition  depending  in  this 
house,  ought  to  be  adverted  to.  Even  in  the  parliament,  of  Great 
Britain,  a  member  who  would  refer  to  the  opinion  of  the  sovereign, 
in  such  a  case,  would  be  instantly  called  to  order ;  but  under  the 
extraordinary  circumstances  of  the  president  having,  with,  I  have 
no  doubt,  the  best  motives,  volunteered  his  opinion  on  this  head, 
and  inverted  the  order  of  legislation  by  beginning  where  it  should 
end,  I  am  compelled,  most  reluctantly,  to  refer  to  that  opinion.  I 
cannot  but  deprecate  the  practice  of  which  the  president  has,  in  this 
instance,  set  the  example  to  his  successors.     The  constitutional 


ON     INTERNAL      IMPROVEMENT.  315 

order  of  legislation  supposes  that  every  bill  originating  in  one 
house,  shall  be  there  deliberately  investigated,  without  influence 
from  any  other  branch  of  the  legislature ;  and  then  remitted  to  the 
other  house  for  a  like  free  and  unbiased  consideration.  Having 
passed  bolh  houses,  it  is  to  be  laid  before  the  president;  signed  if 
approved,  and  if  disapproved,  to  be  returned,  with  his  objections,  to 
the  originating  house.  In  this  manner,  entire  freedom  of  thought 
and  of  action  is  secured,  and  the  president  finally  sees  the  proposi- 
tion in  the  most  mamred  form  which  congress  can  give  to  it.  The 
practical  effect,  to  say  no  more,  of  forestalling  the  legislative  opinion, 
and  telling  us  what  we  may  or  may  not  do,  will  be  to  deprive  the 
president  himself  of  the  opportunity  of  considering  a  proposition 
so  matured,  and  us  of  the  benefit  of  his  reasoning  applied  specifi- 
cally to  such  proposition.  For  the  constitution  further  enjoins  it 
upon  him,  to  state  his  objections  upon  returning  the  bill.  The 
originating  house  is  then  to  reconsider  it,  and  deliberately  to  weigh 
those  objections ;  and  it  is  further  required,  when  the  question  is 
again  taken,  shall  the  bill  pass,  those  objections  notwithstanding  ? 
that  the  votes  shall  be  solemnly  spread,  by  ayes  and  noes,  upon  the 
record.  Of  this  opportunity  of  thus  recording  our  opinions,  in 
matters  of  great  public  concern,  we  are  deprived,  if  we  submit  to 
the  innovation  of  the  president.  I  will  not  press  this  part  of  the 
subject  further.  I  repeat,  again  and  again,  that  I  have  no  doubt 
but  that  the  president  was  actuated  by  the  purest  motives.  I  am 
compelled,  however,  in  the  exercise  of  that  freedom  of  opinion 
which,  so  long  as  I  exist,  I  will  maintain,  to  say,  that  the  proceeding 
is  irregular  and  unconstitutional.  Let  us,  however,  examine  the 
reasoning  and  opinion  of  the  president. 

1  A  difference  of  opinion  has  existed  from  the  first  formation  of  our  constitution  to 
the  present  time,  among  our  most  enlightened  and  virtuous  citizens,  respecting  the 
right  of  congress  to  establish  a  system  of  internal  improvement.  Taking  into  view 
the  trust  with  which  I  am  now  honored,  it  would  be  improper,  after  what  has  passed, 
that  this  discussion  should  be  revived,  with  an  uncertainty  of  my  opinion  respecting 
the  right.  Disregarding  early  impressions,  I  have  bestowed  on  the  subject  all  the 
deliberation  which  its  great  importance  and  a  just  sense  of  my  duty  required  and  Ihe 
result  is,  a  settled  conviction  in  my  mind,  that  congress  does  not  possess  the  right. 
It  is  not  contained  in  any  of  the  specified  powers  granted  to  congress;  nor  can  I  con- 
sider it  incidental  to, or  a  necessary  mean,  viewed  on  the  most  liberal  scale,  for  carry- 
ing into  effect  any  of  the  powers  which  are  specifically  granted.  In  communicating 
this  result,  I  cannot  resist  the  obligation  which  I  feel,  to  suggest  to  congress  the  pro- 
priety of  recommending  to  the  states  the  adoption  of  an  amendment  to  the  constitu- 
tion, which  shall  give  the  right  in  question.  In  cases  of  doubtful  construction, 
especially  of  such  vital  interest,  it  comports  with  the  nature  and  origin  of  our  insti- 
tutions, and  will  contribute  much  to  preserve  them,  to  apply  to  our  constituents  for 
an  explicit  grant  of  power.  We  may  confidently  rely,  that,  if  it  appears  to  their 
satisfaction  that  the  power  is  necessary,  it  will  always  be  granted.' 

In  this  passage,  the  president  has  furnished  us  with  no  reasoning, 
no  argument  in  support  of  his  opinion  —  nothing  addressed  to  the 
understanding.  He  gives  us,  indeed,  an  historical  account  of  the 
operations  of  his  own  mind,  and  he  asserts  that  he  has  made  a 


816  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

laborious  effort  to  conquer  his  early  impressions,  but  that  the  result 
is  a  settled  conviction  against  the  power,  without  a  single  reason. 
In  his  position,  that  the  power  must  be  specifically  granted,  or  inci- 
dent to  a  power  so  granted,  it  has  been  seen,  that  I  have  the  honor 
to  entirely  concur  with  him ;  but,  he  says,  the  power  is  not  among 
the  specified  powers.  Has  he  taken  into  consideration  the  clause 
respecting  post-roads,  and  told  us  how  and  why  that  does  not  con- 
vey the  power  ?  If  he  had  acted  within  what  I  conceive  to  be  his 
constitutional  sphere  of  rejecting  the  bill,  after  it  had  passed  both 
houses,  he  must  have  learned  that  great  stress  was  placed  on  that 
clause, and  we  should  have  been  enlightened  by  his  comments  upon 
it.  As  to  his  denial  of  the  power,  as  an  incident  to  any  of  the 
express  grants,  I  would  have  thought  that  we  might  have  safely 
appealed  to  the  experience  of  the  president,  during  the  late  war, 
when  the  country  derived  so  much  benefit  from  his  judicious 
administration  of  the  duties  of  the  war  department,  whether  roads 
and  canals  for  military  purposes  were  not  essential  to  celerity  and 
successful  result  in  the  operations  of  armies.  This  part  of  the  mes- 
sage is  all  assertion,  and  contains  no  argument  which  I  can  com- 
prehend, or  which  meet  the  points  contended  for  during  this  debate. 
Allow  me  here  to  say,  and  I  do  it  without  the  least  disrespect  to  that 
branch  of  the  government,  on  whose  opinions  and  acts  it  has  been 
rendered  my  painful  duty  to  comment ;  let  me  say,  in  reference  to 
any  man,  however  elevated  his  station,  even  if  he  be  endowed  with 
the  power  and  prerogatives  of  a  sovereign,  that  his  acts  are  worth 
infinitely  more,  and  are  more  intelligible,  than  mere  paper  senti- 
ments or  declarations.  And  what  have  been  the  acts  of  the  presi- 
dent? During  his  tour  of  the  last  summer,  did  he  not  order  a  road 
to  be  cut  or  repaired  from  near  Plattsburgh  to  the  St.  Lawrence? 
My  honorable  friend  will  excuse  me,  if  my  comprehension  is  too 
dull  to  perceive  the  force  of  that  argument,  which  seeks  to  draw  a 
distinction  between  repairing  an  old  and  making  a  new  road. 

[  Mr.  Nelson  said,  he  had  not  drawn  that  distinction,  having  only  stated  the  fact.  ] 

Certainly  no  such  distinction  is  to  be  found  in  the  constitution,  or 
exists  in  reason.  Grant,  however,  the  power  of  reparation,  and  we 
will  make  it  do.  "We  will  take  the  post-roads,  sinuous  as  they  are, 
and  put  them  in  a  condition  to  enable  the  mails  to  pass,  without 
those  mortifying  delays  and  disappointments,  to  which  we,  at  least 
in  the  west,  are  so  often  liable.  The  president,  then,  ordered  a  road 
of  considerable  extent  to  be  constructed  or  repaired,  on  his  sole 
authority,  in  a  time  of  profound  peace,  when  no  enemy  threatened 
the  country,  and  when,  in  relation  to  the  power  as  to  which  alone 
that  road  could  be  useful  in  time  of  war,  there  exists  the  best  under- 
standing, and  a  prospect  of  lasting  friendship,  greater  than  at  any 
other  period.     On  his  sole  authority  the  president  acted,  and  we  are 


ON  INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENT.  317 

already  called  upon  by  the  chairman  of  the  committee  of  ways  and 
means  to  sanction  the  act  by  an  appropriation.  This  measure  has 
been  taken,  too,  without  the  consent  of  the  state  of  New  York ; 
and  what  is  wonderful,  when  we  consider  the  magnitude  of  the 
state  rights  which  are  said  to  be  violated,  without  even  a  protest  on 
the  part  of  that  state  against  it.  On  the  contrary,  I  understand, 
from  some  of  the  military  officers  who  are  charged  with  the  execu- 
tion of  the  work,  what  is  very  extraordinary,  that  the  people  through 
whose  quarter  of  the  country  the  road  passes,  do  not  view  it  as  a 
national  calamity ;  that  they  would  be  very  glad  that  the  president 
would  visit  them  often}  and  that  he  would  order  a  road  to  be  cut 
and  improved,  at  the  national  expense,  every  time  he  should  visit 
them.  Other  roads,  in  other  parts  of  the  union,  have,  it  seems,  been 
likewise  ordered,  or  their  execution,  at  the  public  expense,  sanction- 
ed by  the  executive,  without  the  concurrence  of  congress.  If  the 
president  has  the  power  to  cause  these  public  improvements  to  be 
executed  at  his  pleasure,  whence  is  it  derived  ?  If  any  member 
will  stand  up  in  this  place  and  say  the  president  is  clothed  with  this 
authority,  and  that  it  is  denied  to  congress,  let  us  hear  from  him ; 
and  let  him  point  to  the  clause  of  the  constitution  which  vests  it  in 
the  executive  and  withholds  it  from  the  legislative  branch. 

There  is  no  such  clause  ;  there  is  no  such  exclusive  executive 
power.  The  power  is  derivable  by  the  executive  only  from  those 
provisions  of  the  constitution  which  charge  him  with  ihe  duties  of 
commanding  the  physical  force  of  the  country,  and  the  employ- 
ment of  that  force  in  war,  and  the  preservation  of  the  public 
tranquillity,  and  in  the  execution  of  the  laws.  But  congress  has 
paramount  powers  to  the  president.  It  alone  can  declare  war,  can 
raise  armies,  can  provide  for  calling  out  the  militia,  in  the  specified 
instances,  and  can  raise  and  appropriate  the  ways  and  means 
necessary  to  those  objects.  Or  is  it  come  to  this,  that  there  are  to 
be  two  rules  of  construction  for  the  constitution  —  one,  an  enlarged 
rule,  for  the  executive,  and  another,  a  restricted  rule,  for  the  legis- 
lature? Is  it  already  to  be  held,  that,  according  to  the  genius  and 
nature  of  our  constitution,  powers  of  this  kind  may  be  safely 
intrusted  to  the  executive,  but,  when  attempted  to  be  exercised  by 
the  legislature,  are  so  alarming  and  dangerous,  that  a  war  with  all 
the  allied  powers  would  be  less  terrible,  and  that  the  nation  should 
clothe  itself  straightway  in  sackclolh  and  ashes  !  No,  sir  ;  if  the 
power  belongs  only  by  implication  to  the  chief  magistrate,  it  is 
placed  both  by  implication  and  express  grant  in  the  hands  of 
congress.  I  am  so  far  from  condemning  the  act  of  the  president, 
to  which  I  have  referred,  that  I  think  it  deserving  of  high  approba- 
tion. That  it  was  within  the  scope  of  his  constitutional  authority, 
I  have  no  doubt;  and  I  sincerely  trust,  that  the  secretary  at  war 
will,  in  time  of  peace,  constantly  employ  in  that  way  the  military 
force.     It  will  at  the  same  time  guard  that  force  against  the  vices 


318  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

incident  to  indolence  and  inaction,  and  correct  the  evil  of  sub- 
tracting from  the  mass  of  the  labor  of  society,  where  labor  is  more 
valuable  than  in  any  other  country,  that  portion  of  it  which  enters 
into  the  composition  of  the  army.  But  I  most  solemnly  protest 
against  any  exercise  of  powers  of  this  kind  by  'the  president,  which 
are  denied  to  congress.  And,  if  the  opinions  expressed  by  him, 
in  his  message,  were  communicated,  or  are  to  be  used  here,  to 
influence  the  judgment  of  the  house,  their  authority  is  more  than 
countervailed  by  the  authority  of  his  deliberate  acts. 

Some  principles  drawn  from  political  economists  have  been 
alluded  to,  and  we  are  advised  to  leave  things  to  themselves,  upon 
the  ground  that,  when  the  condition  of  society  is  ripe  for  internal 
improvements  —  that  is,  when  capital  can  be  so  invested  with  a 
fair  prospect  of  adequate  remuneration,  they  will  be  executed  by 
associations  of  individuals,  unaided  by  government.  With  my 
friend  from  South  Carolina  (Mr.  Lowndes)  I  concur  in  this  as  a 
general  maxim  ;  and  I  also  concur  with  him  that  there  are  excep- 
tions to  it.  The  foreign  policy  which  I  think  this  country  ought  to 
adopt,  presents  one  of  those  exceptions.  It  would  perhaps  be  better 
for  mankind,  if,  in  the  intercourse  between  nations,  all  would  leave 
skill  and  industry  to  their  unstimulated  exertions.  But  this  is  not 
done  ;  and  if  other  powers  will  incite  the  industry  of  iheir  subjects, 
and  depress  that  of  our  citizens,  in  instances  where  they  may  come 
into  competition,  we  must  imitate  their  selfish  example.  Hence 
the  necessity  to  protect  our  manufactures.  In  regard  to  internal 
improvements,  it  does  not  follow,  that  they  will  always  be  con- 
structed whenever  they  will  afford  a  competent  dividend  upon  the 
capital  invested.  It  may  be  true  generally  that,  in  old  countries, 
where  there  is  a  great  accumulation  of  surplus  capital,  arid  a 
consequent  low  rate  of  interest,  they  will  be  made.  But,  in  a  new 
country,  the  condition  of  society  may  be  ripe  for  public  works  long 
before  there  is,  in  the  hands  of  individuals,  the  necessary  accumu- 
lation of  capital  to  effect  them  ;  and,  besides,  there  is  generally,  in 
such  a  country,  not  only  a  scarcity  of  capital,  but  such  a  multipli- 
city of  profitable  objects  presenting  themselves  as  to  distract  the 
judgment.  Further;  the  aggregate  benefit  resulting  to  the  whole 
society,  from  a  public  improvement,  may  be  such  as  to  amply 
justify  the  investment  of  capital  in  its  execution,  and  yet  that 
benefit  may  be  so  distributed  among  different  and  distant  persons, 
that  they  can  never  be  got  to  act  in  -concert.  The  turnpike  roads 
wanted  to  pass  the  Alleghany  mountains,  and  the  Delaware  and 
Chesapeake  canal,  are  objects  of  this  description.  Those  who  will 
be  most  benefited  by  these  improvements,  reside  at  a  considerable 
distance  from  the  sites  of  them  ;  many  of  those  persons  never  have 
seen  and  never  will  see  them.  How  is  it  possible  to  regulate  the 
contributions,  or  to  present  to  individuals  so  situated  a  sufficiently 
lively  picture  of  their  leal  interests,  to  get  them  to  make  exertions 


ON  INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENT,  319 

in  effectuating  the  object,  commensurate  with  their  respective  abili- 
ties ?  I  think  it  very  possible  that  the  capitalist,  who  should  invest 
his  money  in  one  of  these  objects,  might  not  be  reimbursed  three 
per  centum  annually  upon  it;  and  yet  society,  in  various  forms, 
might  actually  reap  fifteen  or  twenty  per  centum.  The  benefit 
resulting  from  a  turnpike  road,  made  by  private  associations,  is 
divided  between  the  capitalist  who  receives  his  tolls,  the  lands 
through  which  it  passes,  and  which  are  augmented  in  their  value, 
and  the  commodities  whose  value  is  enhanced  by  the  diminished 
expense  of  transportation.  A  combination,  upon  any  terms,  much 
less  a  just  combination,  of  ail  those  interests,  to  effect  the  improve- 
ment, is  impracticable.  And  if  you  await  the  arrival  of  the  period 
when  the  tolls  alone  can  produce  a  competent  dividend,  it  is  evident 
that  you  will  have  to  suspend  its  execution  long  after  the  general 
interests  of  society  would  have  authorized  it. 

Again,  improvements,  made  by  private  associations,  are  gene- 
rally made  by  local  capital.  But  ages  must  elapse  before  there  will 
be  concentrated  in  certain  places,  where  the  interests  of  the  whole 
community  may  call  for  improvements,  sufficient  capital  to  make 
them.  The  place  of  the  improvement,  too,  is  not  always  the  most 
interested  in  its  accomplishment.  Other  parts  of  the  union  —  the 
whole  line  of  the  seaboard  —  are  quite  as  much,  if  not  more  inter- 
ested, in  the  Delaware  and  Chesapeake  canal,  as  the  small  tract 
of  country  through  which  it  is  proposed  to  pass.  The  same 
observation  will  apply  to  turnpike  roads  passing  through  the 
Alleghany  mountain.  Sometimes  the  interest  of  the  place  of  the 
improvement  is  adverse  to  the  improvement  and  to  the  general 
interest.  I  would  cite  Louisville,  at  the  rapids  of  the  Ohio,  as  an 
example,  whose  interest  will  probably  be  more  promoted  by  the 
continuance,  than  the  removal  of  ihe  obstruction.  Of  all  the  modes 
in  which  a  government  can  employ  its  surplus  revenue,  none  is 
more  permanently  beneficial  than  that  of  internal  improvement. 
Fixed  to  the  soil,  it  becomes  a  durable  part  of  the  land  itself, 
diffusing  comfort,  and  activity,  and  animation,  on  all  sides.  The 
first  direct  effect  is  on  the  agricultural  community,  into  whose 
pockets  comes  the  difference  in  the  expense  of  transportation 
between  good  and  bad  ways.  Thus,  if  the  price  of  transporting  a 
barrel  of  flour  by  the  erection  of  the  Cumberland  turnpike  should 
be  lessened  two  dollars,  the  producer  of  the  article  would  receive 
that  two  dollars  more  now  than  formerly. 

But,  putting  aside  all  pecuniary  considerations,  there  may  be 
political  motives  sufficiently  powerful  alone  to  justify  certain  internal 
improvements.  Does  not  our  country  present  such  ?  How  are 
they  to  be  effected,  if  things  are  left  to  themselves  ?  I  will  not 
press  the  subject  further.  I  am  but  too  sensible  how  much  I  have 
abused  the  patience  of  the  committee  by  trespassing  so  long  upon 
its  attention.     The  magnitude  of  the  question,  and  the  deep  interest 


320  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

I  feel  in  its  rightful  decision,  must  be  my  apology.  We  are  now 
making  the  last  effort  to  establish  our  power,  and  I  call  on  the 
friends  of  congress,  of  this  house,  or  the  true  friends  of  state  rights, 
(not  charging  others  with  intending  to  oppose  them,)  to  rally  round 
the  constitution,  and  to  support  by  their  votes,  on  this  occasion, 
the  legitimate  powers  of  the  legislature.  If  we  do  nothing  this 
session  but  pass  an  abstract  resolution  on  the  subject,  I  shall,  under 
all  circumstances,  consider  it  a  triumph  for  the  best  interests  of  the 
country,  of  which  posterity  will,  if  we  do  not,  reap  the  benefit.  I 
trust,  that  by  the  decision  which  shall  be  given,  we  shall  assert, 
uphold,  and  maintain,  the  authority  of  congress,  notwithstanding 
all  that  has  been  or  may  be  said  against  it. 

[The  resolution  of  giving  the  power  of  congress,  first,  to  appropriate  money  to  the 
construction  of  military  and  post  roads,  make  canals,  and  improve  water-courses,  was 
adopted:  yeas  ninety;  nays  seventy-five:  secondly,  to  construct  such  roads:  lost: 
yeas  eighty-two  ;  nays  eighty-four :  thirdly,  to  construct  roads  and  canals  for  com- 
mercial purposes:  lost:  yeas  seventy-one;  nays  ninety-five:  fourthly,  to  construct 
canals  for  military  purposes  :  lost :  eighty-one  to  eighty-three.] 


ON  THE  EMANCIPATION  OF  SOUTH  AMERICA. 

IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  MARCH  24,  1818. 


[The  following  is  considered  one  of  the  most  important  speeches  made  by  Mr. 
Clay,  during  his  congressional  career.  It  is  here  that  he  appears  as  an  advocate  for 
the  cause  of  human  liberty  —  'when,  striving  to  usher  the  southern  republics  into 
the  great  family  of  nations,  he  stood  up  before  his  countrymen  like  an  apostle,  com- 
missioned by  Freedom,  to  welcome  her  new  votaries  to  the  reward  of  their  labors 
and  their  sacrifices.  The  glory  which  he  won  by  the  discharge  of  that  commission,  is 
as  imperishable  as  liberty  itself.  It  will  rise  freshly  above  his  grave,  and  grow  greener 
with  the  lapse  of  centuries.'  At  the  sessions  of  congress,  in  1816  and  1S17,  he  had 
made  allusions  to  the  situation  of  the  South  American  patriots,  and  expressed  his 
warm  sympathies  in  their  behalf,  as  may  be  observed  in  preceding  speeches,  and  he 
now  proposes  to  recognize  the  independence  of  the  United  Provinces  of  La  Plata  or 
Buenos  Ayres,  as  the  first  established  republic  of  South  America. 

In  the  summer  of  1817,  the  president  of  the  United  States  (Mr.  Monroe)  appointed 
Messrs.  Rodney,  Graham,  and  Bland,  commissioners  to  proceed  to  South  America, 
for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  condition  of  the  country,  the  character  of  the 
people,  and  their  ability  for  self-government.  At  the  present  session  of  congress, 
(March  twenty-fourth,  1818,)  the  house  being  in  committee  of  the  whole,  on  the  bill 
making  appropriations  for  the  support  of  government,  which  "BTtl  proposed  thirty 
thousand  dollars,  for  compensation  to  the  commissioners  above  mentioned;  this  item 
being  passed  by  for  the  time,  Mr.  Clay  (speaker)  moved  to  amend  the  bill,  by  adding, 
and  'for  one  yeaj^s  salary  and  an  outfit  to  a  minister  to  the  United  Provinces  of  Rio  de 
La  Plata,  the  satiny  to  commence,  and  the  outfit  to  be  paid,  whenever  the  president 
shall  deem  it  expedient  to  send  a  minister  to  the  said  United  Provinces,  a  sum  not 
exceeding  eighteen  thousand  dollars.' 

This  motion  he  followed  up  by  the  subjoined  argument,  and  on  this  occasion  he 
differed  with  many  of  his  political  and  personal  friends  in  congress,  as  well  as  the 

President  and  heads  of  departments.    The  house  rejected  his  proposition  at  this  time, 
ut  in  1820,  by  recognizing  its  principles,  and  the  independence  of  South  America, 
congress  acknowledged  his  triumph.] 


I  Ristf  under  feelings  of  deeper  regret  than  I  have  ever  experi- 
enced on  any  former  occasion,  inspired,  principally,  by  the  painful 
consideration,  that  I  find  myself,  on  the  proposition  which  I  meant 
to  submit,  difFering  from  many  highly  esteemed  friends,  in  and  out 
of  this  house,  for  whose  judgment  I  entertained  the  greatest  respect. 
A  knowledge  of  this  circumstance  has  induced  me  to  pause ;  to 
subject  my  own  convictions  to  the  severest  scrutiny,  and  to  revolve 
the  question  over  and  over  again.  But  all  my  reflections  have 
conducted  me  to  the  same  clear  result ;  and,  much  as  I  value  those 
friends,  great  as  my  deference  is  for  their  opinions,  I  cannot 
hesitate,  when  reduced  to  the  distressing  alternative  of  conforming 
vol.  i.  41 


322  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

my  judgment  to  theirs,  or  pursuing  the  deliberate  and  mature 
dictates  of  my  own  mind.  I  enjoy  some  consolation,  for  the  want 
of  their  cooperation,  from  the  persuasion  that,  if  I  err  on  this  occa- 
sion, I  err  on  the  side  of  the  liberty  and  happiness  of  a  large  portion 
of  the  human  family.  Another,  and,  if  possible,  indeed  a  greater, 
source  of  the  regret  to  which  I  refer,  is  the  utter  incompetency, 
which  I  unfeignedly  feel,  to  do  any  thing  like  adequate  justice  to 
the  great  cause  of  American  independence  and  freedom,  whose 
interests  I  wish  to  promote  by  my  humble  exertions  in  this  instance. 
1  Exhausted  and  worn  down  as  I  am,  by  the  fatigue,  confinement, 
and  incessant  application  incident  to  the  arduous  duties  of  the 
honorable  stalion  I  hold,  during  a  four  months'  session,  I  shall  need 
all  that  kind  indulgence  which  has  been  so  often  extended  to  me 
by  the  house. 

I  beg,  in  the  first  place,  to  correct  misconceptions,  if  any  exist, 
in  regard  to  my  opinions.  I  am  averse  to  war  with  Spain,  or 
with  any  power.  I  would  give  no  just  cause  of  war  to  any  power 
—  not  to  Spain  herself.  I  have  seen  enough  of  war,  and  of  its 
calamities,  even  when  successful.  No  country  upon  earth  has 
more  interest  than  this  in  cultivating  peace  and  avoiding  war,  as 
long  as  it  is  possible  honorably  to  avoid  it.  Gaining  additional 
strength  every  day ;  our  numbers  doubling  in  periods  of  twenty- 
iive  years ;  with  an  income  outstripping  all  our  estimates,  and  so 
great,  as,  after  a  war  in  some  respects  disastrous,  to  furnish  results 
which  carry  astonishment,  if  not  dismay,  into  the  bosom  of  states 
jealous  of  our  rising  importance;  we  have  every  motive  for  ihe 
love  of  peace,  I  cannot,  however,  approve,  in  all  respects,  of  the 
manner  in  which  our  negotiations  with  kSpain  have  been  conducted. 
If  ever  a  favorable  time  existed  for  the  demand,  on  the  part  of  an 
injured  nation,  of  indemnity  for  past  wrongs  from  the  aggressor, 
such  is  the  present  time.  Impoverished  and  exhausted  at  home, 
by  the  wars  which  have  desolated  the  peninsula;  with  a  foreign 
war,  calling  for  infinitely  more  resources,  in  men  and  money,  than 
she  can  possibly  command,  this  is  the  auspicious  period  for  insist- 
ing upon  justice  at  her  hands,  in  a  firm  and  decided  tone.  Time 
is  precisely  what  Spain  now  most  wants.  Yet  what  are  we  told 
by  the  president,  in  his  message  at  the  commencement  of  congress  ? 
That  Spain  had  procrastinated,  and  we  acquiesced  in  her  procras- 
tination. And  the  secretary  of  state,  in  a  late  communication  with 
Mr.  Onis,  after  ably  vindicating  all  our  rights,  1ells  the  Spanish 
minister,  with  a  good  deal  of  sang'  froid,  that  we  had  patiently 
waited  thirteen  years  for  a  redress  of  our  injuries,  and  that  it 
required  no  great  effort  to  wait  longer!  I  would  have  abstained 
from  thus  exposing  our  intentions.  Avoiding  the  use  of  the  lan- 
guage of  menace,  I  would  have  required,  in  temperate  and  decided 
terms,  indemnity  for  all  our  wrongs;  for  the  spoliations  of  our 
commerce;   for   the   interruption  of  the   right  of  depot   at   New 


Orleans,  guarantied  by  treaty ;  for  the  insults  repeatedly  offered  to 
our  flag ;  for  the  Indian  hostilities,  which  she  was  bound  to  prevent; 
for  belligerent  use  made  of  her  ports  and  territories,  by  our  enemy, 
during  the  late  war;  and  the  instantaneous  liberation  of  the  free 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  now  imprisoned  in  her  jails.  Con- 
temporaneous with  that  demand,  without  waiting  for  her  final 
answer,  and  with  a  view  to  the  favorable  operation  on  her  councils 
in  regard  to  our  own  peculiar  interests,  as  well  as  in  justice  to  the 
cause  itself,  I  would  recognize  any  established  government  in 
Spanish  America.  I  would  have  left  Spain  to  draw  her  own 
inferences  from  these  proceedings,  as  to  the  ultimate  step  which 
this  country  might  adopt,  if  she  longer  withheld  justice  from  us. 
And  if  she  persevered  in  her  iniquity,  after  we  have  conducted  the 
negotiation  in  the  manner  I  have  endeavored  to  describe,  I  would 
then  take  up  and  decide  the  solemn  question  of  peace  or  war,  with 
the  advantage  of  all  the  light  shed  upon  it,  by  subsequent  events, 
and  the  probable  conduct  of  Europe. 

Spain  has  undoubtedly  given  us  abundant  and  just  cause  of 
v  war.  But  it  is  not  every  cause  of  war  that  should  lead  to  war. 
f^yWwt  is  one  of  those  dreadful  scourges,  that  so  shakes  the  founda- 
tions of  society,  overturns  or  changes  the  character  of  governments, 
interrupts  or  destroys  the  pursuits  of  private  happiness,  brings,  in 
short,  misery  and  wretchedness  in  so  many  forms,  and  at  last  is,  in 
its  issue,  so  doubtful  and  hazardous,  that  nothing  but  dire  neces- 
sity can  justify  an  appeal  to  arms,  llf  we  are  to  have  war  with 
Spain,  I  have,  however,  no  hesitation  in  saying,  that  no  mode  of 
bringing  it  about  could  be  less  fortunate  than  that  of  seizing,  at  this 
time,  upon  her  adjoining  province.  There  was  a  time,  under 
certain  circumstances,  when  we  might  have  occupied  East  Florida 
with  safety ;  had  we  then  taken  it,  our  posture  in  the  negotiation 
with  Spain  would  have  been  totally  different  from  what  it  is.  But 
we  have  permitted  that  time,  not  with  my  consent,  to  pass  by 
unimproved.  If  we  were  now  to  seize  upon  Florida,  after  a  great 
change  in  those  circumstances,  and  after  declaring  our  intention  to 
acquiesce  in  the  procrastination  desired  by  Spain,  in  what  light 
should  we  be  viewed  by  foreign  powers,  particularly  Great  Britain? 
"We  have  already  been  accused  of  inordinate  ambition,  and  of 
seeking  to  aggrandize  ourselves  by  an  extension,  on  all  sides,  of 
our  limits.  Should  we  not,  by  such  an  act  of  violence,  give  color 
to  the  accusation  ?  No,  Mr.  Chairman  ;  if  we  are  to  be  involved 
in  a  war  with  Spain,  let  us  have  the  credit  of  disinterestedness. 
Let  us  put  her  yet  more  in  the  wrong.  Let  us  command  the 
respect  which  is  never  withheld  from  those  who  act  a  noble  and 
generous  part.  I  hope  to  communicate  to  the  committee  the  con- 
viction which  I  so  strongly  feel,  that  the  adoption  of  the  amend- 
ment which  I  intend  to  propose,  would  not  hazard,  in  the  slightest 
degree,  the   peace  of  the   country.     But  if  that  peace  is  to  be 


324 


SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY 


endangered,  I  would  infinitely  rather  it  should  be  for  our  exerting 
the  right  appertaining  to  every  state,  of  acknowledging  the  inde- 
pendence of  another  state,  than  for  the  seizure  of  a  province,  which, 
sooner  or  later,  we  must  certainly  acquire. 

In  contemplating  the  great  struggle  in  which  Spanish  America 
is  now  engaged,  our  attention  is  first  fixed  by  the  immensity  and 
character  of  the  country  which  Spain  seeks  again  to  subjugate. 
Stretching  on  the  Pacific  ocean  from  about  the  fortieth  degree  of 
north  latitude  to  about  the  fifty-fifth  degree  of  south  latitude,  and 
extending  from  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  del  Norte,  (exclusive  of 
East  Florida,)  around  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  along  the  South 
'Atlantic  to  near  Cape  Horn  ;  it  is  about  five  thousand  miles  in 
length,  and  in  some  places  near  three  thousand  in  breadth.  Within 
this  vast  region  we  behold  the  most  sublime  and  interesting  objects 
of  creation  ;  the  loftiest  mountains,  the  most  majestic  rivers  in  the 
world ;  the  richest  mines  of  the  precious  metals,  and  the  choicest 
productions  of  the  earth.  We  behold  there  a  spectacle  still  more 
^interesting  and  sublime  —  the  glorious  spectacle  of  eighteen 
\_  millions  nf  people,  struggling  to" burst  their  chainsand  to_be  free. 
When  we  take  a  little  nearer  aiiot^rriore^etailcd^Ylew,  we  perceive 
that  nature  has,  as  it  were,  ordained  that  this  people  and  this 
country  shall  ultimately  constitute  several  different  nations. 
Leaving  the  United  States  on  the  north,  we  come  to  New  Spain, 
or  the  vice-royalty  of  Mexico  on  the  south ;  passing  by  Guatemala, 
we  reach  the  vice-royalty  of  New  Grenada,  the  late  captain- 
generalship  of  Venezuela,  and  Guiana,  lying  on  the  east  side  of 
the  Andes.  Stepping  over  the  Brazils,  we  arrive  at  the  united 
provinces  of  La  Plata,  and  crossing  the  Andes,  we  find  Chili  on 
their  west  side,  and,  further  north,  the  vice-royalty  of  Lima,  or 
Peru.  Each  of  these  several  parts  is  sufficient  in  itself,  in  point 
of  limits,  to  constitute  a  powerful  state ;  and,  in  point  of  popu- 
lation, that  which  has  the  smallest,  contains  enough  to  make  it 
respectable.  Throughout  all  the  extent  of  that  great  portion  of  the 
world,  which  I  have  attempted  thus  hastily  to  describe,  the  spirit 
of  revolt  against  the  dominion  of  Spain  has  manifested  itself.  The 
revolution  has  been  attended  with  various  degrees  of  success  in 
the  several  parts  of  Spanish  America.  In  some  it  has  been 
already  crowned,  as  I  shall  endeavor  to  show,  with  complete 
success,  and  in  all  I  am  persuaded  that  independence  has  struck 
such  deep  root,  that  the  power  of  Spain  can  never  eradicate  it. 
What  are  the  causes  of  this  great  movement  ? 

Three  hundred  years  ago,  upon  the  ruins  of  the  thrones  of 
Montezuma  and  the  incas  of  Peru,  Spain  erected  ihe  most  stupen- 
dous system  of  colonial  despotism  that  the  world  has  ever  seen  — 
the  most  vigorous,  the  most  exclusive.  The  great  principle  and 
object  of  this  system,  has  been,  to  render  one  of  the  largest  portions 
of  the  world   exclusively   subservient,  in  all  its  faculties,  to  the 


EMANCIPATION     OF     SOUTH     AMERICA.  325 

interests  of  an  inconsiderable  spot  in  Europe.  To  effectuate  this 
aim  of  her  policy,  she  locked  up  Spanish  America  from  all  the 
rest  of  the  world,  and  prohibited,  under  the  severest  penalties,  any 
foreigner  from  entering  any  part  of  it.  To  keep  the  natives  them- 
selves ignorant  of  each  other,  and  of  the  strength  and  resources  of 
the  several  parts  of  her  American  possessions,  she  next  prohibited 
the  inhabitants  of  one  vice-royalty  or  government  from  visiting 
those  of  another;  so  that  the  inhabitants  of  Mexico,  for  example, 
were  not  allowed  to  enter  the  vice-royalty  of  New  Granada.  The 
agriculture  of  those  vast  regions  was  so  regulated  and  restrained, 
as  to  prevent  all  collision  with  the  agriculture  of  the  peninsula. 
Where  nature,  by  the  character  and  composition  of  the  soil,  had 
commanded,  the  abominable  system  of  Spain  has  forbidden,  the 
/growth  of  certain  articles.  Thus  the  olive  and  the  vine,  to  which 
\§panish  America  is  so  well  adapted,  are  prohibited,  wherever  their 
culture  can  interfere  with  the  olive  and  the  vine  of  the  peninsula. 
The  commerce  of  the  country,  in  the  direction  and  objects  of  the 
exports  and  imports,  is  also  subjected  to  the  narrow  and  selfish 
views  of  Spain,  and  fettered  by  the  odious  spirit  of  monopoly, 
existing  in  Cadiz.  She  has  sought,  by  scattering  discord  among 
the  several  castes  of  her  American  population,  and  by  a  debasing 
course  of  education,  to  perpetuate  her  oppression.  Whatever 
concerns  public  law,  or  the  science  of  government,  all  writers  upon 
political  economy,  or  that  tend  to  give  vigor,  and  freedom,  and 
expansion,  to  the  intellect,  are  prohibited.  Gentlemen  would  be 
astonished  by  the  long  list  of  distinguished  authors,  whom  she 
proscribes,  to  be  found  in  Depon's  and  other  works.  A  main 
feature  in  her  policy,  is  that  which  constantly  elevates  the  European 
and  depresses  the  American  character.  Out  of  upwards  of  seven 
hundred  and  fifty  viceroys  and  captains  general,  whom  she  has 
appointed  since  the  conquest  of  America,  about  eighteen  only  have 
been  from  the  body  of  the  American  population.  On  all  occasions, 
she  seeks  to  raise  and  promote  her  European  subjects,  and  to 
degrade  and  humiliate  the  Creoles.  Wherever  in  America  her 
sway  extends,  every  thing  seems  to  pure  and  wither  beneath  its 
baneful  influence.  The  richest  regions  of  the  earth :  man,  his 
happiness  and  his  education,  all  the  fine  faculties  of  his  soul, 
are  regulated,  and  modified,  and  moulded,  to  suit  the  execrable 
purposes  of  an  inexorable  despotism. 

Such  is  a  brief  and  imperfect  picture  of  the  state  of  things  in 
Spanish  America,  in  1808,  when  the  famous  transactions  of 
Bayonne  occurred.  The  king  of  Spain  and  the  Indies  (for  Span- 
ish America  has  always  constituted  an  integral  part  of  the  Spanish 
empire)  abdicated  his  throne  and  became  a  voluntary  captive. 
Even  at  this  day,  one  does  not  know  whether  he  should  most 
condemn  the  baseness  and  perfidy  of  the  one  party,  or  despise  the 
meanness   and   imbecility   of    the   other.      If    the   obligation   of 


326  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

obedience  and  allegiance  existed  on  the  part,  of  the  colonies  to  the 
king  of  Spain,  it  was  founded  on  the  duty  of  projection  which  he 
owed  them.  By  disqualifying  himself  for  the  performance  of  this 
duty,  they  became  released  from  that  obligalion.  The  monarchy 
was  dissolved ;  and  each  integral  part  had  a  right  to  seek  its  own 
happiness,  by  the  institution  of  any  new  government  adapted  to 
its  wants.  Joseph  Bonaparte,  the  successor  de  facto  of  Ferdinand, 
recognized  this  right  on  the  part  of  the  colonies,  and  recommended 
them  to  establish  their  independence.  Thus,  upon  the  ground  of 
strict  right;  upon  the  footing  of  a  mere  legal  question,  governed  by 
forensic  rules,  the  colonies,  being  absolved  by  the  acts  of  the  parent 
country  from  the  duty  of  subjection  to  it,  had  an  indisputable 
right  to  set  up  for  themselves.  But  I  take  a  broader  and  a  bolder 
position.  I  maintain,  that  an  oppressed  people  are  authorized, 
whenever  they  can,  to  rise  and  break  their  fetters.  This  was  the 
great  principle  of  the  English  revolution.  It  was  the  great  principle 
of  our  own.  Vattel,  if  authority  were  wTanting,  expressly  supports 
this  right.  We  must  pass  sentence  of  condemnation  upon  the 
founders  of  our  liberty,  say  that  they  were  rebels,  traitors,  and 
that  we  are  at  this  moment  legislating  without  competent  powers, 
before  we  can  condemn  the  cause  of  Spanish  America.  Our 
revolution  was  mainly  directed  against  the  mere  theory  of  tyranny. 
We  had  suffered  comparatively  but  little ;  we  had,  in  some  respects, 
been  kindly  treated ;  but  our  intrepid  and  intelligent  fathers  saw, 
in  the  usurpation  of  the  power  to  levy  an  inconsiderable  tax,  the 
long  train  of  oppressive  acts  that  were  to  follow.  They  rose;  they 
breasted  the  storm ;  they  achieved  our  freedom.  Spanish  America 
for  centuries  has  been  doomed  to  the  practical  effects  of  an  odious 
tyranny.     If  we  were  justified,  she  is  more  lhan  justified. 

I  am  no  propagandist.  I  would  not  seek  to  force  upon  other 
nations  our  principles  and  our  liberty,  if  they  do  not  want  them.  I 
would  not  disturb  the  repose  even  of  a  detestable  despotism.  But, 
if  an  abused  and  oppressed  people  will  their  freedom  ;  if  they  seek 
to  establish  it ;  if,  in  truth,  they  have  established  it;  we  have  a  right, 
as  a  sovereign  power,  to  notice  the  fact,  and  to  act  as  circumstances 
and  our  interest  require.  I  will  say,  in  the  language  of  the 
venerated  father  of  my  country,  'born  in  a  land  of  liberty,  my 
anxious  recollections,  my  sympathetic  feelings,  and  my  best  wishes, 
are  irresistibly  excited,  whensoever,  in  any  country,  I  see  an 
oppressed  nation  unfurl  the  banners  of  freedom.'  Whenever  I 
think  of  Spanish  America,  the  image  irresistibly  forces  itself  upon 
my  mind,  of  an  elder  brother,  whose  education  has  been  neglected, 
whose  person  has  been  abused  and  maltreated,  and  who  has  been 
disinherited  by  ihe  unkindness  of  an  unnatural  parent.  And,  when 
I  contemplate  the  glorious  struggle  which  that  country  is  now 
making,  I  think  I  behold  that  brother  rising,  by  the  power  and 
energy  of  his  fine  native  genius,  to  the  manly  rank  which  nature, 
and  nature's  God,  intended  for  him. 


EMANCIPATION     OF     SOUTH     AMERICA.  327 

If  Spanish  America  be  entitled  to  success  from  the  justness  of 
her  cause,  we  have  no  less  reason  to  wish  that  success,  from  the 
horrible  character  which  the  royal  arms  have  given  to  the  war. 
More  atrocities,  than  those  which  have  been  perpetrated  during  its 
existence,  are  not  to  be  found,  even  in  the  annals  of  Spain  herself. 
And  history,  reserving  some  of  her  blackest  pages  for  the  name  of 
Morillo,  is  prepared  to  place  him  by  the  side  of  his  great  prototype, 
the  infamous  desolater  of  the  Netherlands.  He  who  has  looked 
into  the  history  of  the  conduct  of  this  war,  is  constantly  shocked 
at  the  revolting  scenes  which  it  portrays  ;  at  the  refusal,  on  the  part 
of  the  commanders  of  the  royal  forces,  to  treat,  on  any  terms,  with 
the  other  side ;  at  the  denial  of  quarters  ;  at  the  butchery,  in  cold 
blood,  of  prisoners;  at  the  violation  of  flags,  in  some  cases,  after 
being  received  with  religious  ceremonies  ;  at  the  instigation  of 
slaves  to  rise  against  their  owners  ;  and  at  acts  of  wanton  and 
useless  barbarity.  Neither  the  weakness  of  the  other  sex,  nor  the 
imbecility  of  old  age,  nor  the  innocence  of  infants,  nor  the  reve- 
rence due  to  the  sarcedotal  character,  can  stay  the  arm  of  royal 
vengeance.  On  this  subject,  I  beg  leave  to  trouble  the  committee, 
with  reading  a  few  passages  from  a  most  authentic  document,  the 
manifesto  of  the  congress  of  the  United  Provinces  of  Eio  del  la 
Plata,  published  in  October  lasl.  This  is  a  paper  of  the  highest 
authority;  it.  is  an  appeal  to  the  world  ;  it  asserts  facts  of  notoriety 
in  the  face  of  the  whole  world.  It  is  not  to  be  credited,  that  the 
congress  would  come  forward  with  a  statement  which  was  not  true, 
when  the  means,  if  it  were  false,  of  exposing  their  fabrications, 
must  be  so  abundant,  and  so  easy  to  command.  It  is  a  document, 
in  short,  that  stands  upon  the  same  footing  of  authority  with  our 
own  papers,  promulgated  during  the  revolution  by  our  congress. 
I  will  add,  that  many  of  the  facts  which  it  affirms,  are  corroborated 
by  most  respectable  historical  testimony,  which  is  in  my  own 
possession. 

1  Memory  shudders  at  the  recital  of  the  horrors  that  were  committed  by  Goyeneche 
in  Cochabamba.  Would  to  tieaven  it  were  possible  to  blot  from  remembrance  the 
name  of  that  ungrateful  and  blood-thirsty  American;  who,  on  the  day  of  his  entry, 
ordered  the  virtuous  governor  and  intendant,  Antesana,  to  be  shot;  who,  beholding 
from  the  balcony  of  his  house  that  infamous  murder,  cried  out  with  a  ferocious  voice 
to  the  soldiers,  that  they  must  not  fire  at  the  head,  because  he  wanted  it  to  be  affixed 
to  a  pole  :  and  who,  after  the  head  was  taken  off,  ordered  the  cold  corpse  to  be  dragged 
through  the  streets;  and,  by  a  barbarous  decree,  placed  the  lives  and  fortunes  of  the 
citizens  at  the  mercy  of  his  unbridled  soldiery,  leaving  them  to  exercise  their  licen- 
tious and  brutal  sway  during  several  days!  But  those  blind  and  cruelly  capricious 
men  (the  Spaniards)  rejected  the  mediation  of  England,  and  despatched  rigorous 
orders  to  all  the  generals,  to  aggravate  the  war,  and  to  punish  us  with  more  severity. 
The  scaffolds  were  every  where  multiplied,  and  invention  was  racked  to  devise  means 
for  spreading  murder,  distress,  and  consternation. 

'  Thenceforth  they  made  all  possible  efforts  to  spread  division  amongst  us.  to  incite 
us  to  mutual  extermination  ;  they  have  slandered  us  with  the  most  atrocious  calum- 
nies; accusing  us  of  plotting  the  destruction  of  our  holy  religion,  the  abolition  of  all 
morality,  and  of  introducing  licentiousness  of  manners.     They  wage  a  religious  war 


328  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

against  us,  contriving  a  thousand  artifices  to  disturb  and  alarm  the  consciences  of  the 
people,  making  the  Spanish  bishops  issue  decrees  of  ecclesiastical  condemnation, 
public  excommunications,  and  disseminating,  through  the  medium  of  some  ignorant 
confessor,  fanatical  doctrines  in  the  tribunal  of  penitence.  By  means  of  these  religious 
discords,  they  have  divided  families  against  themselves  ;  they  have  caused  disaffection 
between  parents  and  children  ;  they  have  dissolved  the  tender  ties  which  unite  man 
and  wife;  they  have  spread  rancor  and  implacable  hatred  between  brothers  most 
endeared,  and  they  have  presumed  to  throw  all  nature  into  discord. 

'They  have  adopted  the  system  of  murdering  men  indiscriminately,  to  diminish 
our  numbers ;  and,  on  their  entry  into  towns,  they  have  swept  off  all,  even  the  market 
people,  leading  them  to  the  open  squares,  and  there  shooting  them  one  by  one.  The 
cities  of  Chuquisacaand  Cochabamba  have  more  than  once  been  the  theatres  of  these 
horrid  slaughters. 

'  They  have  intermixed  with  their  troops  soldiers  of  ours,  whom  they  had  taken 
prisoners,  carrying  away  the  officers  in  chains,  to  garrisons  where  it  is  impossible  to 
preserve  health  for  a  year;  they  have  left  others  to  die  in  their  prisons,  of  hunger  and 
misery,  and  others  they  have  forced  to  hard  labor  on  the  public  works.  They  have 
exultingly  put  to  death  our  bearers  of  flags  of  truce,  and  have  been  guilty  of  the 
blackest  atrocities  to  our  chiefs,  after  they  had  surrendered,  as  well  as  to  other 
principal  characters,  in  disregard  of  the  humanity  with  which  we  treated  prisoners ; 
as  a  proof  of  it,  witness  the  deputy  Mutes  of  PUosi,  the  captain-general  Pumacagua, 
general  Augulo,  and  his  brother  commandant  Munecas,  and  other  partisan  chiefs, 
who  were  shot  in  cold  blood  after  having  been  prisoners  for  several  days. 

1  They  took  a  brutal  pleasure  in  cropping  the  ears  of  the  natives  of  the  town  of 
Ville-Grande,  and  sending  a  basket  full  of  them  as  presents  to  the  head-quarters. 
They  afterwards  burnt  that  town,  and  set  fire  to  thirty  other  populous  towns  of  Peru, 
and,  worse  than  the  worst  of  savages,  shutting  the  inhabitants  up  in  the  houses  before 
setting  them  on  fire,  that  they  might  be  burnt  alive. 

.  •  They  have  not  only  been  cruel  and  unsparing  in  their  mode  of  murder,  but  they 
have  been  void  of  all  morality  and  public  decency,  causing  aged  ecclesiastics  and 
women  to  be  lashed  to  a  gun,  and  publicly  flogged,  with  the  abomination  of  first 
having  them  stripped,  and  their  nakedness  exposed  to  shame,  in  the  presence  of  their 
troops. 

'They  established  an  inquisitorial  system  in  all  these  punishments;  they  have 
seized  on  peaceable  inhabitants,  and  transported  ihem  across  the  sea,  to  be  judged  for 
suspected  crimes,  and  they  have  put  a  great  number  of  citizens  to  death  every  where, 
without  accusation  or  the  form  of  a  trial. 

'  They  have  invented  a  crime  of  unexampled  horror,  in  poisoning  our  water  and 
provisions,  when  they  were  conquered  by  general  Pineto  at  Lapaz;  and,  in  return  for 
the  kindness  with  which  we  treated  them,  after  they  had  surrendered  at  discretion, 
they  had  the  barbarity  to  blow  up  the  head-quarters,  under  which  they  had  con- 
structed a  mine,  and  prepared  a  train,  beforehand. 

'  He  has  branded  us  with  the  stigma  of  rebels,  the  moment  he  returned  to  Madrid  ; 
he  refused  to  listen  to  our  complaints,  or  to  receive  our  supplications  :  and,  as  an  act 
of  extreme  favor,  he  offered  us  pardon.  He  confirmed  the  viceroys,  governors,  and 
generals  whom  he  found  actually  glutted  with  carnage.  He  declared  us  guilty  of  a 
high  misdemeanor,  for  having  dared  to  frame  a  constitution  for  our  own  government, 
free  from  the  control  of  a  deified,  absolute,  and  tyrannical  power,  under  which  we  had 
groaned  three  centuries  ;  a  measure  that  could  be  offensive  only  to  a  prince,  an  enemy 
to  justice  and  beneficence,  and  consequently  unworthy  to  rule  over  us. 

'  He  then  undertook,  with  the  aid  of  his  ministers,  to  equip  large  military  arma- 
ments, to  be  directed  against  us.  He  caused  numerous  armies  to  be  sent  out,  to 
consummate  the  work  of  devastation,  fire,  and  plunder. 

1  He  has  sent  his  generals,  with  certain  decrees  of  pardon,  which  they  publish  to 
deceive  the  ignorant,  and  induce  them  to  facilitate  their  entrance  into  towns,  whilst 
at  the  same  time  he  has  given  them  other  secret  instructions,  authorizing  them,  as 
soon  as  they  could  get  possession  of  a  place,  to  hang,  burn,  confiscate,  and  sack;  to 
encourage  private  assassinations,  and  to  commit  every  species  of  injury  in  their 
power,  against  the  deluded  beings  who  had  confided  in  his  pretended  pardon.  It  is 
in  the  name  of  Ferdinand  of  Bourbon,  that  the  heads  of  patriot  officers,  prisoners, 
are  fixed  up  in  the  highways,  that  they  beat  and  stoned  to  death  a  commandant  of  light 
tro  >ps.  and  that,  after  having  killed  colonel  Camugo,  in  the  same  manner,  by  the 
hands  of  the  indecent  Centeno,  they  cut  off  his  head,  and  sent  it  as  a  present  to  general 
Pazuela,  telling  him  it  was  a  miracle  of  the  virgin  of  the  Carmelites.' 


EMANCIPATION     OF     SOUTH     AMERICA.  329 

In  the  establishment  of  the  independence  of  Spanish  America, 
the  United  States  have  the  deepest  inierest.  I  have  no  hesitation 
in  asserting  my  firm  belief,  that  there  is  no  question  in  the  foreign 
policy  of  this  country,  which  has  ever  arisen,  or  which  I  can 
conceive  as  ever  occurring,  in  the  decision  of  which  we  have  had 
or  can  have  so  much  at  stake.  This  interest  concerns  our  politics, 
our  commerce,  our  navigation.  There  cannot  be  a  doubt  that 
Spanish  America,  once  independent,  whatever  may  be  the  form  of 
the  governments  established  in  its  several  parts,  these  governments 
will  be  animated  by  an  American  feeling,  and  guided  by  an 
American  policy.  They  will  obey  the  laws  of  the  system  of  the 
new  world,  of  which  they  will  compose  a  part,  in  contradistinc- 
tion to  that  of  Europe.  Without  the  influence  of  that  vortex  in 
Europe,  the  balance  of  power  between  its  several  parts,  the  preserva- 
tion of  which  has  so  often  drenched  Europe  in  blood,  America  is 
sufficiently  remote  to  contemplate  the  new  wars  which  are  to  afflict 
that  quarter  of  the  globe,  as  a  calm  if  not  a  cold  and  indifferent 
spectator.  In  relation  to  those  wars,  the  several  parts  of  America 
will  generally  stand  neutral.  And  as,  during  the  period  when  they 
rage,  it  will  be  important  that  a  liberal  system  of  neutrality  should 
be  adopted  and  observed,  all  America  will  be  interested  in  main- 
taining and  enforcing  such  a  system.  The  independence  of  Spanish 
America,  then,  is  an  interest  of  primary  consideration.  Next  to 
that,  and  highly  important  in  itself,  is  the  consideration  of  the 
nature  of  their  governments.  That  is  a  question,  however,  for 
themselves.  They  will,  no  doubt,  adopt  those  kinds  of  govern- 
ments which  are  best  suited  to  their  condition,  best  calculated  for 
their  happiness.  Anxious  as  I  am  that  they  should  be  free 
governments,  we  have  no  right  to  prescribe  for  them.  They  are, 
and  ought  to  be,  the  sole  judges  for  themselves.  I  am  strongly 
inclined  to  believe  that  they  will  in  most,  if  not  all  parts  of  their 
country,  establish  free  governments.  We  are  iheir  great  example. 
Of  us  they  constantly  speak  as  of  brothers,  having  a  similar  origin. 
They  adopt  our  principles,  copy  our  institutions,  and,  in  many 
instances,  employ  the  very  language  and  sentiments  of  our  revolu- 
tionary papers. 

1  Having,  then,  been  thus  impelled  by  the  Spaniards  and  their  king,  we  have 
calculated  all  the  consequences,  and  have  constituted  ourselves  independent,  prepared 
to  exercise  the  right  of  nature  to  defend  ourselves  against  the  ravages  of  tyranny,  at 
the  risk  of  our  honor,  our  lives,  and  fortune.  We  have  sworn  to  the  only  King  we 
acknowledge,  the  supreme  judge  of  the  world,  that  we  will  not  abandon  the  cause  of 
justice  ;  that  we  will  not  suffer  the  country  which  he  has  given  us,  to  be  buried  in 
ruins,  and  inundated  with  blood,  by  the  hands  of  the  executioner,' &c. 

But  it  is  sometimes  said,  that  they  are  too  ignorant  and  too 

superstitious  to  admit  of  the  existence  of  free  government.     This 

charge  of  ignorance  is  often  urged  by  persons  themselves  actually 

ignorant  of  the  real  condition  of  that  people.     I  deny  the  alleged 

vol;  i*  42 


330 


SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 


fact  of  ignorance ;  I  deny  the  inference  from  that  fact,  if  it  were 
true,  that  they  want  capacity  for  free  government ;  and  I  refuse 
assent  to  the  further  conclusion,  if  the  fact  were  true,  and  the 
inference  just,  that  we  are  to  be  indifferent  to  their  fate.  All  the 
writers  of  the  most  established  authority,  Depons,  Humboldt,  and 
others,  concur  in  assigning  to  the  people  of  Spanish  America  great 
quickness,  genius,  and  particular  aptitude  for  the  acquisition  of  the 
exact  sciences,  and  others  which  they  have  been  allowed  to  culti- 
vate. In  astronomy,  geology,  mineralogy,  chemistry,  botany,  and 
so  forth,  they  are  allowed  to  make  distinguished  proficiency.  They 
justly  boast  of  their  Abzate,  Velasques,  and  Gama,  and  other 
illustrious  contributors  to  science.  They  have  nine  universities, 
and  in  the  city  of  Mexico,  it  is  affirmed  by  Humboldt,  that  there 
are  more  solid  scientific  establishments  than  in  any  city  even  of 
North  America.  I  would  refer  to  the  message  of  the  supreme 
director  of  La  Plata,  which  I  shall  hereafter  have  occasion  to  use 
for  another  purpose,  as  a  model  of  fine  composition  of  a  state 
paper,  challenging  a  comparison  with  any,  the  most  celebrated, 
that  ever  issued  from  the  pens  of  Jefferson  or  Madison.  Gentle- 
men will  egregiously  err,  if  they  form  their  opinions  of  the  present 
moral  condition  of  Spanish  America,  from  what  it  was  under  the 
debasing  system  of  Spain.  The  eight  years'  revolution  in  which 
it  has  been  engaged,  has  already  produced  a  powerful  effect. 
Education  has  been  attended  to,  and  genius  developed. 

1  As  soon  as  the  project  of  the  revolution  arose  on  the  shores  of  La  Plata,  genius 
and  talent  exhibited  their  influence;  the  capacity  of  the  people  became  manifest, and 
the  means  of  acquiring  knowledge  were  soon  made  the  favorite  pursuit  of  the  youth. 
As  far  as  the  wants  or  the  inevitable  interruption  of  affairs  has  allowed,  every  thing 
has  been  done  to  disseminate  useful  information.  The  liberty  of  the  press  has  indeed 
met  with  some  occasional  checks ;  but  in  Buenos  Ayres  alone,  as  many  periodical 
works  weekly  issue  from  the  press  as  in  Spain  and  Portugal  put  together.' 

The  fact  is  not  therefore  true,  that  the  imputed  ignorance  exists; 
but,  if  it  do,  I  repeat,  I  dispute  the  inference.  J(lt  is  the  doctrine  of 
thrones,  that  man  is  too  ignorant  to  govern  himself.  Their  parti- 
sans assert  his  incapacity,  in  reference  to  all  nations;  if  they  cannot 
command  universal  assent  to  the  proposition,  it  is  then  demanded 
as  to  particular  nations ;  and  our  pride  and  our  presumption  too 
often  make  converts  of  us.  I  contend,  that  it  is  to  arraign  the 
dispositions  of  Providence  himself,  to  suppose  that  he  has  created 
beings  incapable  of  governing  themselves,  and  to  be  trampled  on 
by  kings.  Self-government  is  the  natural  government  of  man,  and 
for  proof,  I  refer  to  the  aborigines  of  our  own  land.  Were  I  to 
speculate  in  hypotheses  unfavorable  to  human  liberty,  my  specula- 
tions should  be  founded  rather  upon  the  vices,  refinements,  or 
density  of  population.  Crowded  together  in  compact  masses,  even 
if  they  were  philosophers,  the  contagion  of  the  passions  is  com- 
municated and  caught,  and  the  effect  too  often,  I  admit,  is  the 


EMANCIPATION     OF     SOUTH     AMERICA.  331 

overthrow  of  liberty.  Dispersed  over  such  an  immense  space  as 
that  on  which  the  people  of  Spanish  America  are  spread,  their 
physical,  and  I  believe  also  their  moral  condition,  both  favor  their 
liberty. 

With  regard  to  their  superstition,  they  worship  the  same  God 
with  us.  Their  prayers  are  offered  up  in  their  temples  to  the  same 
Redeemer,  whose  intercession  we  expect  to  save  us.  Nor  is  there 
any  thing  in  the  Catholic  religion  unfavorable  to  freedom.  All 
religions  united  with  government,  are  more  or  less  inimical  to 
liberty.  All,  separated  from  government,  are  compatible  with  liberty. 
If  the  people  of  Spanish  America  have  not  already  gone  as  far  in 
religious  toleration  as  we  have,  the  difference  in  their  condition 
from  ours  should  not  be  forgotten.  Every  thing  is  progressive ; 
and,  in  time,  I  hope  to  see  them  imitating,  in  this  respect,  our 
example.  But  grant  that  the  people  of  Spanish  America  are 
ignorant,  and  incompetent  for  free  government,  to  whom  is  that 
ignorance  to  be  ascribed  ?  Is  it  not  to  the  execrable  system  of 
Spain,  which  she  seeks  again  to  establish  and  to  perpetuate?  So 
far  from  chilling  our  hearts,  it  ought  to  increase  our  solicitude  for 
our  unfortunate  brethren.  It  ought  to  animate  us  to  desire  the 
redemption  of  the  minds  and  the  bodies  of  unborn  millions,  from 
the  brutifying  effects  of  a  system,  whose  tendency  is  to  stifle  the 
faculties  of  the  soul,  and  to  degrade  man  to  the  level  of  beasts.  I 
would  invoke  the  spirits  of  our  departed  fathers.  Was  it  for  your- 
selves only  that  you  nobly  fought  ?  No,  no !  It  was  the  chains 
that  were  forging  for  your  posterity,  that  made  you  fly  to  arms,  and, 
scattering  the  elements  of  these  chains  to  the  winds,  you  transmit- 
ted to  us  the  rich  inheritance  of  liberty.  V 

The  exports  of  Spanish  America  (exclusive  of  those  of  the 
islands)  are  estimated  in  the  valuable  little  work  of  M.  Torres, 
deserving  to  be  better  known,  at  about  eighty-one  millions  of 
dollars.  Of  these,  more  than  three  fourths  consist  of  the  precious 
metals.  The  residue  are  cocoa,  coffee,  cochineal,  sugar,  and  some 
other  articles.  No  nation  ever  offered  richer  commodities  in 
exchange.  It  is  of  no  material  consequence,  that  we  produce  but 
little  that  Spanish  America  wants.  Commerce,  as  it  actually 
exists  in  the  hands  of  maritime  states,  is  no  longer  confined  to  a 
mere  barter,  between  any  two  states,  of  their  respective  productions. 
It  renders  tributary  to  its  interests  the  commodities  of  all  quarters 
of  the  world ;  so  that  a  rich  American  cargo,  or  the  contents  of  an 
American  commercial  warehouse,  present  you  with  whatever  is 
rare  or  valuable,  in  every  part  of  the  globe.  Commerce  is  not  to 
be  judged  by  its  results  in  transactions  with  one  nation  only. 
Unfavorable  balances  existing  with  one  state,  are  made  up  by 
contrary  balances  with  other  states,  and  its  true  value  should  be 
tested  by  the  totality  of  its  operations.  Our  greatest  trade,  that 
with  Great  Britain,  judged  by  the  amount  of  what  we  sell  for  her 


332  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

consumption,  and  what  we  buy  of  her  for  ours,  would  he  pro- 
nounced ruinous.  Bat  the  unfavorable  balance  is  covered  by  the 
profits  of  trade  with  other  nations.  We  may  safely  trust  to  the 
daring  enterprise  of  our  merchants.  The  precious  metals  are  in 
South  America,  and  they  will  command  the  articles  wanted  in 
South  America,  which  will  purchase  them.  Our  navigation  will 
be  benefited  by  the  transportation,  and  our  country  will  realize  the 
mercantile  profits.  Already  the  item  in  our  exports  of  American 
manufactures  is  respectable.  They  go  chiefly  to  the  West  Indies 
and  to  Spanish  America.  This  item  is  constantly  augmenting. 
And  I  would  again,  as  I  have  on  another  occasion,  ask  gentlemen 
to  elevate  themselves  to  the  actual  importance  and  greatness  of  our 
republic ;  to  reflect,  like  true  American  statesmen,  that  we  are  not 
legislating  for  the  present  day  only;  and  to  contemplate  this 
country  in  its  march  to  true  greatness,  when  millions  and  millions 
will  be  added  to  our  population,  and  when  the  increased  productive 
industry  will  furnish  an  infinite  variety  of  fabrics  for  foreign 
consumption,  in  order  to  supply  our  own  wants./  The  distribution 
of  the  precious  metals  has  hitherto  been  principally  made  through 
the  circuitous  channel  of  Cadiz.  No  one  can  foresee  all  the  effects 
which  will  result  from  a  direct  distribution  of  them  from  the  mines 
which  produce  them.  One  of  these  effects  will  probably  be,  to 
give  us  the  entire  command  of  the  Indian  trade.  The  advantage 
we  have  on  the  map  of  the  world  over  Europe,  in  that  respect,  is 
prodigious.  Again,  if  England,  persisting  in  her  colonial  monop- 
oly, continues  to  occlude  her  ports  in  the  West  Indies  to  us,  and 
we  should,  as  I  contend  we  ought,  meet  her  system  by  a  counter- 
vailing measure,  Venezuela,  New  Granada,  and  other  parts  of 
Spanish  America,  would  afford  us  all  we  get  from  the  British 
Wrest  Indies.  I  confess  that  I  despair,  for  the  present,  of  adopting 
that  salutary  measure.  It  was  proposed  at  the  last  session,  and 
postponed.  During  ihe  present  session,  it  has  been  again  proposed, 
and,  I  fear,  will  be  again  postponed.  I  see,  and  I  own  it  wiih 
infinite  regret,  a  tone  and  a  feeling  in  the  councils  of  the  country, 
infinitely  below  that  which  belongs  to  the  country.  It  is,  perhaps, 
the  moral  consequence  of  the  exertions  of  the  late  war.  We  are 
alarmed  at  dangers,  we  know  not  what;  by  spectres  conjured  up 
by  our  own  vivid  imaginations. 

The  West  India  bill  is  brought  up.  We  shrug  our  shoulders, 
talk  of  restrictions,  non-intercourse,  embargo,  commercial  warfare, 
make  long  faces,  and  —  postpone  the  bill.  The  time  will  however 
come,  must  come,  when  this  country  will  not  submit  to  a  commerce 
with  the  British  colonies,  upon  the  terms  which  England  alone 
prescribes.  And,  I  repeat,  when  it  arrives,  Spanish  America  will 
afford  us  an  ample  substitute.  Then,  as  to  our  navigation  ;  gentle- 
men should  recollect,  lhat  if  reasoning  from  past  experience  were 
safe  for  the  future,  our  great  commercial  rival  will  be  in  war  a 


EMANCIPATION     OF     SOUTH     AMERICA.  333 

greater  number  of  years  than  she  will  be  in  peace.  Whenever 
she  shall  be  at  war,  and  we  are  in  peace,  our  navigation  being  free 
from  the  risks  and  insurance  incident  to  war,  we  shall  engross 
almost  the  whole  transportation  of  the  Spanish  American  com- 
merce. For  I  do  not  believe  that  that  country  will  ever  have  a 
considerable  marine.  Mexico,  the  most  populous  part  of  it,  has 
but  two  ports,  La  Vera  Cruz  and  Acapulca,  and  neither  of  them 
very  good.  Spanish  America  has  not  the  elements  to  construct  a 
marine.  It  wants,  and  must  always  want,  hardy  seamen.  I  do 
not  believe,  that,  in  the  present  improved  state  of  navigation,  any 
nation  so  far  south  will  ever  make  a  figure  as  a  maritime  power. 
If  Carthage  and  Rome,  in  ancient  times,  and  some  other  states  of 
a  later  period,  occasionally  made  great  exertions  on  the  water,  it 
must  be  recollected  that  they  were  principally  on  a  small  theatre, 
and  in  a  totally  different  state  of  the  art  of  navigation,  or  when 
there  was  no  competition  from  northern  states. 

I  am  aware  that,  in  opposition  to  the  interest,  which  I  have  been 
endeavoring  to  manifest,  that  this  country  has  in  the  independence 
of  Spanish  America,  it  is  contended  that  we  shall  find  that  country 
a  great  rival  in  agricultural  productions.  There  is  something  so 
narrow,  and  selfish,  and  grovelling,  in  this  argument,  if  founded  in 
fact,  something  so  unworthy  the  magnanimity  of  a  great  and  a 
generous  people,  that  I  confess  I  have  scarcely  patience  to  notice 
it.  But  it  is  not  true  to  any  extent.  Of  the  eighty  odd  millions 
of  exports,  only  about  one  million  and  a  half  consist  of  an  article 
which  can  come  into  competition  with  us,  and  that  is  cotton.  The 
tobacco  which  Spain  derives  from  her  colonies,  is  chiefly  produced 
in  her  islands.  Bread  stuffs  can  nowhere  be  raised  and  brought 
to  market  in  any  amount  materially  affecting  us.  The  table-lands 
of  Mexico,  owing  to  their  elevation,  are,  it  is  true,  well  adapted  to 
the  culture  of  grain;  but  the  expense  and  difficulty  of  getting  it  to 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  the  action  of  the  intense  heat  at  La  Vera 
Cruz,  the  only  port  of  exportation,  must  always  prevent  Mexico 
from  being  an  alarming  competitor.  Spanish  America  is  capable 
of  producing  articles  so  much  more  valuable  than  those  which  we 
raise,  that  it  is  not  probable  they  will  abandon  a  more  profitable 
for  a  less  advantageous  culture,  to  come  into  competition  with  us. 
The  West  India  islands  are  well  adapted  to  the  raising  of  cotton ; 
and  yet  the  more  valuable  culture  of  coffee  and  sugar  is  constantly 
preferred.  Again,  Providence  has  so  ordered  it,  that,  with  regard 
to  countries  producing  articles  apparently  similar,  there  is  some 
peculiarity,  resulting  from  climate,  or  from  some  other  cause,  that 
gives  to  each  an  appropriate  place  in  the  general  wants  and  con- 
sumption of  mankind.  The  southern  part  of  the  continent,  La 
Plata  and  Chili,  is  too  remote  to  rival  us. 

The  immense  country  watered  by  the  Mississippi  and  its 
branches,  has  a  peculiar  interest,  which  I  trust  I  shall  be  excused 


334  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

for  noticing.  Having  but  the  single  vent  of  New  Orleans  for  all 
the  surplus  produce  of  their  industry,  it  is  quite  evident  that  they 
would  have  a  greater  security  for  enjoying  the  advantages  of  that 
outlet,  if  the  independence  of  Mexico  upon  any  European  power 
were  effected.  Such  a  power,  owning  at  the  same  time  Cuba,  the 
great  key  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  all  the  shores  of  that  gulf, 
with  the  exception  of  the  portion  between  the  Perdido  and  the  Rio 
del  Norte,  must  have  a  powerful  command  over  our  interests. 
Spain,  it  is  true,  is  not  a  dangerous  neighbor  at  present,  but,  in  the 
vicissitudes  of  states,  her  power  may  be  again  resuscitated. 

Having  shown  that  the  cause  of  the  patriots  is  just,  and  that  we 
have  a  great  interest  in  its  successful  issue,  I  will  next  inquire  what 
course  of  policy"it  becomes  us  to  adopt.  I  have  already  declared 
it  to  be  one  of  strict  and  impartial  neutrality.  It  is  not  necessary 
for  their  interests,  it  is  not  expedient  for  our  own,  that  we  should 
take  part  in  the  war.  All  they  demand  of  us  is  a  just  neutrality. 
It  is  compatible  with  this  pacific  policy,  it  is  required  by  it,  that 
we  should  recognize  any  established  government,  if  there  be  any 
established  government  in  Spanish  America.  Recognition  alone, 
without  aid,  is  no  just  cause  of  war.  With  aid,  it  is;  not  because 
of  the  recognition,  but  because  of  the  aid ;  as  aid,  without  recogni- 
tion, is  cause  of  war.  The  truth  of  these  propositions  I  will  main- 
tain upon  principle,  by  the  practice  of  other  states,  and  by  the  usage 
of  our  own.  There  is  no  common  tribunal  among  nations,  to 
pronounce  upon  the  fact  of  the  sovereignty  of  a  new  state.  Each 
power  does  and  must  judge  for  itself.  It  is  an  attribute  of  sove- 
reignty so  to  judge.  A  nation,  in  exerting  this  incontestable  right, 
in  pronouncing  upon  the  independence,  in  fact,  of  a  new  state, 
takes  no  part  in  the  war.  It  gives  neither  men,  nor  ships,  nor 
money.  It  merely  pronounces  that,  in  so  far  as  it  may  be 
necessary  to  institute  any  relations,  or  to  support  any  intercourse, 
with  the  new  power,  that  power  is  capable  of  maintaining  those 
relations,  and  authorizing  that  intercourse.  Martens  and  other 
publicists  lay  down  these  principles. 

When  the  United  Provinces  formerly  severed  themselves  from 
Spain,  it  was  about  eighty  years  before  their  independence  was 
finally  recognized  by  Spain.  Before  that  recognition,  the  United 
Provinces  had  been  received  by  all  the  rest  of  Europe,  into  the 
family  of  nations.  It  is  true,  that  a  war  broke  out  between  Philip 
and  Elizabeth,  but  it  proceeded  from  the  aid  which  she  determined 
to  give,  and  did  give,  to  Holland.  In  no  instance,  I  believe,  can  it 
be  shown,  from  authentic  history,  that  Spain  made  war  upon  any 
power,  on  the  sole  ground  lhat  such  power  had  acknowledged  the 
independence  of  the  United  Provinces. 

In  the  case  of  our  own  revolution,  it  was  not  until  after  France 
had  given  us  aid,  and  had  determined  to  enter  into  a  treaty  of 
alliance  with  us  —  a  treaty  by  which  she  guarantied  our  indepen- 


EMANCIPATION     OF     SOUTH     AMERICA.  335 

dence  —  that  England  declared  war.  Holland  also  was  charged  by 
England  with  favoring  our  cause,  and  deviating  from  the  line  of 
strict  neutrality.  And,  when  it  was  perceived  that  she  was,  more- 
over, about  to  enter  into  a  treaty  with  us,  England  declared  war. 
Even  if  it  were  shown  that  a  proud,  haughty,  and  powerful  nation 
like  England,  had  made  war  upon  other  provinces,  on  the  ground 
of  a  mere  recognition,  the  single  example  could  not  alter  the  public 
law,  or  shake  the  strength  of  a  clear  principle. 

But  what  has  been  our  uniform  practice  ?  We  have  constantly 
proceeded  on  the  principle,  that  the  government  de  facto  is  that  we 
can  alone  notice.  Whatever  form  of  government  any  society  of 
people  adopts,  whoever  they  acknowledge  as  their  sovereign,  we 
consider  that  government  or  that  sovereign  as  the  one  to  be 
acknowledged  by  us.  We  have  invariably  abstained  from  assum- 
ing a  right  to  decide  in  favor  of  the  sovereign  de  jvre,  and  against 
the  sovereign  de  facto.  That  is  a  question  for  the  nation  in  which 
it  arises  to  determine.  And,  so  far  as  we  are  concerned,  the 
sovereign  de  facto  is  the  sovereign  de  jure.  Our  own  revolution 
stands  on  the  basis  of  the  right  of  a  people  to  change  their  rulers. 
I  do  not  maintain  that  every  immature  revolution,  every  usurper, 
before  his  power  is  consolidated,  is  to  be  acknowledged  by  us ; 
but  that  as  soon  as  stability  and  order  are  maintained,  no  matter 
by  whom,  we  always  have  considered,  and  ought  to  consider,  the 
actual  as  the  true  government.  General  Washington,  Mr.  Jefferson, 
Mr.  Madison,  all,  while  they  were  respectively  presidents,  acted  on 
these  principles. 

In  the  case  of  the  French  republic,  general  Washington  did  not 
wait  until  some  of  the  crowned  heads  of  Europe  should  set  him 
the  example  of  acknowledging  it,  but  accredited  a  minister  at 
once.  And  it  is  remarkable,  that  he  was  received  before  the 
government  of  the  republic  was  considered  as  established.  It  will 
be  found  in  Marshall's  Life  of  Washington,  that,  when  it  was 
understood  that  a  minister  from  the  French  republic  was  about  to 
present  himself,  president  Washington  submitted  a  number  of 
questions  to  his  cabinet  for  their  consideration  and  advice,  one  of 
which  was,  whether,  upon  the  reception  of  the  minister,  he  should 
be  notified  that  America  would  suspend  the  execution  of  the 
treaties  between  the  two  countries,  until  France  had  an  established 
government.  General  Washington  did  not  stop  to  inquire  whether 
the  descendants  of  St.  Louis  were  to  be  considered  as  ihe  legiti- 
mate sovereigns  of  France,  and  if  the  revolution  was  to  be 
regarded  as  unauthorized  resistance  to  their  sway.  He  saw 
France,  in  fact,  under  the  government  of  those  who  had  subverted 
the  throne  of  the  Bourbons,  and  he  acknowledged  ihe  actual 
government.  During  Mr.  Jefferson's  and  Mr.  Madison's  adminis- 
trations, when  the  cortes  of  Spain  and  Joseph  Bonaparte  respec- 
tively contended  for  the  crown,  those  enlightened  statesmen  said, 


336  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

we  will  receive  a  minister  from  neither  party ;  settle  the  question 
between  yourselves,  and  we  will  acknowledge  the  party  that 
prevails.  We  have  noihing  to  do  with  your  feuds ;  whoever  all 
Spain  acknowledges  as  her  sovereign,  is  the  only  sovereign  with 
whom  we  can  maintain  any  relations.  Mr.  Jefferson,  it  is  under- 
stood, considered  whether  he  should  not  receive  a  minister  from 
both  parties,  and  finally  decided  against  it,  because  of  the  incon- 
veniences to  this  country,  which  might  result  from  the  double 
representation  of  another  power.  As  soon  as  the  French  armies 
were  expelled  from  the  peninsula,  Mr.  Madison,  still  acting  on  the 
principle  of  the  government  de  facto,  received  the  present  minister 
from  Spain.  During  all  the  phases  of  the  French  government, 
republic,  directory,  consuls,  consul  for  life,  emperor,  king,  emperor 
again,  king,  our  government  has  uniformly  received  the  minister. 
If,  then,  there  be  an  established  government  in  Spanish  America, 
deserving  to  rank  among  the  nations,  we  are  morally  and  politically 
bound  to  acknowledge  it,  unless  we  renounce  all  the  principles 
which  ought  to  guide,  and  which  hitherto  have  guided  our  councils. 
I  shall  now  undertake  to  show,  that  the  United  Provinces  of  the 
Rio  de  la  Plata  possess  such  a  government.  Its  limits,  extending 
from  the  south  Atlantic  ocean  to  the  Pacific,  embrace  a  territory 
equal  to  that  of  the  United  States,  certainly  equal  to  it  exclusive 
of  Louisiana.  Its  population  is  about  three  millions,  more  than 
equal  to  ours  at  the  commencement  of  our  revolution.  That 
population  is  a  hardy,  enterprising,  and  gallant  population.  The 
establishments  of  Montevideo  and  Buenos  Ayres  have,  during 
different  periods  of  their  history,  been  attacked  by  the  French, 
Dutch.  Danes,  Portuguese,  English,  and  Spanish ;  and  such  is  the 
martial  character  of  the  people,  that,  in  every  instance,  the  attack 
has  been  repulsed.  In  1807,  general  Whitlocke,  commanding  a 
powerful  English  army,  was  admitted,  under  the  guise  of  a  friend, 
into  Buenos  Ayres,  and,  as  soon  as  he  was  supposed  to  have 
demonstrated  inimical  designs,  he  was  driven  by  the  native  and 
unaided  force  of  Buenos  Ayres  from  the  country.  Buenos  Ayres 
has,  during  now  nearly  eight  years,  been,  in  point  of  fact,  in  the 
enjoyment  of  self-government.  The  capital,  containing  more  than 
sixty  thousand  inhabitants,  has  never  been  once  lost.  As  early  as 
1811,  the  regency  of  old  Spain  made  war  upon  Buenos  Ayres, 
and  the  consequence  subsequently  was,  the  capture  of  a  Spanish 
army  in  Montevideo,  equal  to  that  of  Burgoyne.  This  government 
has  now,  in  excellent  discipline,  three  well-appointed  armies,  with 
the  most  abundant  material  of  war;  the  army  of  Chili,  the  army  of 
Peru,  and  the  army  of  Buenos  Ayres.  The  first,  under  San  Martin, 
has  conquered  Chili;  the  second  is  penetrating  in  a  northwestern 
direction  from  Buenos  Ayres,  into  the  vice-royalty  of  Peru  ;  and, 
according  to  the  last  accounts,  had  reduced  the  ancient  seat  of 
empire  of  the   incase      The  third   remains  at   Buenos  Ayres   to 


EMANCIPATION     OF     SOUTH     AMERICA.  337 

oppose  any  force  which  Spain  may  send  against  it.  To  show  the 
condition  of  the  country  in  July  last,  I  again  call  the  attention  of 
the  committee  to  the  message  of  the  supreme  director,  delivered  to 
the  congress  of  the  United  Provinces.  It  is  a  paper  of  the  same 
authentic  character  with  the  speech  of  the  king  of  England  on 
opening  his  parliament,  or  the  message  of  the  president  of  the 
United  States  at  the  commencement  of  congress. 

1  The  army  of  this  capital  was  organized  at  the  same  time  with  those  of  -the  Ancles 
and  of  the  interior;  the  regular  force  has  been  nearly  doubled  ;  the  militia  has  made 
great  progress  in  military  discipline  ;  our  slave  population  has  been  formed  into  bat- 
talions, and  taught  the  military  art  as  far  as  is  consistent  with  their  condition.  The 
capital  is  under  no  apprehension  that  an  army  of  ten  thousand  men  can  shake  its 
liberties,  and  should  the  peninsularians  send  against  us  thrice  that  number,  ample 
provision  has  been  made  to  receive  them. 

'  Our  navy  has  been  fostered  in  all  its  branches.  The  scarcity  of  means  under 
which  we  labored  until  now,  has  not  prevented  us  from  undertaking  very  considerable 
operations,  with  respect  to  the  national  vessels  ;  all  of  them  have  been  repaired,  and 
others  have  been  purchased  and  armed,  for  the  defence  of  our  coasts  and  rivers; 
provisions  have  been  made,  should  necessity  require  it,  for  arming  many  more,  so 
that  the  enemy  will  not  find  himself  secure  from  our  reprisals,  even  upon  the  ocean. 

s  Our  military  force,  at  every  point  which  it  occupies,  seems  to  be  animated  with 
the  same  spirit ;  its  tactics  are  uniform,  and  have  undergone  a  rapid  improvement 
from  the  science  of  experience,  which  it  has  borrowed  from  warlike  nations. 

'  Our  arsenals  have  been  replenished  with  arms,  and  a  sufficient  store  of  cannon 
and  munitions  of  war  have  been  provided,  to  maintain  the  contest  for  many  years; 
and  this,  after  having  supplied  articles  of  every  description  to  those  districts,  which 
have  not  as  yet  come  into  the  union,  but  whose  connection  with  us  has  been  only 
intercepted  by  reason  of  our  past  misfortunes. 

"  Our  legions  daily  receive  considerable  augmentations  from  new  levies ;  all  our 
preparations  have  been  made,  as  though  we  were  about  to  enter  upon  the  contest 
anew.  Until  now,  the  vastness  of  our  resources  was  unknown  to  us,  and  our  enemies 
may  contemplate,  with  deep  mortification  and  despair,  the  present  flourishing  state 
of  these  provinces  after  so  many  devastations. 

'  While  thus  occupied  in  providing  for  our  safety  within,  and  preparing  for  assaults 
from  without,  other  objects  of  solid  interest  have  not  been  neglected,  and  which 
hitherto  were  thought  to  oppose  insurmountable  obstacles. 

1  Our  system  of  finance  had  hitherto  been  on  a  footing  entirely  inadequate  to  the 
unfailing  supply  of  our  wants,  and  still  more  to  the  liquidation  of  the  immense  debt 
which  had  been  contracted  in  former  years.  An  unremitted  application  to  this 
object  has  enabled  me  to  create  the  means  of  satisfying  the  creditors  of  the  state  who 
had  already  abandoned  their  debts  as  lost,  as  well  as  to  devise  a  fixed  mode,  by  which 
the  taxes  may  be  made  to  fall  equally  and  indirectly  on  the  whole  mass  of  our 
population.  It  is  not  the  least  merit  of  this  operation,  that  it  has  been  effected  in 
despite  of  the  writings  by  which  it  was  attacked,  and  which  are  but  little  creditable 
to  the  intelligence  and  good  intentions  of  their  authors.  At  no  other  period  have 
the  public  exigences  been  so  punctually  supplied,  nor  have  more  important  works 
been  undertaken. 

'  The  people,  moreover,  have  been  relieved  from  many  burdens,  which  being 
partial,  or  confined  to  particular  classes,  had  occasioned  vexation  and  disgust.  Other 
vexations,  scarcely  less  grievous,  will  by  degrees  be  also  suppressed,  avoiding  as  far 
as  possible  a  recurrence  to  loans,  which  have  drawn  after  them  the  most  fatal  conse- 
quences to  states.  Should  we,  however,  be  compelled  to  resort  to  such  expedients, 
the  lenders  will  not  see  themselves  in  danger  of  losing  their  advances. 

'Many  undertakings  have  been  set  on  foot  for  the  advancement  of  the  general 
prosperity.  Such  has  been  the  reestablishing  of  the  college,  heretofore  named  San 
Carlos,  but  hereafter  to  be  called  the  Union  of  the  Souih,  as  a  point  designated  for 
the  dissemination  of  learning  to  the  youth  of  every  pait  of  the  state,  on  the  most 
extensive  scale,  for  the  attainment  of  which  object  the  government  is  at  the  present 
moment  engaged  in  putting  in  practice  every  possible  diligence.  It  will  not  be  long 
before  these  nurseries  will  flourish,  in  which  the  liberal  end  exact  sciences  will  be 

vol.  i.  43 


V 


333  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

cultivated,  in  which  the  hearts  of  those  young  men  will  be  formed,  who  are  destined 
at  some  future  day  to  add  new  splendor  to  our  country. 

'  Such  has  been  the  establishment  of  a  military  depot  on  the  frontier,  with  its 
spacious  magazine,  a  necessary  measure  to  guard  us  from  future  dangers,  a  work 
which  does  more  honor  to  the  prudent  foresight  of  our  country,  as  it  was  undertaken 
in  the  moment  of  its  prosperous  fortunes,  a  measure  which  must  give  more  occasion 
for  reflection  to  our  enemies  than  they  can  impose  upon  us  by  their  boastings. 

'  Fellow  citizens,  we  owe  our  unhappy  reverses  and  calamities  to  the  depraving 
system  of  our  ancient  metropolis,  which,  in  condemning  us  to  the  obscurity  and 
opprobrium  of  the  most  degraded  destiny,  has  sown  with  thorns  the  path  that  con- 
ducts us  to  liberty.     Tell  that  metropolis  that  even  she  may  glory  in  your  works ! 

*  Already  have  you  cleared  all  the  rocks,  escaped  every  danger,  and  conducted  these 
provinces  to  the  flourishing  condition  in  which  we  now  behold  them.  Let  the 
enemies  of  your  name  contemplate  with  despair  the  energies  of  your  virtues,  and  let 

•  the  nations  acknowledge  that  you  already  appertain  to  their  illustrious  rank.  Let  us 
felicitate  ourselves  on  the  blessings  we  have  already  obtained,  and  let  us  show  to 
the  world  that  we  have  learned  to  profit  by  the  experience  of  our  past  misfortunes.' 

There  is  a  spirit  of  bold  confidence  running  through  this  fine 
state  paper,  which  nothing  but  conscious  strength  could  communi- 
cate. Their  armies,  their  magazines,  their  finances,  are  on  the 
most  solid  and  respectable  footing.  And,  amidst  all  the  cares  of 
war,  and  those  incident  to  the  consolidation  of  their  new  institu- 
tions, leisure  is  found  to  promote  the  interests  of  science,  and  the 
education  of  the  rising  generation.  It  is  true,  the  first  part  of  the 
message  portrays  scenes  of  difficulty  and  commotion,  the  usual 
attendants  upon  revolution.  The  very  avowal  of  their  troubles 
manifests,  however,  that  they  are  subdued.  And  what  state, 
passing  through  the  agitation  of  a  great  revolution,  is  free  from 
them  ?  We  had  our  tories,  our  intrigues,  our  factions.  More  than 
once  were  the  affections  of  the  country,  and  the  confidence  of  our 
councils,  attempted  to  be  shaken  in  the  great  father  of  our  liberties. 
Not  a  Spanish  bayonet  remains  within  the  immense  extent  of  the 
territories  of  the  La  Plata,  to  contest  the  authority  of  the  actual 
government.  It  is  free,  it  is  independent,  it  is  sovereign.  It  man- 
ages the  interests  of  the  society  that  submits  to  its  sway.  It  is 
capable  of  maintaining  the  relations  between  that  society  and  other 
nations. 

Are  we  not  bound,  then,  upon  our  own  principles,  to  acknowl- 
edge this  new  republic  ?  If  we  do  not,  who  will  ?  Are  we  to 
expect  that  kings  will  set  us  the  example  of  acknowledging  the 
only  republic  on  earth,  except  our  own  ?  We  receive,  promptly 
receive,  a  minister,  from  whatever  king  sends  us  one.  From  the 
great  powers  and  the  little  powers,  we  accredit  ministers.  We  do 
more  :  we  hasten  to  reciprocate  the  compliment ;  and,  anxious  to 
manifest  our  gratitude  for  royal  civility,  we  send  for  a  minister  (as 
in  the  case  of  Sweden  and  the  Netherlands)  of  the  lowest  grade, 
one  of  the  highest  rank  recognized  by  our  laws.  We  are  the 
natural  head  of  the  American  family.  I  would  not  intermeddle  in  M 
the  affairs  of  Europe.  We  wisely  keep  aloof  from  their  broiis.  I 
would  not  even  intermeddle  in  those  of  other  parts  of  America, 


EMANCIPATION     OF     SOUTH     AMERICA.  339 

further  than  to  exert  the  incontestable  rights  appertaining  to  us  as  a 
free,  sovereign,  and  independent  power;  and  I  contend,  that  the 
accrediting  of  a  minister  from  the  new  republic  is  such  a  right. 
We  are  bound  to  receive  their  minister,  if  we  mean  to  be  really 
neutral.  If  the  royal  belligerent  is  represented  and  heard  at  our 
government,  the  republican  belligerent  ought  also  to  be  heard. 
Otherwise,  one  party  will  be  in  the  condition  of  the  poor  patriots, 
who  were  tried  ex-parte  the  other  day,  in  the  supreme  court,  without 
counsel,  without  friends.  Give  Mr.  Onis  his  conge,  or  receive  the 
republican  minister.  Unless  you  do  so,  your  neutrality  is  nominal. 
I  will  next  proceed  to  inquire  into  the  consequences  of  a  recog- 
nition of  the  new  republic.  Will  it  involve  us  in  war  with  Spain  ? 
I  have  shown,  I  trust  successfully  shown,  that  there  is  no  just  cause 
of  war  to  Spain.  Being  no  cause  of  war,  we  have  no  right  to 
expect  that  war  will  ensue.  If  Spain,  without  cause,  will  make 
war,  she  may  make  it  whether  we  do  or  do  not  acknowledge  the 
republic.  But  she  will  not,  because  she  cannot,  make  war  against 
us.  I  call  the  attention  of  the  committee  to  a  report  of  the  minister 
of  the  Hacienda  to  the  king  of  Spain,  presented  about  eight  months 
ago.  A  more  beggarly  account  of  empty  boxes  was  never  ren- 
dered. The  picture  of  Mr.  Dallas,  sketched  in  his  celebrated  report 
during  the  last  war,  may  be  contemplated  without  emotion,  after 
surveying  that  of  Mr.  Gary.  The  expenses  of  the  current  year 
required  eight  hundred  and  thirty  million  two  hundred  and  sixty- 
seven  thousand  eight  hundred  and  twenty-nine  reals,  and  the  deficit 
of  the  income  is  represented  as  two  hundred  and  thirty-three 
million  one  hundred  and  forty  thousand  nine  hundred  and  thirty- 
two  reals.  This,  besides  an  immense  mass  of  unliquidated  debt, 
which  the  minister  acknowledges  the  utter  inability  of  the  country 
to  pay,  although  bound  in  honor  to  redeem  it.  He  states,  that  the 
vassals  of  the  king  are  totally  unable  to  submit  to  any  new  taxes, 
and  the  country  is  without  credit,  so  as  to  render  anticipation  by 
loans  wholly  impracticable.  Mr.  Gary  appears  to  be  a  virtuous 
man,  who  exhibits  frankly  the  naked  truth ;  and  yet  such  a  minister 
acknowledges,  that  the  decorum  due  to  one  single  family,  that  of  a 
monarch,  does  not  admit,  in  this  critical  condition  of  his  country, 
any  reduction  of  the  enormous  sum  of  upwards  of  fifty-six  millions 
of  reals,  set  apart  to  defray  the  expenses  of  that  family !  He  states 
that  a  foreign  war  would  be  the  greatest  of  all  calamities,  and  one 
which,  being  unable  to  provide  for  it,  they  ought  to  employ  every 
possible  means  to  avert.  He  proposed  some  inconsiderable  contri- 
bution from  the  clergy,  and  the  whole  body  was  instantly  in  an 
uproar.  Indeed,  I  have  no  doubt  that,  surrounded  as  Mr.  Gary  is 
by  corruption,  by  intrigue,  and  folly,  and  imbecility,  he  will  be 
compelled  to  retire,  if  he  has  not  already  been  dismissed,  from  a 
post  for  which  he  has  too  much  integrity.  It  has  been  now  about 
four  years  since  the  restoration  of  Ferdinand;  and  if,  during  that 


340  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

period,  the  whole  energies  of  the  monarchy  have  been  directed, 
unsuccessfully,  against  the  weakest  and  most  vulnerable  of  all  the 
American  possessions,  Venezuela,  how  is  it  possible  for  Spain  to 
encounter  the  difficulties  of  a  new  war  with  this  country  ?  Morillo 
has  been  sent  out  with  one  of  the  hnest  armies  that  has  ever  left 
the  shores  of  Europe  —  consisting  of  ten  thousand  men,  chosen 
from  all  the  veterans  who  have  fought  in  the  peninsula.  It  has 
subsequently  been  reinforced  with  about  three  thousand  more. 
And  yet,  during  the  last  summer,  it  was  reduced,  by  the  sword  and 
the  climate,  to  about  four  thousand  effective  men.  And  Venezuela, 
containing  a  population  of  only  about  one  million,  of  which  near 
two  thirds  are  persons  of  color,  remains  unsubdued.  The  little 
island  of  Margaritta,  whose  population  is  less  than  twenty  thousand 
inhabitants  —  a  population  fighting  for  liberty,  with  more  than 
Roman  valor  —  has  compelled  that  army  to  retire  upon  the  main. 
Spain,  by  the  late  accounts,  appeared  to  be  deliberating  upon  the 
necessity  of  resorting  to  that  measure  of  conscription,  for  which 
Bonaparte  has  been  so  much  abused.  The  effect  of  a  war  with 
this  country  would  be,  to  insure  success,  beyond  all  doubt,  to  the 
cause  of  American  independence.  Those  parts  even,  over  which 
Spain  has  some  prospect  of  maintaining  her  dominions,  would 
probably  be  put  in  jeopardy.  Such  a  war  would  be  attended  with 
the  immediate  and  certain  loss  of  Florida.  Commanding  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  as  we  should  be  enabled  to  do  by  our  navy, 
blockading  the  port  of  Havana,  the  port  of  La  Vera  Cruz,  and  the 
coast  of  Terra  Firma,  and  throwing  munitions  of  war  into  Mexico, 
Cuba  would  be  menaced,  Mexico  emancipated,  and  Morillo's 
army,  deprived  of  supplies,  now  drawn  principally  from  this  country 
through  the  Havana,  compelled  to  surrender.  The  war,  I  verily 
believe,  would  be  terminated  in  less  than  two  years,  supposing  no 
other  power  to  interpose. 

Will  the  allies  interfere  ?  If,  by  the  exertion  of  an  unquestion- 
able attribute  of  a  sovereign  power,  we  should  give  no  just  cause 
of  war  to  Spain  herself,  how  can  it  be  pretended  that  we  should 
furnish  even  a  specious  pretext  to  the  allies  for  making  war  upon 
us?  On  what  ground  could  they  attempt  to  justify  a  rupture  wilh 
us,  for  the  exercise  of  a  right  which  we  hold  in  common  with 
them,  and  with  every  other  independent  state  ?  But  we  have  a 
surer  guarantee  against  their  hostility,  in  their  interests.  That  all 
the  allies,  who  have  any  foreign  commerce,  have  an  interest  in  the 
independence  of  Spanish  America,  is  perfectly  evident.  On  what 
ground,  I  ask,  is  it  likely,  then,  that  they  would  support  Spain,  in 
opposition  to  their  own  decided  interests  ?  To  crush  the  spirit  of 
revolt,  and  prevent  the  progress  of  free  principles?  Nations,  like 
individuals,  do  not  sensibly  feel,  and  seldom  act  upon  dangers 
which  are  remote  either  in  time  or  place.  Of  Spanish  America, 
but  little  is  known  by  the  great  body  of  the  population  of  Europe. 


EMANCIPATION     OF     SOUTH     AMERICA.  341 

Even  in  this  country,  the  most  astonishing  ignorance  prevails 
respecting  it.  Those  European  statesmen  who  are  acquainted 
with  the  country,  will  reflect,  that,  tossed  by  a  great  revolution,  it 
will  most  probably  constitute  four  or  five  several  nations,  and  that 
the  ultimate  modification  of  all  their  various  governments  is  by  no 
means  absolutely  certain.  But  I  entertain  no  doubt  that  the 
principle  of  cohesion  among  the  allies  is  gone.  It  was  annihilated 
in  the  memorable  battle  of  Waterloo.  When  the  question  was, 
whether  one  should  engross  all,  a  common  danger  united  all. 
How  long  was  it,  even  with  a  clear  perception  of  that  danger, 
before  an  effective  coalition  could  be  formed  ?  How  often  did  one 
power  stand  by,  unmoved  and  indifferent  to  the  fate  of  its  neighbor, 
although  the  destruction  of  that  neighbor  removed  the  only  barrier 
to  an  attack  upon  itself?  No;  the  consummation  of  the  cause  of 
the  allies  was,  and  all  history  and  all  experience  will  prove  it,  the 
destruction  of  the  alliance.  The  principle  is  totally  changed.  It 
is  no  longer  a  common  struggle  against  the  colossal  power  of 
Bonaparte,  but  it  has  become  a  common  scramble  for  the  spoils  of 
his  empire.  There  may,  indeed,  be  one  or  two  points  on  which 
a  common  interest  still  exists,  such  as  the  convenience  of  subsisting 
their  armies  on  the  vitals  of  poor  suffering  France.  But  as  for 
action,  for  new  enterprises,  there  is  no  principle  of  unity,  there 
can  be  no  accordance  of  interests,  or  of  views,  among  them. 

What  is  the  condition  in  which  Europe  is  left  after  all  its  efforts  ? 
It  is  divided  into  two  great  powers,  one  having  the  undisputed 
command  of  the  land,  the  other  of  the  water.  Paris  is  transferred 
to  St.  Petersburgh,  and  the  navies  of  Europe  are  at  the  bottom  of 
the  sea,  or  concentrated  in  the  ports  of  England.  Russia  —  that 
huge  land  animal  —  awing  by  the  dread  of  her  vast  power  all 
continental  Europe,  is  seeking  to  encompass  the  Porte ;  and, 
constituting  herself  the  kraken  of  the  ocean,  is  anxious  to  lave  her 
enormous  sides  in  the  more  genial  waters  of  the  Mediterranean. 
It  is  said,  I  know,  that  she  has  indicated  a  disposition  to  take  part 
with  Spain.  No  such  thing.  She  has  sold  some  old  worm-eaten, 
decayed  fir-built  ships  to  Spain,  but  the  crews  which  navigate  them 
are  to  return  from  the  port  of  delivery,  and  the  bonus  she  is  to  get, 
I  believe  to  be  the  island  of  Minorca,  in  conformity  with  the 
cardinal  point  of  her  policy.  France  is  greatly  interested  in 
whatever  would  extend  her  commerce,  and  regenerate  her  marine, 
and  consequently,  more  than  any  other  power  of  Europe,  England 
alone  excepted,  is  concerned  in  the  independence  of  Spanish 
America.  I  do  not  despair  of  France,  so  long  as  France  has  a 
legislative  body  collected  from  all  its  parts,  the  great  repository  of 
its  wishes  and  its  will.  Already  has  that  body  manifested  a  spirit 
of  considerable  independence.  And  those  who,  conversant  with 
French  history,  know  what  magnanimous  stands  have  been  made 
by   the   parliaments,  bodies   of  limited   extent,  against  the   royal 


342  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

prerogative,  will  be  able  to  appreciate  justly  the  moral  force  of  such 
a  legislative  body.  Whilst  it  exists,  the  true  interests  of  France 
will  be  cherished  and  pursued  on  points  of  foreign  policy,  in 
opposition  to  the  pride  and  interests  of  the  Bourbon  family,  if  the 
actual  dynasty,  impelled  by  this  pride,  should  seek  to  subserve 
these  interests. 

England  finds  that,  after  all  her  exertions,  she  is  every  where 
despised  on  the  continent ;  her  maratime  power  viewed  with  jeal- 
ousy ;  her  commerce  subjected  to  the  most  onerous  restrictions ; 
selfishness  imputed  to  all  her  policy.  All  the  accounts  from  France 
represent  that  every  party,  Bonapartists,  Jacobins,  royalists,  mode- 
res,  ultras,  all  burn  with  indignation  towards  England,  and  pant 
for  an  opportunity  to  avenge  themselves  on  the  power  to  whom 
they  ascribe  all  their  disasters. 

[Here  Mr.  Clay  read  a  part  of  a  letter  which  he  had  just  received  from  an  intelli- 
gent friend  at  Paris,  and  which  composed  only  a  small  portion  of  the  mass  of  evidence 
to  the  same  effect,  which  had  come  under  his  notice.] 

It  is  impossible,  that  with  powers,  between  whom  so  much 
cordial  dislike,  so  much  incongruity  exists,  there  can  be  any  union 
or  concert.  Whilst  the  free  principles  of  the  French  revolution 
remained,  those  principles  which  were  so  alarming  to  the  stability 
of  thrones,  there  never  was  any  successful  or  cordial  union  ;  coali- 
tion after  coalition,  wanting  the  spirit  of  union,  was  swept  away 
by  the  overwhelming  power  of  France.  It  was  not  until  those 
principles  were  abandoned,  and  Bonaparte  had  erected  on  their 
ruins  his  stupendous  fabric  of  universal  empire;  nor,  indeed,  until 
after  the  frosts  of  heaven  favored  the  cause  of  Europe,  that  an  effec- 
tive coalition  was  formed.  No,  the  complaisance  inspired  in  the 
allies  from  unexpected  if  not  undeserved  success,  may  keep  them 
nominally  together;  but  for  all  purposes  of  united  and  combined 
action,  the  alliance  is  gone  ;  and  I  do  not  believe  in  the.  chimera 
of  their  crusading  against  the  independence  of  a  country,  whose 
liberation  would  essentially  promote  all  their  respective  interests. 

But  the  question  of  the  interposition  of  the  allies,  in  the  event 
of  our  recognizing  the  new  republic,  resolves  itself  into  a  question, 
whether  England,  in  such  event,  would  make  war  upon  us;  if  it 
can  be  shown  that  England  would  not,  it  results,  either  that  the 
other  allies  would  not,  or  that,  if  they  should,  in  which  case 
England  would  most  probably  support  the  cause  of  America,  it 
would  be  a  war  without  the  maratime  ability  to  maintain  it.  I 
contend,  that  England  is  alike  restrained  by  her  honor  and  by  her 
interests  from  waging  war  against  us,  and  consequently  against 
Spanish  America,  also,  for  an  acknowledgment  of  the  independence 
of  the  new  state.  England  encouraged  and  fomented  the  revolt, 
of  the  colonies  as  early  as  June,  1797.  Sir  Thomas  Picton, 
governor  of  Trinidad,  in  virtue  of  orders  from  the  British  minister 


EMANCIPATION     OF     SOUTH     AMERICA.  343 

of  foreign  affairs,  issued  a  proclamation,  in  which  he  expressly 
assures  the  inhabitants  of  Terra  Firma,  that  the  British  govern- 
ment will  aid  in  establishing  their  independence. 

•  With  regard  to  the  hope  you  entertain  of  raising  the  spirits  of  those  persons  with 
whom  you  are  in  correspondence,  towards  encouraging  the  inhabitants  to  resist  the 
oppressive  authority  of  their  government,  I  have  little  more  to  say  than  that  they 
may  be  certain,  that  whenever  they  are  in  that  disposition,  they  may  receive  at 
your  hands  all  the  succors  to  be  expected  from  his  Britannic  majesty,  be  it  with  forces 
or  with  arms  and  ammunition  to  any  extent ;  with  the  assurance  that  the  views  of 
his  Britannic  majesty  go  no  further  than  to  secure  to  them  their  independence,'  and  so 
forth. 

In  the  prosecution  of  the  same  object,  Great  Britain  defrayed 
the  expenses  of  the  famous  expedition  of  Miranda.  England,  in 
1811,  when  she  was  in  the  most  intimate  relations  with  Spain, 
then  struggling  against  the  French  power,  assumed  the  attitude  of 
a  mediator  between  the  colonies  and  the  peninsula.  The  terms, 
on  which  she  conceived  her  mediation  could  alone  be  effectual, 
were  rejected  by  the  cortes,  at  the  lowest  state  of  the  Spanish 
power.  Among  these  terms,  England  required  for  the  colonies  a 
perfect  freedom  of  commerce,  allowing  only  some  degree  of 
preference  to  Spain ;  that  the  appointments  of  viceroys  and 
governors  should  be  made  indiscriminately  from  Spanish  Ameri- 
cans and  Spaniards  ;  and  that  the  interior  government,  and  every 
branch  of  public  administration,  should  be  intrusted  to  the  cabildo, 
or  municipalities,  and  so  forth.  If  Spain,  when  Spain  was  almost 
reduced  to  the  island  of  St.  Leon,  then  rejected  those  conditions, 
will  she  now  consent  to  them,  amounting,  as  they  do,  substantially, 
to  the  independence  of  Spanish  America  ?  If  England,  devoted 
as  she  was  at  that  time  to  the  cause  of  the  peninsula,  even  then 
thought  those  terms  due  to  the  colonies,  will  she  now,  when  no 
particular  motive  exists  for  cherishing  the  Spanish  power,  and  after 
the  ingratitude  with  which  Spain  has  treated  her,  think  that  the 
colonies  ought  to  submit  to  less  favorable  conditions  ?  And  would 
not  England  stand  disgraced  in  the  eyes  of  the  whole  world,  if, 
after  having  abetted  and  excited  a  revolution,  she  should  now 
attempt  to  reduce  the  colonies  to  unconditional  submission,  or 
should  make  war  upon  us  for  acknowledging  that  independence 
which  she  herself  sought  to  establish  ? 

No  guarantee  for  the  conduct  of  nations  or  individuals  ought  to 
be  stronger  than  that  which  honor  imposes ;  but  for  those  who  put 
no  confidence  in  its  obligations,  I  have  an  argument  to  urge  of 
more  conclusive  force.  It  is  founded  upon  the  interests  of  England. 
Excluded  almost  as  she  is  from  the  continent,  the  commerce  of 
America,  South  and  North,  is  worth  to  her  more  than  the  com- 
merce of  the  residue  of  the  world.  That  to  all  Spanish  America 
has  been  alone  estimated  at  fifteen  millions  sterling.  Its  aggregate 
value  to  Spanish  America  and  the  United  States  may  be  fairly 


344  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

stated  at  upwards  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  effect  of 
a  war  with  the  two  countries  would  be,  to  divest  England  of  this 
great  interest,  at  a  moment  when  she  is  anxiously  engaged  in 
repairing  the  ravages  of  the  European  war.  Looking  to  the  present 
moment  only,  and  merely  to  the  interests  of  commerce,  England 
is  concerned  more  than  even  this  country,  in  the  success  of  the 
cause  of  independence  in  Spanish  America.  The  reduction  of 
the  Spanish  power  in  America  has  been  the  constant  and  favorite 
aim  of  her  policy  for  two  centuries ;  she  must  blot  out  her  whole 
history,  reverse  the  maxims  of  all  her  illustrious  statesmen,  extin- 
guish the  spirit  of  commerce  which  animates,  directs,  and  controls 
all  her  movements,  before  she  can  render  herself  accessary  to  the 
subjugation  of  Spanish  America.  No  commercial  advantages 
which  Spain  may  offer  by  treaty,  can  possess  the  security  for 
her  trade,  which  independence  would  communicate.  The  one 
would  be  most  probably  of  limited  duration,  and  liable  to  violation 
from  policy,  from  interest,  or  from  caprice.  The  other  would  be 
as  permanent  as  independence.  That  I  do  not  mistake  the  views 
of  the  British  cabinet,  the  recent  proclamation  of  the  prince  regent 
I  think  proves.  The  committee  will  remark,  that  the  document 
does  not  describe  the  patriots  as  rebels,  or  insurgents,  but,  using 
a  term  which  I  have  no  doubt  has  been  well  weighed,  it  declares 
the  existence  of  a  '  state  of  warfare.'  And  with  regard  to  English 
subjects,  who  are  in  the  armies  of  Spain,  although  they  entered  the 
service  without  restriction  as  to  their  military  duties,  it  requires 
that  they  shall  not  take  part  against  the  colonies.  The  subjects  of 
England  freely  supply  the  patriots  with  arms  and  ammunition,  and 
an  honorable  friend  of  mine  (Colonel  Johnson)  has  just  received 
a  letter  from  one  of  the  West  India  islands,  stating  the  arrival 
there  from  England  of  the  skeletons  of  three  regiments,  with  many 
of  the  men  to  fill  them,  destined  to  aid  the  patriots.  In  the 
Quarterly  Review  of  November  last,  a  journal  devoted  to  the 
ministry,  and  a  work  of  the  highest  authority,  as  it  respects  their 
views,  the  policy  of  neutrality  is  declared  and  supported  as  the 
true  policy  of  England  ;  and  that,  even  if  the  United  States  were  to 
take  part  in  the  war;  and  Spain  is  expressly  notified,  that  she 
cannot  and  must  not  expect  aid  from  England. 

•  In  arguing,  therefore,  for  the  advantage  of  a  strict  neutrality,  we  must  enter  an 
early  protest  against  any  imputations  of  hostility  to  the  cause  of  genuine  freedom,  or 
of  any  passion  for  despotism  and  the  inquisition.  We  are  no  more  the  panegyrists  of 
legitimate  authority  in  all  times,  circumstances,  and  situations,  than  we  are  advocates 
for  revolution  in  the  abstract,'  and  so  forth.  '  But  it  has  been  plausibly  asserted,  that, 
by  abstaining  from  interference  in  the  affairs  of  South  America,  we  are  surrendering 
to  the  United  States  all  the  advantages  which  might  be  secured  to  ourselves  from 
this  revolution:  that  we  are  assisting  to  increase  the  trade  and  power  of  a  nation 
which  alone  can  ever  be  the  maritime  rival  of  England.  It  appears  to  us  extremely 
doubtful,  whether  any  advantage,  commercial  or  political,  can  be  lost  to  England  by 
a  neutral  conduct ;  it  must  be  observed,  that  the  United  States  themselves,  have 
given  every  public  proof  of  their  intention  to  pursue  the  same  line  of  policy.     But 


EMANCIPATION     OF     SOUTH     AMERICA.  345 

admitting  that  this  conduct  is  nothing  more  than  a  decent  pretext ;  or  admitting,  still 
further,  that  they  will  afford  to  the  independents  direct  and  open  assistance,  our  view 
of  the  case  wrould  remain  precisely  the  same,'  and  so  forth.  '  To  persevere  in  force, 
unaided,  is  to  miscalculate  her  (Spain's)  own  resources,  even  to  infatuation.  To 
expect  the  aid  of  an  ally  in  such  a  cause  would,  if  that  ally  were  England,  be  to  sup- 
pose this  country  as  forgetful  of  its  own  past  history  as  of  its  immediate  interests 
and  duties.  Far  better  would  it  be  for  Spain,  instead  of  calling  for  our  aid,  to  profit 
by  our  experience  5  and  to  substitute,  ere  it  be  too  late,  for  efforts  like  those  by  which 
the  North  American  colonies  were  lost  to  this  country,  the  conciliatory  measures  by 
which  they  might  have  been  retained.' 

In  the  case  of  the  struggle  between  Spain  and  her  colonies, 
England,  for  once,  at  least,  has  manifested  a  degree  of  wisdom 
highly  deserving  our  imitation,  but  unfortunately  the  very  reverse 
of  her  course  has  been  pursued  by  us.  She  has  so  conducted,  by 
operating  upon  the  hopes  of  the  two  parties,  as  to  keep  on  the 
best  terms  with  both  ;  to  enjoy  all  the  advantages  of  the  rich 
commerce  of  both.  We  have,  by  a  neutrality  bill  containing 
unprecedented  features,  and  still  more  by  a  late  executive  measure, 
to  say  the  least  of  it,  of  doubtful  constitutional  character,  contrived 
to  dissatisfy  both  parties.  We  have  the  confidence  neither  of 
Spain  nor  the  colonies. 

It  remains  for  me  to  defend  the  proposition  which  I  meant  to 
submit,  from  an  objection  which  I  have  heard  intimated,  that  it 
interferes  with  the  duties  assigned  to  the  executive  branch.  On 
this  subject  I  feel  the  greatest  solicitude ;  for  no  man,  more  than 
myself,  respects  the  preservation  of  the  independence  of  the  several 
departments  of  government,  in  the  constitutional  orbits  which  are 
prescribed  to  them.  It  is  my  favorite  maxim,  that  each,  acting 
within  its  proper  sphere,  should  move  with  its  constitutional 
independence,  and  under  its  constitutional  responsibility,  without 
influence  from  any  other.  I  am  perfectly  aware  that  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States  —  and  I  admit  the  proposition  in  its 
broadest  sense  —  confides  to  the  executive  the  reception  and  the 
deputation  of  ministers.  But,  in  relation  to  the  latter  operation, 
congress  has  concurrent  will,  in  the  power  of  providing  for  the 
payment  of  their  salaries.  The  instrument  nowhere  says  or  implies 
that  the  executive  act  of  sending  a  minister  to  a  foreign  country, 
shall  precede  the  legislative  act  which  provides  for  the  payment  of 
his  salary.  And,  in  point  of  fact,  our  statutory  code  is  full  of 
examples  of  legislative  action  prior  to  executive  action,  both  in 
relation  to  the  deputation  of  agents  abroad,  and  to  the  subject 
matter  of  treaties.  Perhaps  the  act  of  sending  a  minister  abroad, 
and  the  act  of  providing  for  the  allowance  of  his  salary,  ought  to 
be  simultaneous  ;  but  if,  in  the  order  of  precedence,  there  be  more 
reason  on  the  one  side  than  on  the  olher,  I  think  it  is  in  favor  of 
the  priority  of  the  legislative  act,  as  the  safer  depository  of  power. 
When  a  minister  is  sent  abroad,  although  the  legislature  may  be 
disposed  to  think  his  mission  useless;  although,  if  previously 
consulted,  they  would  have  said  they  would  not  consent  to  pay 
vol.  1.  44 


346  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

such  a  minister;  the  duty  is  delicate  and  painful  to  refuse  to  pay 
the  salary  promised  to  him  whom  the  executive  has  even  unneces- 
sarily sent  abroad.  I  can  illustrate  my  idea  by  the  existing  missions 
to  Sweden  and  to  the  Netherlands.  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying, 
that  if  we  had  not  ministers  of  the  first  grade  there,  and  if  the 
legislature  were  asked,  prior  to  sending  them,  whether  it  would 
consent  to  pay  ministers  of  that  grade,  I  would  not,  and  I  believe 
congress  would  not,  consent  to  pay  them. 

If  it  be  urged  that,  by  avowing  our  willingness,  in  a  legislative 
act,  to  pay  a  minister  not  yet  sent,  and  whom  the  president  may 
think  it  improper  to  send  abroad,  we  operate  upon  the  president 
by  all  the  force  of  our  opinion ;  it  may  be  retorted,  that  when  we 
are  called  upon  to  pay  any  minister,  sent  under  similar  circum- 
stances, we  are  operated  upon  by  all  the  force  of  the  president's 
opinion.  The  true  theory  of  our  government,  at  least,  supposes 
that  each  of  the  two  departments,  acting  on  its  proper  constitutional 
responsibility,  will  decide  according  to  its  best  judgment,  under  all 
the  circumstances  of  the  case.  If  we  make  the  previous  appropri- 
ation, we  act  upon  our  constitutional  responsibility,  and  the  presi- 
dent afterwards  will  proceed  upon  his.  And  so  if  he  makes  the 
previous  appointment.  We  have  the  right,  after  a  minister  is  sent 
abroad,  and  we  are  called  upon  to  pay  him,  and  we  ought,  to 
deliberate  upon  the  propriety  of  his  mission ;  we  may  and  ought 
to  grant  or  withhold  his  salary.  If  this  power  of  deliberation  is 
conceded  subsequently  to  the  deputation  of  the  minister,  it  must 
exist  prior  to  that  deputation.  Whenever  we  deliberate,  we  delib- 
erate under  our  constitutional  responsibility.  Pass  the  amendment 
I  propose,  and  it  will  be  passed  under  that  responsibility.  Then 
the  president,  when  he  deliberates  on  the  propriety  of  the  mission, 
will  act  under  his  constitutional  responsibility.  Each  branch  of 
government,  moving  in  its  proper  sphere,  will  act  with  as  much 
freedom  from  the  influence  of  the  other,  as  is  practically  attainable. 

There  is  great  reason,  from  the  peculiar  character  of  the  American 
government,  for  a  perfect  understanding  between  the  legislative 
and  executive  branches,  in  relation  to  the  acknowledgment  of  a 
new  power.  Every  where  else  the  power  of  declaring  war  resides 
with  the  executive.  Here  it  is  deposited  with  the  legislature.  If, 
contrary  to  my  opinion,  there  be  even  a  risk  that  the  acknowledg- 
ment of  a  new  stale  may  lead  to  war,  it  is  advisable  that  the  step 
should  not  be  taken  without  a  previous  knowledge  of  the  will  of 
the  war-making  branch.  I  am  disposed  to  give  to  the  president  all 
the  confidence  which  he  must  derive  from  the  unequivocal  expres- 
sion of  our  will.  This  expression  I  know  may  be  given  in  the 
form  of  an  abstract  resolution,  declaratory  of  that  will ;  but  I  prefer 
at  this  time  proposing  an  act  of  practical  legislation.  And  if  I 
have  been  so  fortunate  as  to  communicate  to  the  committee,  in 
any  thing  like  that  degree  of  strength  in  which  I  entertain  them, 


EMANCIPATION     OF     SOUTH     AMERICA.  347 

the  convictions  that  the  cause  of  the  patriots  is  just;  that  the 
character  of  the  war,  as  waged  by  Spain,  should  induce  us  to  wish 
them  success;  that  we  have  a  great  interest  in  that  success;  that 
this  interest,  as  well  as  our  neutral  attitude,  requires  us  to  acknowl- 
edge any  established  government  in  Spanish  America ;  that  the 
United  Provinces  of  the  river  Plate  is  such  a  government;  that  we 
may  safely  acknowledge  its  independence,  without  danger  of  war 
from  Spain,  from  the  allies,  or  from  England ;  and  that,  without 
unconstitutional  interference  with  the  executive  power,  with  peculiar 
fitness,  we  may  express,  in  an  act  of  appropriation,  our  sentiments, 
leaving  him  to  the  exercise  of  a  just  and  responsible  discretion ; 
I  hope  the  committee  will  adopt  the  proposition  which  I  have  now 
the  honor  of  presenting  to  them,  after  a  respectful  tender  of  my 
acknowledgments  for  their  attention  and  kindness,  during,  I  fear, 
the  tedious  period  I  have  been  so  unprofitably  trespassing  upon 
their  patience. 


EMANCIPATION  OF  SOUTH  AMERICA. 

IN    THE    HOUSE    OF    REPRESENTATIVES,    MARCH   28,    1818. 


[The  house  having  again  resolved  itself  into  a  committee  of  the  whole  on  the  general 
appropriation  bill,  to  which  Mr.  Clay  had  moved  an  amendment,  which  was  still 
pending, 'o  introduce  an  appropriation  for  a  mission  to  Buenos  Ayres  (as  stated  in 
the  last  foregoing  speech),  Mr.  Clay  s.iid.  that  as  no  other  gentleman  appeared 
disposed  to  address  the  chair,  he  would  avail  himself  of  this  opportunity  of  making 
some  remarks  in  reply  to  the  opponents  of  his  motion.  The  members  who  had 
spoken  against  the  measure  were  Messrs.  Lowndes,  of  South  Carolina,  Forsyth,  of 
Georgia,  Smith,  of  Maryland,  Smyth  and  H.  Nelson,  of  Virginia,  and  Poindexter,  of 
Mississippi ;  while  those  who  supported  it  were  Messrs.  Robertson,  of  Louisiana, 
Holmes,  of  Massachusetts.  Floyd  and  Tucker,  of  Virginia,  and  R.  M.  Johnson,  of  Ken- 
tucky. The  amendment  was  rejected  by  a  vote  of  one  hundred  and  fifteen  to  forty- 
five  ;  a  result  which  was  reversed  in  1820.] 


The  first  objection  which  I  think  it  incumbent  on  me  to  notice 
is  that  of  my  friend  from  South  Carolina  (Mr.  Lowndes),  who 
opposed  the  form  of  the  proposition,  as  being  made  on  a  general 
appropriation  bill,  on  which  he  appeared  to  think  nothing  ought 
to  be  engrafted  which  was  likely  to  give  rise  to  a  difference 
between  the  two  branches  of  the  legislature.  If  the  gentleman 
himself  had  always  acted  on  this  principle,  his  objection  would  be 
entitled  to  more  weight;  but,  the  item  in  the  appropriation  bill 
next  following  this,  and  reported  by  the  gentleman  himself,  is 
infinitely  more  objectionable — which  is,  an  appropriation  of  thirty 
thousand  dollars  for  defraying  the  expenses  of  three  commissioners, 
appointed,  or  proposed  to  be  paid,  in  an  unconstitutional  form.  It 
cannot  be  expected  that  a  general  appropriation  bill  will  ever  pass 
without  some  disputable  clauses,  and  in  case  of  a  difference  be- 
tween the  two  houses  (a  difference  which  we  have  no  right  to 
anticipate  in  this  instance),  which  cannot  be  compromised  as  to 
any  article,  the  obvious  course  is,  to  omit  such  article  altogether, 
retaining  all  the  others ;  and,  in  a  case  of  this  character,  relative  to 
brevet  pay,  which  has  occurred  during  the  present  session,  such 
has  been  the  ground  the  gentleman  himself  has  taken  in  a  confer- 
ence with  ihe  senate,  of  which  he  is  a  manager. 

The  gentleman  from  South  Carolina,  has  professed  to  concur 
with  me  in  a  great  many  of  his  general  propositions;  and  neither 


EMANCIPATION      OF     SOUTH     AMERICA.  349 

he  nor  any  other  gentleman  has  disagreed  with  me,  that  the  mere 
recognition  of  the  independence  of  the  provinces  is  no  cause  of 
war  with  Spain,'  except  the  gentleman  from  Maryland  (Mr. 
Smith),  to  whom  I  recommend,  without  intending  disrespect  to 
him,  to  confine  himself  to  the  operation  of  commerce,  rather  than 
undertake  to  expound  questions  of  public  law;  for  I  can  assure 
the  gentleman,  that,  although  he  may  make  some  figure,  with  his 
practical  knowledge,  in  the  one  case,  he  will  not  in  the  other.  No 
man,  except  the  gentleman  from  Maryland,  has  had  what  I  should 
call  the  hardihood  to  contend,  that,  on  the  ground  of  principle  and 
mere  public  law,  the  exercise  of  the  right  of  recognizing  another 
power  is  cause  of  war.  But  though  the  gentleman  from  South 
Carolina  admitted,  that  the  recognition  would  be  no  cause  of  war, 
and  that  it  was  not  likely  to  lead  to  a  war  with  Spain,  we  find 
him,  shortly  after,  getting  into  a  war  with  Spain,  how,  I  do  not  see, 
and  by  some  means,  which  he  did  not  deign  to  discover  to  us, 
getting  us  into  a  war  with  England  also.  Having  satisfied  himself, 
by  this  course  of  reasoning,  the  gentleman  has  discovered,  that  the 
finances  of  Spain  are  in  a  most  favorable  condition.  On  this  part 
of  the  subject,  it  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  say  any  thing  after 
what  the  committee  has  heard  from  the  eloquent  gentleman  from 
Massachusetts  (Mr.  Holmes),  whose  voice,  in  a  period  infinitely 
more  critical  in  our  affairs  than  the  present,  has  been  heard  with  so 
much  delight  from  the  east  in  support  of  the  righls  and  honor  of 
the  country.  He  has  clearly  shown,  that  there  is  no  parallel 
between  the  state  of  Spain  and  of  this  country  —  the  one  of  a 
country  whose  resources  are  completely  impoverished  and  ex- 
hausted; the  other  of  a  country  whose  resources  are  almost  un- 
touched. But,  I  would  ask  of  the  gentleman  from  Soulh  Carolina, 
if  he  can  conceive  that  a  state,  in  the  condition  of  Spain,  whose 
minister  of  the  treasury  admits  that  the  people  have  no  longer  the 
means  of  paying  new  taxes  —  a  nation  with  an  immense  mass  of 
floating  debt,  and  totally  without  credit  —  can  feel  any  anxiety  to 
engage  in  a  war  with  a  nation  like  this,  whose  situation  is,  in  every 
possible  view,  directly  the  reverse  ?  I  ask,  if  an  annual  revenue, 
equal  only  to  five  eighths  of  the  annual  expenditure,  exhibits  a 
financial  ability  to  enter  upon  a  new  war,  when,  too,  the  situation 
of  Spain  is  altogether  unlike  that  of  the  United  States  and  Eng- 
land, whose  credit,  resting  upon  a  solid  basis,  enables  them  to 
supply,  by  loans,  any  deficit  in  the  income  ? 

Notwithstanding  the  diversity  of  sentiment  which  has  been 
displayed  during  the  debate,  I  am  happy  to  find  that,  with  one 
exception,  every  member  has  done  justice  to  the  struggle  in  the 
south,  and  admitted  it  to  be  entitled  to  the  favor  of  the  best  feelings 
of  the  human  heart.  Even  my  honorable  friend  near  me  (Mr. 
Nelson)  has  made  a  speech  on  our  side,  and  we  should  not  have 
found  out,  if  he  had  not  told  us,  that  he  would  vote  against  us. 


350  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

Although  his  speech  has  been  distinguished  by  his  accustomed 
eloquence,  I  should  be  glad  to  agree  on  a  cartel  with  the  gentlemen 
on  the  other  side  of  the  house,  to  give  them  his  speech  for  his  vote. 
The  gentleman  say£  his  heart  is  with  us,  that  he  ardently  desires 
the  independence  of  the  south.  Will  he  excuse  me  for  telling  him, 
that  if  he  will  give  himself  up  to  the  honest  feelings  of  his  heart, 
he  will  have  a  much  surer  guide  than  by  trusting  to  his  head,  to 
which,  however,  I  am  far  from  offering  any  disparagement  ? 

But,  sir,  it  seems  that  a  division  of  the  republican  party  is  about 
to  be  made  by  the  proposition.  Who  is  to  furnish,  in  this  respect, 
the  correct  criterion  —  whose  conduct  is  to  be  the  slandard  of 
orthodoxy  ?  What  has  been  the  great  principle  of  the  party  to 
which  the  gentleman  from  Virginia  refers,  from  the  first  existence 
of  the  government  to  the  present  day  ?  An  attachment  to  liberty, 
a  devotion  to  the  great  cause  of  humanity,  of  freedom,  of  self- 
government,  and  of  equal  rights.  If  there  is  to  be  a  division,  as 
the  gentleman  says  ;  if  he  is  going  to  leave  us,  who  are  following 
the  old  track,  he  may,  in  his  new  connections,  find  a  great  variety 
of  company,  which,  perhaps,  may  indemnify  him  for  the  loss  of 
his  old  friends.  What  is  the  great  principle  that  has  distinguished 
parties  in  all  ages,  and  under  all  governments  —  democrats  and 
federalists,  whigs  and  tories,  plebeians  and  patricians  ?  The  one, 
distrustful  of  human  nature,  appreciates  less  the  influence  of 
reason  and  of  good  dispositions,  and  appeals  more  to  physical 
force ;  the  other  party,  confiding  in  human  nature,  relies  much 
upon  moral  power,  and  applies  to  force  as  an  auxiliary  only  to  the 
operations  of  reason.  Ail  the  modifications  and  denominations 
of  political  parties  and  sects  may  be  traced  to  this  fundamental 
distinction.  It  is  that  which  separated  the  two  great  parties  in  this 
country.  If  there  is  to  be  a  division  in  the  republican  party,  I 
glory  that  I,  at  least,  am  found  among  those  who  are  anxious  for 
the  advancement  of  human  rights  and  of  human  liberty ;  and  the 
honorable  gentleman  who  spoke  of  appealing  to  the  public  senti- 
ment, will  find,  when  he  does  so,  or  I  am  much  mistaken,  that 
public  sentiment  is  also  on  the  side  of  public  liberty  and  of  human 
happiness. 

But  the  gentleman  from  South  Carolina  has  told  us,  that  the 
constitution  has  wisely  confided  to  the  executive  branch  of  the 
government,  the  administration  of  the  foreign  interests  of  the 
country.  Has  the  honorable  gentleman  attempted  to  show,  though 
his  proposition  be  generally  true,  and  will  never  be  controverted 
by  me,  that  we  also  have  not  our  participation  in  the  administration 
of  the  foreign  concerns  of  the  country,  when  we  are  called  upon,  in 
our  legislative  capacity,  to  defray  the  expenses  of  foreign  missions, 
or  to  regulate  commerce  ?  I  stated,  when  up  before,  and  I  have 
listened  in  vain  for  an  answer  to  the  argument,  that  no  part  of  the 
constitution  says  which  shall  have  the  precedence,  the  act  of  making 


EMANCIPATION     OF     SOUTH     AMERICA.  351 

the  appropriation  for  paying  a  minister,  or  the  act  of  sending  one. 
I  have  contended,  and  now  repeat,  that  either  the  acts  of  deputing 
and  of  paying  a  minister  should  be  simultaneous,  or,  if  either  has 
the  preference,  the  act  of  appropriating  his  pay  should  precede  the 
sending  of  a  minister.  I  challenge  gentlemen  to  show  me  any  thing 
in  the  constitution  which  directs  that  a  minister  shall  be  sent  before 
his  payment  is  provided  for.  I  repeat,  what  I  said  the  other  day. 
that,  by  sending  a  minister  abroad,  during  the  recess,  to  nations 
between  whom  and  us  no  such  relations  existed  as  to  justify 
incurring  the  expense,  the  legislative  opinion  is  forestalled,  or 
unduly  biased.  I  appeal  to  the  practice  of  the  government,  and 
refer  to  various  acts  of  congress  for  cases  of  appropriations,  without 
the  previous  deputation  of  the  agent  abroad,  and  without  the 
preliminary  of  a  message  from  the  president,  asking  for  them, 

[Mr.  Clay  here  quoted  the  act,  authorizing  the  establishment  of  certain  consulates 
in  the  Mediterranean,  and  affixing  salaries  thereto,  in  consequence  of  which  the 
president  had  subsequently  appointed  consuls,  who  had  been  receiving  their  salaries 
to  this  day.] 

From  these  it  appears  that  congress  has  constantly  pursued  the 
great  principle  of  the  theory  of  the  constitution,  for  which  I  now 
contend  —  that  each  department  of  the  government  must  act  within 
its  own  sphere,  independently,  and  on  its  own  responsibility.  It 
is  a  little  extraordinary,  indeed,  after  the  doctrine  which  was 
maintained  the  other  day,  of  a  sweeping  right  in  congress  to 
appropriate  money  to  any  object,  that  it  should  now  be  contended 
that  congress  has  no  right  to  appropriate  money  to  a  particular 
object.  The  gentleman's  (Mr.  Lowndes's)  doctrine  is  broad,  com- 
prehending every  case  ;  but,  when  proposed  to  be  exemplified  in 
any  specific  case,  it  does  not  apply.  My  theory  of  the  constitution, 
on  this  particular  subject,  is,  that  congress  has  the  right  of  appro- 
priating money  for  foreign  missions,  the  president  the  power  to  use 
it.  The  president  having  the  power,  I  am  willing  to  say  to  him, 
1  here  is  the  money,  which  we  alone  have  a  right  to  appropriate, 
which  will  enable  you  to  carry  your  power  into  effect,  if  it  seems 
expedient  to  you.'  Both  being  before  him,  the  power  and  the 
means  of  executing  it,  the  president  would  judge,  on  his  own 
responsibility,  whether  or  not  it  was  expedient  to  exercise  it.  In 
this  course,  each  department  of  the  government  would  act  inde- 
pendently, without  influence  from,  and  without  interference  with, 
the  other.  I  have  stated  cases,  from  the  statute-book,  to  show, 
that,  in  instances  where  no  foreign  agent  has  been  appointed,  but 
only  a  possibility  of  their  being  appointed,  appropriations  have 
been  made  for  paying  them.  Even  in  the  case  of  the  subject 
matter  of  negotiation  (a  right  much  more  important  than  that  of 
sending  an  agent),  an  appropriation  of  money  has  preceded  the 
negotiation  of  a  treaty  —  thus,  in  the  third  volume  of   the  new 


352  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

edition  of  the  laws,  page  twenty-seven,  a  case  of  an  appropriation 
of  twenty-five  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eighty  dollars  to  defray 
the  expense  of  such  treaties  as  the  president  of  the  United  States 
might  deem  proper  to  make  with  certain  Indian  tribes.  An  act, 
which  has  been  lately  referred  to,  appropriating  two  millions  for 
the  purchase  of  Florida,  is  a  case  still  more  strongly  in  point,  as 
contemplating  a  treaty,  not  with  a  savage,  but  a  civilized  power. 
In  this  case  there  may  have  been,  though  I  believe  there  was  not, 
an  executive  message,  recommending  the  appropriation ;  but  I 
take  upon  myself  to  assert,  that,  in  almost  all  the  cases  1  have 
quoted,  there  was  no  previous  executive  intimation  that  the  appro- 
priation of  the  money  was  necessary  to  the  object;  but  congress 
has  taken  up  the  subject,  and  authorized  these  appropriations, 
without  any  official  call  from  the  executive  to  do  so. 

With  regard  to  the  general  condition  of  the  provinces  now  in 
revolt  against  the  parent  country,  I  will  not  take  up  much  of  the 
time  of  the  house.  Gentlemen  are,  however,  much  mistaken  as  to 
many  of  the  points  of  their  history,  geography,  commerce,  and 
produce,  which  have  been  touched  upon.  Gentlemen  have 
supposed  there  would  be  from  those  countries  a  considerable 
competition  of  the  same  products  which  we  export.  I  venture  to 
say,  that,  in  regard  to  Mexico,  there  can  be  no  such  competition  ; 
that  the  table-lands  are  at  such  a  distance  from  the  seashore,  and 
the  difficulty  of  reaching  it  is  so  great,  as  to  make  the  transportation 
to  La  Vera  Cruz  too  expensive  to  be  borne,  and  the  heat  so  intense 
as  to  destroy  the  bread-stuffs  as  soon  as  they  arrive.  With  respect 
to  New  Grenada, the  gentleman  from  Maryland  is  entirely  mistaken. 
It  is  the  elevation  of  Mexico,  principally,  which  enables  it  to 
produce  bread-stnffs;  but  New  Granada,  lying  nearly  under  the 
line,  cannot  produce  them.  The  productions  of  New  Granada  for 
exportation  are,  the  precious  metals,  (of  which,  of  gold,  particularly, 
a  greater  portion  is  to  be  found  than  in  any  of  the  provinces, 
except  Mexico,)  sugar,  coffee,  cocoa,  and  some  other  articles  of  a 
similar  character.  Of  Venezuela,  the  principal  productions  are 
coffee,  cocoa,  indigo,  and  some  sugar.  Sugar  is  also  produced  in 
all  the  Guianas  —  French,  Spanish,  and  Dutch.  The  interior  of  the 
provinces  of  La  Plata  may  be  productive  of  bread  stuffs,  but  they 
are  too  remote  to  come  into  competition  with  us  in  the  West  India 
market,  the  voyages  to  the  United  States  generally  occupying  from 
fifty  to  sixty  days,  and  some  times  as  long  as  ninety  days.  By 
deducting  from  that  number  the  average  passage  from  the  United 
States  to  the  West  Indies,  the  length  of  the  usual  passage  between 
Buenos  Ayres  and  the  West  Indies  will  be  found,  and  will  show 
that,  in  the  supply  of  the  West  India  market  with  bread-stuffs,  the 
provinces  can  never  come  seriously  into  competition  with  us.  And 
in  regard  to  Chili,  productive  as  it  may  be,  does  the  gentleman 
from    Maryland  suppose  that  vessels  are  going  to  double  Cape 


EMANCIPATION     OF     SOUTH     AMERICA.  353 

Horn  and  come  into  competition  with  us  in  the  West  Indies  ?  It  is 
impossible.  Bat  I  feel  a  reluctance  at  pursuing  the  discussion  of 
this  part  of  the  question  ;  because  I  am  sure  these  are  considerations 
on  which  the  house  cannot  act,  being  entirely  unworthy  of  the 
subject.  We  may  as  well  stop  all  our  intercourse  with  England, 
with  France,  or  with  the  Baltic,  whose  products  are  in  many 
respects  the  same  as  ours,  as  to  act  on  the  present  occasion,  under 
the  influence  of  any  such  considerations.  It  is  too  selfish,  too 
mean  a  principle  for  this  body  to  act  on,  to  refuse  its  sympathy  for 
the  patriots  of  the  south,  because  some  little  advantage  of  a  com- 
mercial nature  may  be  retained  to  us  from  their  remaining  in  the 
present  condition,  which,  however,  I  totally  deny.  Three  fourths 
of  the  productions  of  the  Spanish  provinces  are  the  precious 
metals,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  residue  not  of  the  same  character 
as  the  staple  productions  of  our  soil.  But  it  seems  that  a  pamphlet 
has  recently  been  published  on  this  subject  to  which  gentlemen 
have  referred.  Now  permit  me  to  express  a  distrust  of  all  pam- 
phlets of  this  kind,  unless  we  know  their  source.  It  may,  for 
aught  I  know,  if  not  composed  at  the  instance  of  the  Spanish 
minister,  have  been  written  by  some  merchant  who  has  a  privilege 
of  trading  to  Lima  under  royal  license ;  for  such  do  exist,  as  I  am 
informed,  and  some  of  them  procured  under  the  agency  of  'a 
celebrated  person  by  the  name  of  Sarmiento,  of  whom  perhaps 
the  gentleman  from  Maryland  (Mr.  Smith)  can  give  the  house 
some  information.  To  gentlemen  thus  privileged  to  trade  with  the 
Spanish  provinces  under  royal  authority,  the  effect  of  a  recognition 
of  ihe  independence  of  the  provinces  would  be,  to  deprive  them 
of  that  monopoly.  The  reputed  author  of  the  pamphlet  in  ques- 
tion, if  I  understand  correctly,  is  one  who  has  been,  if  he  is  not 
now,  deeply  engaged  in  the  trade,  and  I  will  venture  to  say,  that 
many  of  his  statements  are  incorrect.  In  relation  to  the  trade  of 
Mexico,  I  happen  to  possess  the  Royal  Gazette  of  Mexico  of  1804, 
showing  what  was  the  trade  of  that  province  in  1803 ;  from  which 
it  appears  that,  without  making  allowance  for  the  trade  from  the 
Philippine  Islands  to  Acapulco,  the  imports  into  the  port  of  Vera 
Cruz  were  in  that  year  twenty-two  millions  in  value,  exclusive  of 
contraband,  the  amount  of  which  was  very  considerable.  Among 
these  articles  were  many  which  the  United  States  could  supply  as 
well,  if  not  on  better  terms,  than  they  could  be  supplied  from  any 
other  quarter;  for  example,  brandy  and  spirits,  paper,  iron,  imple- 
ments for  agriculture  and  the  mines;  wax,  spices,  naval  stores,  salt 
fish,  butter,  provisions;  these  articles  amounting  in  the  whole  to 
one  seventh  part  of  the  whole  import  trade  to  Mexico.  With 
regard  to  the  independence  of  that  country,  which  gentlemen 
seemed  to  think  improbable,  I  rejoice  that  I  am  able  to  congratu- 
late the  house,  that  we  have  this  morning  intelligence  that  Mina 
yet  lives,  and  the  patriot  flag  is  still  unfurled,  and  the  cause 
vol.  i.  45 


354 


SPEECHES    OF     HENRY     CLAY 


infinitely  more  prosperous  than  ever.  This  intelligence  I  am  in 
hopes  will  prove  true,  notwithstanding  the  particular  accounts  of 
his  death,  which,  there  is  so  much  of  fabrication  and  falsehood  in 
the  Spanish  practice,  are  not  entitled  to  credit,  unless  corroborated 
by  other  information.  Articles  are  manufactured  in  one  province 
to  produce  effect  on  other  provinces,  and  in  this  country ;  and  I  am, 
therefore,  disposed  to  think,  that  the  details  respecting  the  capture 
and  execution  of  Mina,  are  too  minute  to  be  true,  and  were  made 
up  to  produce  an  effect  here. 

With  regard  to  the  general  value  of  the  trade  of  a  country,  it  is 
to  be  determined  by  the  quantum  of  its  population,  and  its 
character,  its  productions,  and  the  extent  and  character  of  the 
territory;  and,  applying  these  criteria  to  Spanish  America,  no  nation 
offers  higher  inducements  to  commercial  enterprise.  Washed  on 
the  one  side  by  the  Pacific,  on  the  other  by  the  south  Atlantic ; 
standing  between  Africa  and  Europe  on  the  one  hand,  and  Asia 
on  the  other;  lying  along  side  of  the  United  States;  her  commerce 
must,  when  free  from  the  restraints  of  despotism,  be  immensely 
important ;  particularly  when  it  is  recollected  how  great  a  proportion 
of  the  precious  metals  it  produces ;  for  that  nation  which  can 
command  the  precious  metals,  may  be  said  to  command  almost  the 
resources  of  the  world.  For  one  moment,  imagine  the  mines  of 
the  south  locked  up  from  Great  Britain  for  two  years,  what  would 
be  the  effect  on  her  paper  system?  Bankruptcy,  explosion, 
revolution.  Even  if  the  supply  which  we  get  abroad  of  the 
precious  metals  was  cut  off  for  any  length  of  time,  I  ask  if  the 
effect  on  our  paper  system  would  not  be,  not  perhaps  equally  as 
fatal  as  to  England,  yet  one  of  the  greatest  calamities  which  could 
befall  this  country.  The  revenue  of  Spain,  in  Mexico  alone,  was, 
in  1809,  twenty  millions  of  dollars,  and  in  the  other  provinces  in 
about  the  same  proportion,  taking  into  view  their  population, 
independent  of  the  immense  contributions  annually  paid  to  the 
clergy.  When  you  look  at  the  resources  of  the  country,  and  the 
extent  of  its  population,  recollecting  that  it  is  double  our  own  ;  that 
its  consumption  of  foreign  articles,  under  a  free  commerce  would 
be  proportionably  great ;  that  it  yields  a  large  revenue  under  the 
most  abominable  system,  under  which  nearly  three  fourths  of  the 
population  are  unclad,  and  almost  naked  as  from  the  hands  of 
nature,  because  absolutely  deprived  of  the  means  of  clothing 
themselves,  what  may  not  be  the  condition  of  this  country,  under 
the  operation  of  a  different  system,  which  would  let  industry 
develope  its  resources  in  all  possible  forms?  Such  a  neighbor 
cannot  but  be  a  valuable  acquisition  in  a  commercial  point  of  view. 

Gentlemen  have  denied  the  fact  of  the  existence  of  the 
independence  of  Buenos  Ayres  at  as  early  a  date  as  I  have 
assigned  to  it.  The  gentleman  from  South  Carolina,  who  is  well 
informed  on  the  subject,   has  not,  I  think,   exhibited   his   usual 


EMANCIPATION     OF     SOUTH     AMERICA.  355 

candor  on  this  part  of  it.  When  the  gentleman  talked  of  the 
upper  provinces  being  out  of  the  possession  of  the  patriots  as  late 
as  1815,  he  ought  to  have  gone  back  and  told  the  house  what  was 
the  actual  state  of  the  fact,  with  which  I  am  sure  the  gentleman  is 
very  well  acquainted.  In  1811,  the  government  of  Buenos  Ayres 
had  been  in  possession  of  every  foot  of  the  territory  of  the  vice- 
royalty.  The  war  has  been  raging  from  1811  to  1814  in  those 
interior  provinces,  bordering  on  Lima,  which  have  been  as  often 
as  three  times  conquered  by  the  enemy,  and  as  often  recovered, 
and  from  which  the  enemy  is  now  finally  expelled.  Is  this  at  all 
remarkable  during  the  progress  of  such  a  revolution  ?  During  the 
different  periods  of  our  war  of  independence,  the  British  had 
possession  of  different  parts  of  our  country ;  as  late  as  1780,  the 
whole  of  the  southern  states  were  in  their  possession ;  and  at  an 
earlier  date  they  had  possession  of  the  great  northern  capitals. 
There  is,  in  regard  to  Buenos  Ayres,  a  distinguishing  trait,  which 
does  not  exist  in  the  history  of  our  revolution.  That  is,  that  from 
1810  to  the  present  day,  the  capital  of  the  republic  of  La  Plata  has 
been  invariably  in  the  possession  of  the  patriot  government.  Gen- 
tlemen must  admit  that  when,  in  1814,  she  captured  at  Monte- 
video an  army  as  large  as  Burgoyne's  captured  at  Saratoga,  they 
were  then  in  possession  of  independence.  If  they  have  been  since 
1810  in  the  enjoyment  of  self-government,  it  is,  indeed,  not  very 
material  under  what  name  or  under  what  form.  The  fact  of  their 
independence  is  all  that  is  necessary  to  be  established.  In  reply 
to  the  argument  of  the  gentleman  from  South  Carolina,  derived 
from  his  having  been  unable  to  find  out  the  number  of  the 
provinces,  this  arose  from  the  circumstance  that,  thirty-six  years 
ago,  the  vice-royalty  had  been  a  captain-generalship  ;  that  it  ex- 
tended then  only  to  Tucuman,  whilst  of  late  and  at  present  the 
government  extends  to  Desaguedera,  in  about  the  sixteenth  degree 
of  south  latitude.  There  are  other  reasons  why  there  is  some 
confusion  in  the  number  of  the  provinces,  as  stated  by  different 
writers;  there  is,  in  the  first  place,  a  territorial  division  of  the 
country;  then  a  judicial;  and  next  a  military  division;  and  the 
provinces  have  been  stated  at  ten,  thirteen,  or  twenty,  according 
to  the  denominations  used.  This,  however,  with  the  gentleman 
from  South  Carolina,  I  regard  as  a  fact  of  no  sort  of  consequence. 
I  will  pass  over  the  report  lately  made  to  the  house  by  the  de- 
partment of  state,  respecting  the  state  of  South  America,  with  only 
one  remark  —  that  it  appears  to  me  to  exhibit  evidence  of  an  adroit 
and  experienced  diplomatist,  negotiating,  or  rather  conferring  on  a 
subject  with  a  young  and  inexperienced  minister,  from  a  young 
and  inexperienced  republic.  From  the  manner  in  which  this 
report  was  communicated,  after  a  call  for  information  so  long 
made,  and  after  a  lapse  of  two  months  from  the  last  date  in  the 
correspondence   on  the  subject,   I  was  mortified   at   hearing   the 


356  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

report  read.  Why  talk  of  the  mode  of  recognition  ?  Why  make 
objections  to  the  form  of  the  commission  ?  If  the  minister  has  not  a 
formal  power,  why  not  tell  him  to  send  back  for  one  ?  Why  ask 
of  him  to  enumerate  the  particular  states  whose  independence  he 
wished  acknowledged  ?  Suppose  the  French  minister  had  asked 
of  Franklin  what  number  of  states  he  represented  ?  Thirteen,  if 
you  please,  Franklin  would  have  replied.  But  Mr.  Franklin,  will 
you  tell  me  if  Pennsylvania,  whose  capital  is  in  possession  of  the 
British,  be  one  of  them?  What  would  Dr.  Franklin  have  said? 
It  would  have  comported  better  with  the  frankness  of  the  American 
character,  and  of  American  diplomacy,  if  the  secretary,  avoiding 
cavils  about  the  form  of  the  commission,  had  said  to  the  minister 
of  Buenos  Ayres,  '  at  the  present  moment  we  do  not  intend  to 
recognise  you,  or  to  receive  or  to  send  a  minister  to  you.' 

But  among  the  charges  which  gentlemen  have  industriously 
brought  together,  the  house  has  been  told  of  factions  prevailing  in 
Buenos  Ayres.  Do  not  factions  exist  every  where  ?  Are  they  not 
to  be  found  in  the  best  regulated  and  most  firmly  established 
governments?  Respecting  the  Carreras,  public  information  is 
abused ;  they  were  supposed  to  have  had  improper  views,  designs 
hostile  to  the  existing  government,  and  it  became  necessary  to 
deprive  them  of  the  power  of  doing  mischief.  And  what  is  the 
fact  respecting  the  alleged  arrest  of  American  citizens?  Buenos 
Ayres  has  been  organizing  an  army  to  attack  Chili.  Carrera 
arrives  at  the  river  La  Plata  with  some  North  Americans  ;  he  had 
before  defeated  the  revolution  in  Chili,  by  withholding  his  coopera- 
tion ;  the  government  of  Buenos  Ayres  therefore  said  to  him,  we 
do  not  want  your  resources;  our  own  army  is  operating;  if  you 
carry  yours  there,  it  may  produce  dissension,  and  cause  the  loss  of 
liberty;  you  shall  not  go.  On  his  opposing  this  course,  what 
was  done  which  has  called  forth  the  sympathy  of  gentlemen  ?  He 
and  those  who  attended  him  from  this  country  were  put  in  con- 
finement, but  only  long  enough  to  permit  the  operations  of  the 
Buenos  Ayrean  army  to  go  on ;  they  were  then  permitted  to  go, 
or  made  their  escape  to  Montevideo,  and  afterwards  where  they 
pleased.  With  respect  to  the  conduct  of  that  government,  I  would 
only  recall  the  attention  of  gentlemen  to  the  orders  which  have 
lately  emanated  from  it,  for  the  regulation  of  privateers,  which  has 
displayed  a  solicitude  to  guard  against  irregularity,  and  to  respect 
the  rights  of  neutrals,  not  inferior  to  that  ever  shown  by  any  gov- 
ernment, which  has  on  any  occasion  attempted  to  regulate  this 
licentious  mode  of  warfare. 

The  honorable  gentleman  from  Georgia  commenced  his  remarks 
the  other  day  by  an  animadversion  which  he  might  well  have 
spared,  when  he  told  us,  that  even  the  prayers  of  the  chaplain  of 
this  house  had  been  offered  up  in  behalf  of  the  patriots.  And  was 
it  reprehensible,  that   an  American  chaplain,  whose   cheeks    are 


EMANCIPATION     OF     SOUTH     AMERICA.  357 

furrowed  by  age,  and  his  head  as  white  as  snow,  who  has  a 
thousand  times,  during  our  own  revolution,  implored  the  smiles  of 
heaven  on  our  exertions,  should  indulge  in  the  pious  and  patri- 
otic feelings  flowing  from  his  recollections  of  our  own  revolution? 
Ought  he  to  be  subject  to  animadversion  for  so  doing,  in  a  place 
where  he  cannot  be  heard  ?  Ought  he  to  be  subject  to  animad- 
version for  soliciting  the  favor  of  heaven  on  the  same  cause  as  lhat 
in  which  we  fought  the  good  fight,  and  conquered  our  indepen- 
dence ?     I  trust  not. 

But  the  gentleman  from  Georgia,  it  appears,  can  see  no  parallel 
between  our  revolution  and  that  of  the  Spanish  provinces.  Their 
revolution,  in  its  commencement,  did  not  aim  at  complete  inde- 
pendence, neither  did  ours.  Such  is  the  loyalty  of  the  Creole 
character,  that,  although  groaning  under  three  hundred  years  of 
tyranny  and  oppression,  they  have  been  unwilling  to  cast  off  their 
allegiance  to  that  throne,  which  has  been  the  throne  of  their  ances- 
tors. But,  looking  forward  to  a  redress  of  wrongs,  rather  than  a 
change  of  government,  they  gradually,  and  perhaps  at  first  unin- 
tentionally, entered  into  a  revolution.  I  have  it  from  those  who 
have  been  actively  engaged  in  our  revolution,  from  that  venerable 
man  (chancellor  Wythe),  whose  memory  I  shall  ever  cherish  with 
filial  regard,  that,  a  very  short  time  before  our  declaration  of  inde- 
pendence, it  would  have  been  impossible  to  have  got  a  majority 
of  congress  to  declare  it  Look  at  the  language  of  our  petitions 
of  that  day,  carrying  our  loyalty  to  the  foot  of  the  throne,  and 
avowing  our  anxiety  to  remain  under  the  crown  of  our  ancestors ; 
independence  was  then  not  even  remotely  suggested  as  our  object. 

The  present  state  of  facts,  and  not  what  has  passed  and  gone  in 
South  America,  must  be  consulted.  At  the  present  moment,  the 
patriots  of  the  south  are  fighting  for  liberty  and  independence;  for 
precisely  what  we  fought.  But  their  revolution,  the  gentleman 
told  the  house,  was  stained  by  scenes  which  had  not  occurred  in 
ours.  If  so,  it  was  because  execrable  outrages  had  been  committed 
upon  them  by  troops  of  the  mother  country,  which  were  not  upon 
us.  Can  it  be  believed,  if  the  slaves  had  been  let  loose  upon  us  in 
the  south,  as  they  have  been  let  loose  in  Venezuela ;  if  quarters 
had  been  refused ;  capitulations  violated  ;  that  general  Washing- 
ton, at  the  head  of  the  armies  of  the  United  States,  would  not 
have  resorted  to  retribution  ?  Retaliation  is  sometimes  mercy, 
mercy  to  both  parties.  The  only  means  by  which  the  coward  soul 
that  indulges  in  such  enormities  can  be  reached,  is  to  show  to  him 
that  they  will  be  visited  by  severe  but  just  retribution.  There  are 
traits  in  the  history  of  this  revolution,  which  show  what  deep  root 
liberty  has  taken  in  South  America.  I  will  state  an  instance.  The 
only  hope  of  a  wealthy  and  reputable  family  was  charged,  at  the 
head  of  a  small  force,  with  the  care  of  the  magazine  of  the  army. 
He  saw  that  it  was  impossible  to  defend  it.     '  Go/  said  he  to  his 


358  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

companions  in  arms,  '  I  alone  am  sufficient  for  its  defence.'  The 
assailants  approached  ;  he  applied  a  match  and  blew  up  the  maga- 
zine, with  himself,  scattering  death  and  destruction  on  his  enemy. 
There  is  another  instance  of  the  intrepidity  of  a  female  of  the 
patriot  party.  A  lady  in  New  Granada  had  given  information  to 
the  patriot  forces,  of  plans  and  instructions  by  which  the  capitol 
might  be  invaded.  She  was  put  upon  the  rack  to  divulge  her 
accomplices.  She  bore  the  torture  with  the  greatest  fortitude,  and 
died  exclaiming,  'you  shall  not  hear  it  from  my  mouth;  I  will 
die,  and  may  those  live  who  can  free  my  country.' 

But  the  house  has  been  asked,  and  asked  with  a  triumph  worthy 
of  a  better  cause,  why  recognise  this  republic  ?  Where  is  the 
use  of  it?  And  is  it  possible  that  gentlemen  can  see  no  use  in 
recognising  this  republic  ?  For  what  did  this  republic  fight?  To 
be  admitted  into  the  family  of  nations.  Tell  the  nations  of  the 
world,  says  Pueyrredon,  in  his  speech,  that  we  already  belong  to 
their  illustrious  rank.  What  would  be  the  powerful  consequences 
of  a  recognition  of  their  claim  ?  I  ask  my  honorable  friencf  before 
me  (general  Bloomfield),  the  highest  sanction  of  whose  judgment 
in  favor  of  my  proposition,  I  fondly  anticipate,  with  what  anxious 
solicitude,  during  our  revolution,  he  and  his  glorious  compatriots 
turned  their  eyes  to  Europe  and  asked  to  be  recognised,  I  ask 
him,  the  patriot  of  '76,  how  the  heart  rebounded  with  joy,  on  the 
information  that  France  had  recognised  us.  The  moral  influence 
of  such  a  recognition,  on  the  patriot  of  the  south,  will  be  irresistible. 
He  will  derive  assurance  from  it,  of  his  not  having  fought  in  vain. 
Tn  the  constitution  of  our  natures  there  is  a  point,  to  which  adversity 
may  pursue  us,  without  perhaps  any  worse  effect  than  that  of 
exciting  new  energy  to  meet  it.  Having  reached  that  point,  if  no 
gleam  of  comfort  breaks  through  the  gloom,  we  sink  beneath  the 
pressure,  yielding  reluctantly  to  our  fate,  and  in  hopeless  despair 
lose  all  stimulus  to  exertion.  And  is  there  not  reason  to  fear  such 
a  fate  to  the  patriots  of  La  Plata?  Already  enjoying  independence 
for  eight  years,  their  ministers  are  yet  spurned  from  the  courts  of 
Europe,  and  rejected  by  the  government  of  a  sister  republic. 
Contrast  this  conduct  of  ours  with  our  conduct  in  other  respects. 
No  matter  whence  the  minister  comes,  be  it  from  a  despotic  power, 
we  receive  him ;  and  even  now,  the  gentleman  from  Maryland, 
(Mr.  Smith)  would  have  us  send  a  minister  to  Constantinople,  to 
beg  a  passage  through  the  Dardanelles  to  the  Black  Sea,  that,  I 
suppose,  we  might  get  some  hemp  and  bread-stuffs  there,  of  which 
we  ourselves  produce  none ;  he,  who  can  see  no  advantage  to  the 
country  from  opening  to  its  commerce  the  measureless  resources 
of  South  America,  would  send  a  minister  to  Constantinople  for  a 
little  trade.  Nay,  I  have  seen  a  project  in  the  newspapers,  and  I 
should  not  be  surprised,  after  what  we  have  already  seen,  at  its 
being  carried  into  effect,  for  sending  a  minister  to  the  porte.     Yes, 


EMANCIPATION     OF     SOUTH     AMERICA.  $59 

sir,  from  Constantinople,  or  from  the  Brazils ;  from  Turk  or 
christian  ;  from  black  or  white ;  from  the  dey  of  Algiers  or  the 
bey  of  Tunis ;  from  the  devil  himself,  if  he  wore  a  crown,  we 
should  receive  a  minister.  We  even  paid  the  expenses  of  the 
minister  of  *his  sublime  highness,  the  bey  of  Tunis,  and  thought 
ourselves  highly  honored  by  his  visit.  But,  let  the  minister  come 
from  a  poor  republic,  like  that  of  La  Plata,  and  we  turn  our  back 
on  him.  The  brilliant  costumes  of  the  ministers  of  the  royal 
governments  are  seen  glistening  in  the  circles  of  our  drawing- 
rooms,  and  their  splendid  equipages  rolling  through  the  avenues 
of  the  metropolis  ;  but  the  unaccredited  minister  of  the  republic,  if 
he  visit  our  president  or  secretary  of  state  at  all,  must  do  it  incog- 
nito, lest  the  eye  of  don  Onis  should  be  offended  by  so  unseemly 
k  sight!  I  hope  the  gentleman  from  South  Carolina,  who  is  so 
capable  of  estimating  the  effect  of  moral  causes,  will  see  some  use 
in  recognising  the  independence  of  La  Plata.  I  appeal  to  the 
powerful  effect  of  moral  causes,  manifested  in  the  case  of  the 
French  revolution,  when,  by  their  influence,  that  nation  swept  from 
about  her  the  armies  of  the  combined  powers,  by  which  she  was 
environed,  and  rose  up,  the  colossal  power  of  Europe.  There  is 
an  example  of  the  effect  of  moral  power.  All  the  patriots  ask,  all 
they  want  at  our  hands,  is,  to  be  recognised  as,  what  they  have 
been  for  the  last  eight  years,  an  independent  power. 

But,  it  seems,  we  dare  not  do  this,  lest  we  tread  on  sacred 
ground  ;  and  an  honorable  gentleman  from  Virginia  (Mr.  Smyth), 
who,  when  he  has  been  a  little  longer  in  this  house,  will  learn  to 
respect  its  powers,  calls  it  an  usurpation  on  the  part  of  this  house. 
Has  the  gentleman  weighed  the  terms  which  he  employed?  If  I 
mistake  not,  the  gentleman,  in  the  debate  respecting  the  power  to 
make  internal  improvements,  called  that  too  an  usurpation  on  the 
part  of  this  house.  That  power,  too,  however,  he  admitted  to 
belong  to  the  executive,  and  traced  it  to  an  imperial  source, 
informing  us  that  Caesar  or  somebody  else,  had  exercised  it.  Sir, 
the  gentleman  has  mistaken  his  position  here ;  he  is  a  military 
chieftain,  and  an  admirable  defender  of  executive  authority,  but  he 
has  yet  to  learn  his  horn-book  as  to  the  powers  of  this  branch  of 
the  legislature.  Usurpation  is  arrogating  to  yourself  aulhority 
which  is  vested  elsewhere.  But  what  is  it  that  I  propose,  to  which 
this  term  has  been  applied?  To  appropriate  money  to  pay  a 
foreign  minister  his  outfit  and  a  year's  salary.  If  that  be  an 
usurpation,  we  have  been  usurping  power  from  the  commencement 
of  the  government  to  the  present  time.  The  chairman  of  the 
committee  of  ways  and  means  has  never  reported  an  appropria- 
tion bill  without  some  instance  of  this  usurpation. 

There  are  three  modes  under  our  constitution,  in  which  a  nation 
may  be  recognised;  by  the  executive  receiving  a  minister; 
secondly,   by  its   sending   one  thither;   and,   thirdly,   this   house 


360  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

unquestionably  nas  the  right  to  recognise,  in  the  exercise  of  the 
constitutional  power  of  congress  to  regulate  foreign  commerce. 
To  receive  a  minister  from  a  foreign  power,  is  an  admission  that 
the  party  sending  him  is  sovereign  and  independent.  So  the 
sending  a  minister,  as  ministers  are  never  sent  but  to  sovereign 
powers,  is  a  recognition  of  the  independence  of  the  power  to 
whom  the  minister  is  sent.  Now,  the  honorable  gentleman  from 
South  Carolina  would  prefer  the  expression  of  our  opinion  by  a 
resolution,  independent  of  the  appropriation  bill.  If  the  gentle- 
man will  vote  for  it  in  that  shape,  I  will  readily  gratify  him;  all 
that  I  want  to  do  is,  to  convey  to  the  president  an  expression  of 
oar  willingness,  that  the  government  of  Buenos  Ayres  should  be 
recognised.  Whether  it  shall  be  done  by  receiving  a  minister  or 
sending  one,  is  quite  immaterial.  It  is  urged,  that  there  may  be  an 
impropriety  in  sending  a  minister,  not  being  certain,  after  what  has 
passed,  that  he  will  be  received  ;  but  that  is  one  of  the  questions 
submitted  to  the  direction  of  the  executive,  which  he  will  determine, 
upon  a  view  of  all  the  circumstances;  and  who,  of  course,  will 
previously  have  an  understanding,  that  our  minister  will  be  duly 
respecteoV ,^If  gentlemen  desire  10  know  what  a  minister  from  us? 
is  to  do,  I  would  have  him  congratulate  the  republic  on  the 
establishment  of  free  government  and  on  their  liberation  from  the 
ancient  dynasty  of  Spain ;  assure  it  of  the  interest  we  feel  in  its 
welfare,  and  of  our  readiness  to  concur  in  any  arrangement  which 
may  be  advantageous  to  our  mutual  interest.  Have  we  not  a 
minister  at  the  Brazils,  a  nation  lying  along  side  of  the  provinces 
of  La  Plata ;  and,  considering  the  number  of  slaves  in  it,  by  no 
means  so  formidable  as  the  latter,  and  about  equi-distant  from  us. 
In  reference  to  the  strength  of  the  two  powers,  that  of  La  Plata 
is  much  stronger,  and  the  government  of  Brazil,  trembling  under 
the  apprehension  of  the  effect  of  the  arms  of  La  Plata,  has  gone 
further  than  any  other  power  to  recognise  its  independence,  having 
entered  into  a  military  convention  with  the  republic,  by  which 
each  power  guaranties  the  possessions  of  the  other.  And  we  have 
exchanged  ministers  with  the  Brazils.  The  one,  however,  is  a 
king-dom,  the  other  a  republic ;  and  if  any  gentleman  can  assign 
any  other  better  reason  why  a  minister  should  be  sent  to  one  and 
not  to  the  other  of  these  powers,  I  shall  be  glad  to  hear  it  disclosed, 
for  I  have  not  been  able  myself  to  discover  it. 

A  gentleman  yesterday  told  the  house  that  the  news  from  Buenos 
Ayres  was  unfavorable.  Take  it  altogether,  I  believe  it  is  not. 
But  I  put  but  little  trust  in  such  accounts.  In  our  revolution, 
incredulity  of  reports  and  newspaper  stories,  propagated  by  the 
enemy,  was  so  strengthened  by  experience,  that  at  last,  nothing 
was  believed  which  was  not  attested  by  the  signature  of  '  Charles 
Thomson.'  lam  somewhat  similarly  situated ;  I  cannot  believe 
these   reports ;   I  wish  to  see  '  Charles    Thomson '  before  I  give 


EMANCIPATION     OF     SOUTH     AMERICA.  361 

full  credit  to  them.  The  vessel  which  has  arrived  at  Baltimore  — 
and,  by  the  way,  by  its  valuable  cargo  of  specie,  hides,  and  tallow, 
gives  evidence  of  a  commerce  worth  pursuing — brought  some 
rumor  of  a  difference  between  Artigas  and  the  authorities  of 
Buenos  Ayres.  With  respect  to  the  Banda  Oriental,  which  is 
said  to  be  occupied  by  Artigas,  it  constitutes  but  a  very  subordinate 
part  of  the  territory  of  the  United  Provinces  of  La  Plata;  and  it 
can  be  no  more  objection  to  recognising  the  nation,  because  that 
province  is  not  included  within  its  power,  than  it  could  have  been 
to  our  recognition,  because  several  states  held  out  against  the 
adoption  of  the  constitution.  Before  I  attach  any  confidence  to  a 
letter  not  signed  '  Charles  Thomson,'  I  must  know  who  the  man 
is  who  writes  it,  what  are  his  sources  of  information,  his  character 
for  veracity,  and  so  forth,  and  of  all  those  particulars,  we  are 
deprived  of  the  information,  in  the  case  of  the  recent  intelligence 
in  the  Baltimore  papers,  as  extracted  from  private  letters. 

But  we  are  charged,  on  the  present  occasion,  with  treading  on 
sacred  ground.  Let  me  suppose,  what  I  do  not  believe  to  be  the 
case,  that  the  president  has  expressed  an  opinion  one  way  and  we 
another.  At  so  early  a  period  of  our  government,  because  a 
particular  individual  fills  the  presidential  chair — an  individual 
whom  I  highly  respect,  more  perhaps  than  some  of  those  who 
would  be  considered  his  exclusive  friends — is  the  odious  doctrine  to 
be  preached  here,  that  the  chief  magistrate  can  do  no  wrong?  Is 
the  doctrine  of  passive  obedience  and  non-resistance,  are  the 
principles  of  the  Stuarts,  to  be  revived  in  this  free  government  ? 
Is  an  opinion  to  be  suppressed  and  scouted,  because  it  is  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  opinion  of  the  president?  Sir,  as  long  as  I  have  a 
seat  on  this  floor,  I  shall  not  hesitate  to  exert  the  independence 
which  belongs  to  the  representative  character ;  I  shall  not  hesitate 
to  express  my  opinions,  coincident  or  not  with  those  of  the  execu- 
tive. But  I  can  show  that  this  cry  has  been  raised  on  the  present 
occasion  without  reason.  Suppose  a  case  —  that  the  president  had 
sent  a  minister  to  Buenos  Ayres,  and  this  house  had  been  called 
on  to  make  an  appropriation  for  the  payment  of  his  salary.  I  ask 
of  gentlemen,  whether  in  that  case  they  would  not  have  voted  an 
appropriation  ?  And  has  not  the  house  a  right  to  deliberate  on  the 
propriety  of  doing  so,  as  well  before,  as  after  a  minister  is  sent  ? 
Will  gentlemen  please  to  point  out  the  difference?  I  contend  that 
we  are  the  true  friends  of  the  executive ;  and  that  the  title  does  not 
belong  to  those  who  have  taken  it.  We  wish  to  extend  his 
influence,  and  give  him  patronage  ;  to  give  him  means,  as  he  has 
now  the  power,  to  send  another  minister  abroad.  But,  apart  from 
this  view  of  the  question,  as  regards  the  executive  power,  this 
house  has  the  incontestable  right  to  recognise  a  foreign  nation  in 
the  exercise  of  its  power,  to  regulate  commerce  with  foreign  nations. 
Suppose,  for  example,  we  pass  an  act  to  regulate  trade  between 
vol.  i.  46 


362  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

the  United  States  and  Buenos  Ayres,  the  existence  of  the  nation 
would  be  thereby  recognised,  as  we  could  not  regulate  trade  with 
a  nation  which  does  not  exist. 

The  gentleman  from  Maryland  (Mr.  Smith)  and  the  gentleman 
from  Virginia  (Mr.  Smyth),  the  great  champions  of  executive 
power,  and  the  opponent  of  legislative  authority,  have,  contended 
that  recognition  would  be  cause  of  war.  These  gentlemen  are 
reduced  to  this  dilemma.  If  it  is  cause  of  war,  the  executive 
ought  not  to  have  the  right  to  produce  a  war  upon  the  country, 
without  consulting  congress.  If  it  is  no  cause  of  war,  it  is  an  act 
which  there  is  no  danger  in  performing.  There  is  very  little  differ- 
ence in  principle,  between  vesting  the  executive  with  the  power  of 
declaring  war,  or  with  the  power  of  necessarily  leading  the  country 
into  war,  without  consulting  the  authority  to  whom  the  power  of 
making  war  is  confided.  But  I  deny  that  it  is  cause  of  war;  but 
if  it  is,  the  sense  of  congress  ought  certainly  in  some  way  or  other 
to  be  taken  on  it,  before  that  step  is  taken.  I  know  that  some  of 
the  most  distinguished  statesmen  in  the  country  have  taken  the 
view  of  this  subject,  that  the  power  to  recognise  the  independence 
of  any  nation  does  not  belong  to  the  president ;  that  it  is  a  power 
too  momentous  and  consequential  in  its  character,  to  belong  to  the 
executive.  My  own  opinion,  I  confess,  is  different,  believing  the 
power  to  belong  to  either  the  president  or  congress,  and-  that  it 
may,  as  most  convenient,  be  exercised  by  either.  If  aid  is  to  be 
given,  to  afford  which  will  be  cause  of  war,  however,  congress 
alone  can  give  it. 

This  house,  then,  has  the  power  to  act  on  the  subject,  even  though 
the  president  has  expressed  an  opinion,  which  he  has  not,  further 
than,  as  appears  by  the  report  of  the  secretary  of  state,  to  decide 
that  in  January  last,  it  would  not  be  proper  to  recognise  them. 
But  the  president  stands  pledged  to  recognise  the  republic,  if  on 
the  return  of  the  commissioners  whom  he  has  deputed,  they  shall 
make  report  favorable  to  the  stability  of  the  government.  Suppose 
the  chairman  of  the  committee  of  foreign  relations  had  reported  a 
provision  for  an  appropriation  of  that  description  which  I  propose, 
should  we  not  all  have  voted  for  it?  And  can  any  gentleman  be 
so  pliant,  as,  on  the  mere  ground  of  an  executive  recommendation, 
to  vote  an  appropriation  without  exercising  his  own  faculties  on 
the  question ;  and  yet,  when  there  is  no  such  suggestion,  will  not 
even  so  far  act  for  himself  as  to  determine  whether  a  republic  is  so 
independent  that  we  may  fairly  take  the  step  of  recognition  of  it? 
I  hope  that  no  such  submission  to  the  executive  pleasure  will 
characterize  this  house. 

One  more  remark,  and  I  have  done.  One  gentleman  told  the 
house  that  the  population  of  the  Spanish  provinces  is  eighteen 
millions;  that  we,  with  a  population  of  two  millions  only,  have 
conquered  our  independence ;  and  that,  if  the  southern  provinces 


EMANCIPATION     OF     SOUTH     AMERICA.  363 

willed  it,  they  must  be  free.  This  population,  I  have  already- 
stated,  consists  of  distinct  nations,  having  but  little,  if  any,  inter- 
course, the  largest  of  which  is  Mexico ;  and  they  are  so  separated 
by  immense  distances,  that  it  is  impossible  there  should  be  any 
cooperation  between  them.  Besides,  they  have  difficulties  to 
encounter  which  we  had  not.  They  have  a  noblesse ;  they  are 
divided  into  jealous  castes,  and  a  vast  proportion  of  Indians;  to 
which  adding  the  great  influence  of  the  clergy,  and  it  will  be 
seen  how  widely  different  the  circumstances  of  Spanish  America 
are,  from  those  under  which  the  revolution  in  this  country  was 
brought  to  a  successful  termination.  I  have  already  shown  how 
deep-rooted  is  the  spirit  of  liberty  in  that  country.  I  have  instanced 
the  little  island  of  Margarita,  against  which  the  whole  force  of 
Spain  has  been  in  vain  directed ;  containing  a  population  of  only 
sixteen  thousand  souls,  but  where  every  man,  woman,  and  child,  is 
a  Grecian  soldier,  in  defence  of  freedom.  For  many  years  the 
spirit  of  freedom  has  been  struggling  in  Venezuela,  and  Spain 
has  been  unable  to  conquer  it.  Morillo,  in  an  official  despatch, 
transmitted  to  the  minister  of  marine  of  his  own  country,  avows 
that  Angostura  and  all  Guayana  are  in  possession  of  the  patriots, 
as  well  as  all  that  country  from  which  supplies  can  be  drawn. 
According  to  the  last  accounts,  Bolivar  and  other  patriot  comman- 
ders, are  concentrating  their  forces,  and  are  within  one  day's  march 
of  Morillo ;  and  if  they  do  not  forsake  the  Fabian  policy,  which  is 
the  true  course  for  them,  the  result  will  be,  that  even  the  weakest 
of  the  whole  of  the  provinces  of  Spanish  America,  will  establish 
their  independence,  and  secure  the  enjoyment  of  those  rights  and 
blessings,  which  rightfully  belong  to  them. 


ON  THE  SEMINOLE  WAR. 


IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  JANUARY  17,  1819. 


[The  Seminoles  were  a  tribe  of  Indians  inhabiting  Florida,  and  parts  of  the 
adjacent  country.  Daring  the  war  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain, 
from  1812  to  1815,  the  Seminoles  and  Creek  Indians  made  attacks  upon  our  frontier 
settlements  in  the  southwest,  and  in  consequence,  general  Andrew  Jackson,  then 
a  major-general  of  militia  in  Tennessee,  was  sent  against  them,  at  the  head  of  a 
considerable  force,  by  which,  after  a  sanguinary  contest,  the  Indians  were  subdued, 
and  a  treaty  concluded  with  the  Creek  nation,  in  1814.  After  the  peace  of  1815, 
the  Seminoles,  being  sheltered  in  Florida,  at  that  time  a  Spanish  province,  made 
frequent  depredations  upon  the  people  of  the  United  States.  In  December,  1817,  the 
department  of  war  ordered  general  Jackson,  who  in  1S14  was  appointed  a  major- 
general  in  the  United  States  army,  to  assume  the  command  of  the  forces  in  the 
southwest,  and  march  against  the  Indians  ;  also  to  adopt  the  necessary  measures  to 
terminate  a  conflict  which  has  since  been  called  '  the  Seminole  war.'  In  the  early 
part  of  1818,  general  Jackson  took  command  of  an  army  of  regulars,  militia,  and 
friendly  Creeks,  and  pursued  the  Seminoles  into  Florida,  destroying  their  towns,  and 
killing  and  capturing  many  Indians  and  run -a- way  negroes.  He  also  took  possession 
of  the  Spanish  fortresses  of  St.  Marks,  Pensacola,  and  the  Barancas,  during  a  period 
of  peace  between  Spain  and  the  United  States.  Two  Indian  traders,  Arbuthnor,  a 
Scotchman,  and  Ambrisler,  an  Englishman,  were  taken  prisoners,  (being  found 
among  the  Indians  and  Spaniards,)  tried  by  a  court  martial,  and  executed  by  order  of 
general  Jackson.  Two  Indian  chiefs,  who  were  captured,  were  also  put  to  death  by 
his  order,  and  sundry  other  cruel  and  high-handed  acts  committed,  to  which  the 
attention  of  congress  was  called,  at  the  session  of  1818-  19. 

The  subject  having  been  referred  to  the  committee  on  military  affairs,  that  committee 
brought  in  a  report,  concluding  with  the  following  resolution  :  '  Resolved,  that  the 
house  of  representatives  disapproves  the  proceedings  in  the  trial  and  execution  of 
Alexander  Arbuthnot  and  ,Robert  C.  Ambrister.'  To  this  resolution,  Mr.  Cobb,  of 
Georgia,  moved  to  add  others,  disapproving  of  the  execution  of  Indian  captives,  and 
declaring  that  the  seizure  of  the  Spanish  posts  was  contrary  to  the  constitution,  and 
so  forth.  The  discussion  on  these  resolutions  caused  one  of  the  most  exciting  and 
interesting  debates  ever  known  in  congress.  Thirty-one  of  the  most  distinguished 
members  of  the  house  participated  in  the  debate,  which  was  opened  on  the  eighteenth 
of  January,  in  committee  of  the  whole,  and  concluded  on  the  tenth  of  February, 
when  the  question  on  the  resolutions  was  taken,  and  decided  in  the  negative,  by 
majorities  varying  from  thirty  to  forty-six,  in  a  house  of  one  hundred  and  seventy 
members  present.  General  Jackson,  besides  his  own  popularity,  as  the  victor  of  New 
Orleans,  had  the  advantage  of  being  sustained  by  the  influence  and  power  of  Mr. 
Monroe's  administration,  the  president  being  considered  as  implicated  with  him  in 
some  of  his  transactions  in  Florida,  by  having  sanctioned  the  same.  Among  those 
who  coincided  with  Mr.  Clay,  in  condemning  these  proceedings,  were  Messrs.  Cobb, 
of  Georgia,  Storrs,  of  New  York,  Colston,  J.  Johnson.  T.  M.  Nelson,  and  Mercer,  of 
Virginia,  Hopkinson,  of  Pennsylvania,  Williams,  of  Connecticut,  Harrison,  of  Ohio, 
Tyler,  of  Virginia,  (the  two  latter  since  presidents  of  the  United  States,)  Lowndes,  of 
South  Carolina,  and  Reed,  of  Maryland  :  while,  on  the  other  side,  Messrs.  Holmes,  of 
Massachusetts,  Tallmadge,  of  New  York,  P.  P.  Barbour,  and  Floyd,  of  Virginia. 
Baldwin,  of  Pennsylvania,  R.  M.  Johnson,  of  Kentucky,  and  others,  made  able 
speeches  in  support  of  the  administration,  and  general  Jackson's  military  course  in 
this  campaign. 

Mr.  Clay  twice  addressed  the  committee  of  the  whole  on  the  subject ;  the  firs* 
speech  only,  is  reported  at  length,  as  follows.] 


ON     THE     SEMINOLE     WAR.  365 


Mr.  Chairman  : 


In  rising  to  address  you,  sir,  on  the  very  interesting  subject  which 
now  engages  trie  attention  of  congress,  I  must  be  allowed  to  say, 
that  all  inferences  drawn  from  the  course  which  it  will  be  my 
painful  duty  to  take  in  this  discussion,  of  unfriendliness  eilher  to 
the  chief  magistrate  of  the  country,  or  to  the  illustrious  military 
chieftain  whose  operations  are  under  investigation,  will  be  wholly 
unfounded.  Towards  that  distinguished  captain,  who  shed  so 
much  glory  on  our  country,  whose  renown  constitutes  so  great  a 
portion  of  its  moral  property,  I  never  had,  I  never  can  have,  any 
other  feelings  than  those  of  the  most  profound  respect,  and  of  the 
utmost  kindness.  With  him  my  acquaintance  is  very  limited,  but, 
so  far  as  it  has  extended,  it  has  been  of  the  most  amicable  kind. 
I  know  the  motives  which  have  been,  and  which  will  again  be, 
attributed  to  me,  in  regard  to  the  other  exalted  personage  alluded 
to.  They  have  been  and  will  be  unfounded.  I  have  no  interest, 
other  than  that  of  seeing  the  concerns  of  my  country  well  and 
happily  administered.  It  is  infinitely  more  gratifying  to  behold 
the  prosperity  of  my  country  advancing  by  the  wisdom  of  the 
measures  adopted  to  promote  it,  than  it  would  be  to  expose  the 
errors  which  may  be  committed,  if  there  be  any,  in  the  conduct  of 
its  affairs.  Little  as  has  been  my  experience  in  public  life,  it  has 
been  sufficient  to  teach  me  that  the  most  humble  station  is  sur- 
rounded by  difficulties  and  embarrassments.  Rather  than  throw 
obstructions  in  the  way  of  the  president,  I  would  precede  him,  and 
pick  out  those,  if  I  could,  which  might  jostle  him  in  his  progress ; 
I  would  sympathize  with  him  in  his  embarrassments,  and  com- 
miserate with  him  in  his  misfortunes.  It  is  true  that  it  has  been 
my  mortification  to  differ  from  that  gentleman  on  several  occasions. 
I  may  be  again  reluctantly  compelled  to  differ  from  him  ;  but  I 
will  with  the  utmost  sincerity,  assure  the  committee,  that  I  have 
formed  no  resolution,  come  under  no  engagements,  and  that  I 
never  will  form  any  resolution,  or  contract  any  engagements,  for 
systematic  opposition  to  his  administration,  or  to  that  of  any  other 
chief  magistrate. 

I  beg  leave  further  to  premise,  that  the  subject  under  considera- 
tion, presents  two  distinct  aspects,  susceptible,  in  my  judgment,  of 
the  most,  clear  and  precise  discrimination.  The  one  I  will  call  its 
foreign,  the  other  its  domestic  aspect.  In  regard  to  the  first,  I  will 
say,  that  I  approve  entirely  of  the  conduct  of  our  government,  and 
that  Spain  has  no  cause  of  complaint.  Having  violated  an 
important  stipulation  of  the  treaty  of  1795,  that  power  has  justly 
subjected  herself  to  all  the  consequences  which  ensued  upon  the 
entry  into  her  dominions,  and  it  belongs  not  to  her  to  complain  of 
those  measures  which  resulted  from  her  breach  of  contract ;  still 


366  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

less  has  she  a  right  to  examine  into  the  considerations  connected 
with  the  domestic  aspect  of  the  subject. 

What  are  the  propositions  before  the  committee  ?  The  first  in 
order,  is  that  reported  by  the  military  committee,  which  asserts  the 
disapprobation  of  this  house,  of  the  proceedings  in  the  trial  and 
execution  of  Arbuthnot  and  Ambrister.  The  second,  being  the 
first  contained  in  the  proposed  amendment,  is  the  consequence  of 
that  disapprobation,  and  contemplates  the  passage  of  a  law  to 
prohibit  the  execution  hereafter  of  any  captive,  taken  by  the  army, 
without  the  approbation  of  the  president.  The  third  proposition 
is,  that  this  house  disapproves  of  the  forcible  seizure  of  the  Spanish 
posts,  as  contrary  to  orders,  and  in  violation  of  the  constitution. 
The  fourth  proposition,  as  the  result  of  the  last,  is,  that  a  law  shall 
pass  to  prohibit  the  march  of  the  army  of  the  United  States,  or  any 
corps  of  it,  into  any  foreign  territory,  without  the  previous  authori- 
zation of  congress,  except  it  be  in  fresh  pursuit  of  a  defeated 
enemy.  The  first  and  third  are  general  propositions,  declaring  the 
sense  of  the  house  in  regard  to  the  evils  pointed  out ;  and  the 
second  and  fourth,  propose  the  legislative  remedies  against  the 
recurrence  of  those  evils. 

It  will  be  at  once  perceived,  by  this  simple  statement  of  the 
propositions,  that  no  other  censure  is  proposed  against  general 
Jackson  himself,  than  what  is  merely  consequential.  His  name 
even  does  not  appear  in  any  of  the  resolutions.  The  legislature 
of  the  country,  in  reviewing  the  state  of  the  union,  and  considering 
the  events  which  have  transpired  since  its  last  meeting,  finds  that 
particular  occurrences,  of  the  greatest  moment,  in  many  respects, 
have  taken  place  near  our  southern  border.  I  will  add,  that  the 
house  has  not  sought,  by  any  officious  interference  with  the  doings 
of  the  executive,  to  gain  jurisdiction  over  this  matter.  The  presi- 
dent, in  his  message  at  the  opening  of  the  session,  communicated 
the  very  information  on  which  it  was  proposed  to  act.  I  would 
ask,  for  what  purpose  ?  That  we  should  fold  our  arms  and  yield 
a  tacit  acquiescence,  even  if  we  supposed  that  information  dis- 
closed alarming  events,  not  merely  as  it  regards  the  peace  of  the 
country,  but  in  respect  to  its  constitution  and  character  ?  Impos- 
sible. In  communicating  these  papers,  and  voluntarily  calling  the 
attention  of  congress  to  the  subject,  the  president  must  himself 
have  intended,  that  we  should  apply  any  remedy  that  we  might  be 
able  to  devise.  Having  the  subject  thus  regularly  and  fairly 
before  us,  and  proposing  merely  to  collect  the  sense  of  the  house 
upon  certain  important  transactions  which  it  discloses,  with  the 
view  to  the  passage  of  such  laws  as  may  be  demanded  by  the 
public  interest,  I  repeat,  that  there  is  no  censure  any  where,  except 
such  as  is  strictly  consequential  upon  our  legislative  action.  The 
supposition  of  every  new  law,  having  for  its  object  to  prevent  the 
recurrence  of  evil,  is,  that  something  has  happened  which  ought 


ON     THE     SEMINOLE     WAR.  367 

not  to  have  taken  pla^e,  and  no  other  than  this  indirect  sort  of 
censure  will  flow  from  the  resolutions  before  the  committee. 

Having  thus  given  my  view  of  the  nature  and  character  of  the 
propositions  under  consideration,  I  am  far  from  intimating  that  it 
is  not  my  purpose  to  go  into  a  full,  a  free,  and  a  thorough  investi- 
gation of  the  facts,  and  of  the  principles  of  law,  public,  municipal, 
and  constitutional,  involved  in  them.  And,  whilst  I  trust  I  shall 
speak  with  the  decorum  due  to  the  distinguished  officers  of  the 
government  whose  proceedings  are  to  be  examined,  I  shall 
exercise  the  independence  which  belongs  to  me  as  a  representative 
of  the  people,  in  freely  and  fully  submitting  my  sentiments. 

In  noticing  the  painful  incidents  of  this  war,  it  is  impossible  not 
to  inquire  into  its  origin.  I  fear  that  it  will  be  found  to  be  the 
famous  treaty  of  Fort  Jackson,  concluded  in  August,  1814 ;  and  I 
must  ask  the  indulgence  of  the  chairman  while  I  read  certain  parts 
of  that  treaty. 

'  Whereas  an  unprovoked,  inhuman,  and  sanguinary  war,  waged  by  the  hostile 
Creeks  against  the  United  States,  hath  been  repelled,  prosecuted,  and  determined, 
successfully  on  the  part  of  the  said  states,  in  conformity  with  principles  of  national 
justice  and  honorable  warfare  :  and  whereas  consideration  is  due  to  the  rectitude  of 
proceedings  dictated  by  instructions  relating  to  the  reestablishing  of  peace  :  Be  it 
remembered,  that,  prior  to  the  conquest  of  that  part  of  the  Creek  nation  hostile  to 
the  United  States,  numberless  aggressions  had  been  committed  against  the  peace,  the 
property,  and  the  lives  of  citizens  of  the  United  States,  and  those  of  the  Creek  nation 
in  amity  with  her,  at  the  mouth  of  Duck  river,  Fort  Mimms,  and  elsewhere,  contrary 
to  national  faith,  and  the  regard  due  to  an  article  of  the  treaty  concluded  at  New 
York,  in  the  year  1790,  between  the  two  nations ;  that  the  United  States,  previous  to 
the  perpetration  of  such  outrages,  did,  in  order  to  insure  future  amity  and  concord 
between  the  Creek  nation  a.nd  the  said  states,  in  conformity  with  the  stipulations  of 
former  treaties,  fulfil,  with  punctuality  and  good  faith,  her  engagements  to  the  said 
nation  ;  that  more  than  two  thirds  of  the  whole  number  of  chiefs  and  warriors  of  the 
Creek  nation,  disregarding  the  genuine  spirit  of  existing  treaties,  suffered  themselves 
to  be  instigated  to  violations  of  their  national  honor,  and  the  respect  due  to  a  part 
of  their  own  nation,  faithful  to  the  United  States,  and  the  principles  of  humanity,  by 
impostors,  denominating  themselves  prophets,  and  by  the  duplicity  and  misrepresen- 
tations of  foreign  emissaries,  whose  governments  are  at  war,  open  or  understood, 
with  the  United  States. 

Article  2.  The  United  States  will  guaranty  to  the  Creek  nation  the  integrity  of 
all  their  territory  eastwardly  and  northwardly  of  the  said  line,  (described  in  the  first 
article.)  to  be  run  and  described  as  mentioned  in  the  first  article. 

Article  3.  The  United  States  demand  that  the  Creek  nation  abandon  all  communi- 
cation, and  cease  to  hold  intercourse  with  any  British  post,  garrison,  or  town;  and 
that  they  shall  not  admit  among  them  any  agent  or  trader,  who  shall  not  derive 
authority  to  hold  commercial  or  other  intercourse  with  them,  by  license  from  the 
President  or  other  authorized  agent  of  the  United  States. 

Article  4.  The  United  States  demand  an  acknowledgment  of  the  right  to  establish 
military  posts  and  trading  houses,  and  to  open  roads  within  the  territory  guarantied 
to  the  Creek  nation  by  the  second  article,  and  a  right  to  the  free  navigation  of  all  its 
waters. 

Article  5.  The  United  Slates  demand  that  a  surrender  be  immediately  made,  of 
all  the  persons  and  property  taken  from  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  the  friendly 
part  of  the  Creek  nation,  the  Cherokee,  Chickasaw,  and  Choctaw  nations,  to  the 
respective  owners  ;  and  the  United  States  will  cause  to  be  immediately  restored  to 
the  formerly  hostile  Creeks  all  the  property  taken  from  them  since  their  submission, 
either  by  the  United  States,  or  by  any  Indian  nations  in  amity  with  the  United  States, 
together  with  all  the  prisoners  taken  from  them  during  the  \v;ir. 

Article  G.     The  United  States  demand  the  caption  and  surrender  of  all  the  prophets 


368  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

and  instigators  of  the  war,  whether  foreigners  or  natives,  who  have  not  submitted  to 
the  arms  of  the  United  States,  and  become  parties  to  these  articles  of  capitulation, 
if  ever  they  shall  be  found  within  the  territory  guarantied  to  the  Creek  nation  by  the 
second  article. 

Article  7.  The  Creek  nation  being  reduced  to  extreme  want,  and  not  at  present 
having  the  means  of  subsistence,  the  United  Stales,  from  motives  of  humanity,  will 
continue  to  furnish  gratuitously  the  necessaries  of  life,  until  the  crops  of  corn  can  be 
considered  competent  to  yield  the  nation  a  supply,  and  will  establish  trading  houses 
in  the  nation,  at  the  discretion  of  the  president  of  the  United  States,  and  at  such 
places  as  he  shall  direct,  to  enable  the  nation,  by  industry  and  economy,  to  procure 
clothing.' 

I  have  never  perused  this  instrument  until  within  a  few  days 
past,  and  I  have  read  it  with  the  deepest  mortification  and  regret. 
A  more  dictatorial  spirit  I  have  never  seen  displayed  in  any  instru- 
ment. I  would  challenge  an  examinalion  of  all  the  records  of 
diplomacy,  not  excepting  even  those  in  the  most  haughty  period 
of  imperial  Rome,  when  she  was  carrying  her  arms  into  the  barba- 
rian nations  that  surrounded  her,  and  I  do  not  believe  a  solitary 
instance  can  be  found  of  such  an  inexorable  spirit  of  domination 
pervading  a  compact  purporting  to  be  a  treaty  of  peace.  It  consists 
of  the  most  severe  and  humiliating  demands  —  of  the  surrender  of 
a  large  territory ;  of  the  privilege  of  making  roads  through  the 
remnant  which  was  retained;  of  the  right  of  establishing  trading- 
houses  ;  of  the  obligation  of  delivering  into  our  hands  their 
prophets.  And  all  this  of  a  wretched  people  reduced  to  the  last 
extremity  of  distress,  whose  miserable  existence  we  have  to 
preserve  by  a  voluntary  stipulation  to  furnish  them  with  bread ! 
When  did  the  all-conquering  and  desolating  Rome  ever  fail  to 
respect  the  altars  and  the  gods  of  those  whom  she  subjugated  ? 
Let  me  not  be  told  that  these  prophets  were  impostors,  who  de- 
ceived the  Indians.  They  were  their  prophets ;  the  Indians 
believed  and  venerated  them,  and  it  is  not  for  us  to  dictate  a 
religious  belief  to  them.  It  does  not  belong  to  the  holy  character 
of  the  religion  which  we  profess,  to  carry  its  precepts,  by  the  force 
of  the  bayonet,  into  the  bosoms  of  other  people.  Mild  and  gentle 
persuasion  was  the  great  instrument  employed  by  the  meek 
founder  of  our  religion.  We  leave  to  the  humane  and  benevolent 
efforts  of  the  reverend  professors  of  Christianity  to  convert  from 
barbarism  those  unhappy  nations  yet  immersed  in  its  gloom.  But, 
sir,  spare  them  their  prophets !  spare  their  delusions !  spare  their 
prejudices  and  superstitions !  spare  them  even  their  religion,  such 
as  it  is,  from  open  and  cruel  violence.  When,  sir,  was  that  treaty 
concluded  ?  On  the  very  day,  after  the  protocol  was  signed,  of 
the  first  conference  between  the  American  and  British  commis- 
sioners, treating  of  peace,  at  Ghent.  In  the  course  of  that  nego- 
tiation, pretensions  so  enormous  were  set  up  by  the  other  party, 
that,  when  they  were  promulgated  in  this  country,  there  was  one 
general  burst  of  indignation  throughout  the  continent.  Faction 
itself  was  silenced,  and  the  firm  and  unanimous  determination  of 


ON     THE     SEMINOLE     WAR.  369 

all  parties  was,  to  fight  until  the  last  man  fell  in  the  ditch,  rather 
than  submit  to  such  ignominious  terms.  What  a  contrast  is 
exhibited  between  the  contemporaneous  scenes  of  Ghent  and  of 
Fort  Jackson !  what  a  powerful  voucher  would  the  British  com- 
missioners have  been  furnished  with,  if  they  could  have  got  hold 
of  that  treaty !  The  United  States  demand,  the  United  States 
demand,  is  repeated  five  or  six  times.  And  what  did  the  preamble 
itself  disclose?  That  two  thirds  of  the  Creek  nation  had  been 
hostile,  and  one  third  only  friendly  to  us.  Now  I  have  heard,  (I 
cannot  vouch  for  the  truth  of  the  statement,)  that  not  one  hostile 
chief  signed  the  treaty.  I  have  also  heard  that  perhaps  one  or  two 
of  them  did.  If  the  treaty  were  really  made  by  a  minority  of  the 
nation,  it  was  not  obligatory  upon  the  whole  nation.  It  was  void, 
considered  in  the  light  of  a  national  compact.  And,  if  void,  the 
Indians  were  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  the  provision  of  the  ninth 
article  of  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  by  which  we  bound  ourselves  to 
make  peace  with  any  tribes  with  whom  we  might  be  at  war  on 
the  ratification  of  the  treaty,  and  to  restore  to  them  their  lands,  as 
they  held  them  in  1811.  I  do  not  know  how  the  honorable  senate, 
that  body  for  which  I  hold  so  high  a  respect,  could  have  given  their 
sanction  to  the  treaty  of  Fort  Jackson,  so  utterly  irreconcilable  as  it 
is  with  those  noble  principles  of  generosity  and  magnanimity  which 
I  hope  to  see  my  country  always  exhibit,  and  particularly  toward 
the  miserable  remnant  of  ihe  aborigines.  It  would  have  comported 
better  with  those  principles,  to  have  imitated  the  benevolent  policy 
of  the  founder  of  Pennsylvania,  and  to  have  given  to  the  Creeks, 
conquered  as  they  were,  even  if  they  had  made  an  unjust  war 
upon  us,  the  trifling  consideration,  to  them  an  adequate  compensa- 
tion, which  he  paid  for  their  lands.  That  treaty,  I  fear,  has  been 
the  main  cause  of  the  recent  war.  And,  if  it  has  been,  it  only  adds 
another  melancholy  proof  to  those  with  which  history  already 
abounds,  that  hard  and  unconscionable  terms,  extorted  by  the 
power  of  the  sword  and  the  right  of  conquest,  serve  but  to  whet 
and  stimulate  revenge,  and  to  give  old  hostilities,  smothered,  not 
extinguished,  by  the  pretended  peace,  greater  exasperation  and 
more  ferocity.  A  truce,  thus  patched  up  with  an  unfortunate 
people,  without  the  means  of  existence,  without  bread,  is  no  real 
peace.  The  instant  there  is  the  slightest  prospect  of  relief  from 
such  harsh  and  severe  conditions,  the  conquered  party  will  fly  to 
arms,  and  spend  the  last  drop  of  blood  rather  than  live  in  such 
degraded  bondage.  Even  if  you  again  reduce  him  to  submission, 
the  expenses  incurred  by  this  second  war,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
human  lives  that  are  sacrificed,  will  be  greater  than  what  it  would 
have  cost  you  to  grant,  him  liberal  conditions  in  the  first  instance. 
This  treaty,  I  repeat  it,  was,  I  apprehend,  the  cause  of  the  war. 
It  led  to  those  excesses  on  our  southern  borders  which  began  it. 
Who  first  commenced  them,  it  is  perhaps  difficult  to  ascertain. 
Vol.  i.  47 


370  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

There  was,  however,  a  paper  on  this  subject,  communicated  at  the 
last  session  by  the  president,  that  told,  in  language  pathetic  and 
feeling,  an  artless  tale ;  a  paper  that  carried  such  internal  evidence, 
at  least,  of  the  belief  of  the  authors  of  it  that  they  were  writing  the 
truth,  that  I  will  ask  the  favor  of  the  committee  to  allow  me  to 
read  it. 

To  the  Commanding  Officer  at  Fort  Hawkins : 

Dear  Sir: 

Since  the  last  war,  after  you  sent  word  that  we  must  quit  the  war,  we,  the  red 
people,  have  come  over  on  this  side.  The  white  people  have  carried  all  the  red  people's 
cattle  off.  After  the  war,  I  sent  to  all  my  people  to  let  the  white  people  alone,  and 
stay  on  this  side  of  the  river:  and  they  did  so;  hut  the  white  people  still  continued  to 
carry  off  their  cattle.  Bernard's  son  was  here,  and  I  inquired  of  him  what  was  to  be 
done  ;  and  he  said  we  must  go  to  the  head  man  of  the  white  people  and  complain.  I 
did  so,  and  there  was  no  head  white  man,  and  there  was  no  law  in  this  case.  The  whites 
first  began,  and  there  is  nothing  said  about  that;  but  great  complaint  about  what  the 
Indians  do.  This  is  now  three  years  since  the  white  people  killed  three  Indians  ; 
since  that  time  they  have  killed  three  other  Indians,  and  taken  their  horses,  and  what 
they  had ;  and  this  summer  they  killed  three  more ;  and  very  lately  they  killed  one 
more.  We  sent  word  to  the  white  people  that  these  murders  were  done,  and  the 
answer  was,  that  they  were  people  that  were  outlaws,  and  we  ought  to  go  and  kill 
them.  The  white  people  killed  our  people  first;  the  Indians  then  took  satisfaction. 
There  are  yet  three  men  that  the  red  people  have  never  taken  satisfaction  for.  You 
have  wrote  that  there  were  houses  burnt;  but  we  know  of  no  such  thing  being  done  ; 
the  truth,  in  such  cases,  ought  to  be  told,  but  this  appears  otherwise.  On  that  side 
of  the  river,  the  white  people  have  killed  five  Indians,  but  there  is  nothing  said  about 
that;  and  all  that  the  Indians  have  done  is  brought  up.  Ml  the  mischief  the  white  people 
have  done,  ought  to  be  told  to  their  head  man.  When  there  is  any  thing  done,  you  write 
to  us;  but  never  write  to  your  head  man  what  the  white  people  do.  When  the  red 
people  send  talks,  or  write,  they  always  send  the  truth.  You  have  sent  to  us  for 
your  horses,  and  we  sent  all  that  we  could  find ;  but  there  were  some  dead.  It 
appears  that  all  the  mischief  is  laid  on  this  town ;  but  all  the  mischief  that  has  been 
done  by  this  town,  is  two  horses;  one  of  them  is  dead,  and  the  other  was  sent  back. 
The  cattle  that  we  are  accused  of  taking,  were  cattle  that  the  white  people  took  from  us. 
Our  young  men  went  and  brought  them  back,  with  the  same  marks  and  brands. 
There  were  some  of  our  young  men  out  hunting,  and  they  were  killed;  others  went 
to  take  satisfaction,  and  the  kettle  of  one  of  the  men  that  was  killed,  was  found  in 
the  house  where  the  woman  and  two  children  were  killed;  and  they  supposed  it  had 
been  her  husband  who  had  killed  the  Indians,  and  took  their  satisfaction  there.  We 
are  accused  of  killing  the  Americans,  and  so  on  ;  but  since  the  word  was  sent  to  us 
that  peace  was  made,  we  stay  steady  at  home,  and  meddle  with  no  person.  You  have 
sent  to  us  respecting  the  black  people  on  the  Suwany  river;  we  have  nothing  to  do 
with  them.  They  were  put  there  by  the  English,  and  to  them  you  ought  to  apply 
for  any  thing  about  them.  We  do  not  wish  our  country  desolated  by  an  army  passing 
through  it,  for  the  concern  of  other  people.  The  Indians  have  slaves  there  also;  a 
great  many  of  them.  When  we  have  an  opportunity,  we  shall  apply  to  the  English 
for  them  ;  but  we  cannot  get  them  now. 

This  is  what  we  have  to  say  at  present. 

Sir,  I  conclude  by  subscribing  myself, 

Your  humble  servant,  &c. 

September,  the  11th  day,  1817. 

N.  B.     There  are  ten  towns  have  read  this  letter,  and  this  is  the  answer. 

A  true  copy  of  the  original.  Wm.  Bell,  Aid-de-camp. 

I  should  be  very  unwilling  to  assert,  in  regard  to  this  war,  that 
the  fault  was  on  our  side ;  I  fear  it  was.  I  have  heard  that  a  very 
respectable  gentleman,  now  no  more,  who  once  filled  the  executive 
chair  of  Georgia,  and  who,  having  been  agent  of  Indian  affairs  in 


ON     THE     SEMINOLE     WAR.  371 

that  quarter,  had  the  best  opportunity  of  judging  of  the  origin  of 
this  war,  deliberately  pronounced  it  as  his  opinion,  that  the  Indians 
were  not  in  fault.  I  am  far  from  attributing  to  general  Jackson 
any  other  than  the  very  slight  degree  of  blame  that  attaches  to  him 
as  the  negotiator  of  the  treaty  of  Fort  Jackson,  and  will  be  shared 
by  those  who  subsequently  ratified  and  sanctioned  that  treaty. 
But  if  there  be  even  a  doubt  as  to  the  origin  of  the  war,  whether 
we  were  censurable  or  the  Indians,  that  doubt  will  serve  to  increase 
our  regret  at  any  distressing  incidents  which  may  have  occurred, 
and  to  mitigate,  in  some  degree,  the  crimes  which  we  impute  to 
the  other  side.  I  know  that  when  general  Jackson  was  summoned 
to  the  field,  it  was  too  late  to  hesitate ;  the  fatal  blow  had  been 
struck,  in  the  destruction  of  Fowl-town,  and  the  dreadful  massacre 
of  lieutenant  Scott  and  his  detachment ;  and  the  only  duty  which 
remained  to  him,  wTas  to  terminate  this  unhappy  contest. 

The  first  circumstance  which,  in  the  course  of  his  performing 
that  duty,  fixed  our  attention,  has  filled  me  with  regret.  It  was  the 
execution  of  the  Indian  chiefs.  How,  I  ask,  did  they  come  into 
our  possession?  Was  it  in  the  course  of  fair,  and  open,  and 
honorable  war  ?  No ;  but  by  means  of  deception  —  by  hoisting 
foreign  colors  on  the  staff  from  which  the  stars  and  stripes  should 
alone  have  floated.  Thus  ensnared,  the  Indians  were  taken  on 
shore ;  and  without  ceremony,  and  without  delay,  were  hung. 
Hang  an  Indian  !  We,  sir,  who  are  civilized,  and  can  comprehend 
and  feel  the  effect  of  moral  causes  and  considerations,  attach 
ignominy  to  that  mode  of  death.  And  the  gallant,  and  refined, 
and  high-minded  man,  seeks  by  all  possible  means  to  avoid  it. 
But  what  cares  an  Indian  whether  you  hang  or  shoot  him  ?  The 
moment  he  is  captured,  he  is  considered  by  his  tribe  as  disgraced, 
if  not  lost.  They,  too,  are  indifferent  about  the  manner  in  which 
he  is  despatched.  But  I  regard  the  occurrence  with  grief,  for  other 
and  higher  considerations.  It  was  the  first  instance  that  I  know 
of,  in  the  annals  of  our  country,  in  which  retaliation,  by  executing 
Indian  captives,  has  ever  been  deliberately  practiced.  There  may 
have  been  exceptions,  but  if  there  are,  they  met  with  contempora- 
neous condemnation,  and  have  been  reprehended  by  the  just  pen 
of  impartial  history.  The  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  may  tell 
me,  if  he  chooses,  what  he  pleases  about  the  tomahawk  and 
scalping  knife ;  about  Indian  enormities,  and  foreign  miscreants 
and  incendiaries.  I,  too,  hate  them ;  from  my  very  soul  I  abomi- 
nate them.  But  I  love  my  country,  and  its  constitution ;  I  love 
liberty  and  safety,  and  fear  military  despotism  more,  even,  than  I 
hate  these  monsters.  The  gentleman,  in  the  course  of  his  remarks, 
alluded  to  the  state  from  which  I  have  the  honor  to  come.  Little, 
sir,  does  he  know  of  the  high  and  magnanimous  sentiments  of  the 
people  of  that  state,  if  he  supposes  they  will  approve  of  the  trans- 
action to  which  he  referred.     Brave  and  generous,  humanity  and 


372  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

clemency  towards  a  fallen  foe  constitute  one  of  their  noblest 
characteristics.  Amidst  all  the  struggles  for  that  fair  land,  between 
the  natives  and  the  present  inhabitants,  I  defy  the  gentleman  to 
point  out  one  instance,  in  which  a  Kentuckian  has  stained  his  hand 
by — nothing  but  my  high  sense  of  the  distinguished  services  and 
exalted  merits  of  general  Jackson,  prevents  my  using  a  different 
term  —  the  execution  of  an  unarmed  and  prostrate  captive.  Yes, 
there  is  one  solitary  exception,  in  which  a  man,  enraged  at  behold- 
ing an  Indian  prisoner  who  had  been  celebrated  for  his  enormities, 
and  who  had  destroyed  some  of  his  kindred,  plunged  his  sword 
into  his  bosom.  The  wicked  deed  was  considered  as  an  abomina- 
ble outrage  when  it  occurred,  and  the  name  of  the  man  has  been 
handed  down  to  the  execration  of  posterity.  I  deny  your  right 
thus  to  retaliate  on  the  aboriginal  proprietors  of  the  country ;  and 
unless  I  am  utterly  deceived,  it  may  be  shown  that  it  does  not 
exist.  But  before  I  attempt  this,  allow  me  to  make  the  gentleman 
from  Massachusetts  a  little  better  acquainted  with  those  people,  to 
whose  feelings  and  sympathies  he  has  appealed  through  their 
representative.  During  the  late  war  with  Great  Britain,  colonel 
Campbell,  under  the  command  of  my  honorable  friend  from  Ohio 
(general  Harrison),  was  placed  at  the  head  of  a  detachment,  con- 
sisting chiefly,  I  believe,  of  Kentucky  volunteers,  in  order  to  destroy 
the  Mississinaway  towns.  They  proceeded  and  performed  the 
duty,  and  took  some  prisoners.  And  here  is  the  evidence  of  the 
manner  in  which  they  treated  them. 

1  But  the  character  of  this  gallant  detachment,  exhibiting,  as  it  did,  perseverance, 
fortitude,  and  bravery,  would,  however,  be  incomplete,  if,  in  the  midst  of  victory,  they 
had  forgotten  the  feelings  of  humanity.  It  is  with  the  sincerest  pleasure  that  the 
general  has  heard,  that  the  most  punctual  obedience  was  paid  to  his  orders,  in  not 
only  saving  all  the  women  and  children,  but  in  sparine;  all  the  warriors  who  ceased  to 
resist:  and  that  even  when  vigorously  attacked  by  the  enemy,  the  claims  of  mercy 
prevailed  over  every  sense  of  their  own  danger,  and  this  heroic  band  respected  the  lives 
of  their  prisoners.  Let  an  account  of  murdered  innocence  be  opened  in  the  records 
of  heaven,  against  our  enemies  alone.  The  American  soldier  will  follow  the  example 
of  his  government,  and  the  sword  of  the  one  will  not  be  raised  against  the  fallen  and 
the  helpless,  nor  the  gold  of  the  other  be  paid  for  scalps  of  a  massacred  enemy.' 

I  hope,  sir,  the  honorable  gentleman  will  now  be  able  better  to 
appreciate  the  character  and  conduct  of  my  gallant  countrymen, 
than  he  appears  hitherto  to  have  done. 

But,  sir,  I  have  said  that  you  have  no  right  to  practice,  under 
color  of  retaliation,  enormities  on  the  Indians.  I  will  advance  in 
support  of  this  position,  as  applicable  to  the  origin  of  all  law,  the 
principle,  that  whatever  has  been  the  custom,  from  the  commence- 
ment of  a  subject,  whatever  has  been  the  uniform  usage,  coeval 
and  coexistent  with  the  subject  to  which  it  relates,  becomes  its 
fixed  law.  Such  is  the  foundation  of  all  common  law;  and  such, 
I  believe,  is  the  principal  foundation  of  all  public  or  international 
law.     If,  then,  it  can  be  shown  that  from  the  first  settlement  of  the 


ON     THE     SEMINOLE     WAR.  373 

colonies,  on  this  part  of  the  American  continent,  to  the  present 
time,  we  have  constantly  abstained  from  retaliating  upon  the  In- 
dians the  excesses  practiced  by  them  towards  us,  we  are  morally 
bound  by  this  invariable  usage,  and  cannot  lawfully  change  it 
without  the  most  cogent  reasons.  So  far  as  my  knowledge  ex- 
tends, from  the  first  settlement  at  Plymouth  or  at  Jamestown,  it  has 
not  been  our  practice  to  destroy  Indian  captives,  combatants  or 
non-combatants.  I  know  of  but  one  deviation  from  the  code  which 
regulates  the  warfare  between  civilized  communities,  and  that  was 
the  destruction  of  Indian  towns,  which  was  supposed  to  be  author- 
ized upon  the  ground  that  we  could  not  bring  the  war  to  a  termi- 
nation but  by  destroying  the  means  which  nourished  it.  With  this 
single  exception,  the  other  principles  of  the  laws  of  civilized  nations 
are  extended  to  them,  and  are  thus  made  law  in  regard  to  them. 
When  did  this  humane  custom,  by  which,  in  consideration  of  their 
ignorance,  and  our  enlightened  condition,  the  rigors  of  war  were 
mitigated,  begin  ?  At  a  time  when  we  were  weak,  and  they 
comparatively  strong;  when  they  were  the  lords  of  the  soil,  and 
we  were  seeking,  from  the  vices,  from  the  corruptions,  from  the 
religious  intolerance,  and  from  the  oppressions  of  Europe,  to  gain 
an  asylum  among  them.  And  when  is  it  proposed  to  change  this 
custom,  to  substitute  for  it  the  bloody  maxims  of  barbarous  ages, 
and  to  interpolate  the  Indian  public  law  with  revolting  cruelties  ? 
At  a  time  when  the  situation  of  the  two  parties  is  totally  changed  — 
when  we  are  powerful  and  they  are  weak  —  at  a  time  when,  to  use 
a  figure  drawn  from  their  own  sublime  eloquence,  the  poor  children 
of  the  forest  have  been  driven  by  the  great  wave  which  has  flowed 
in  from  the  Atlantic  ocean  almost  to  the  base  of  the  Rocky  mountains, 
and,  overwhelming  them  in  its  terrible  progress,  has  left  no  other 
remains  of  hundreds  of  tribes,  now  extinct,  than  those  which  indicate 
the  remote  existence  of  their  former  companion,  the  mammoth  of 
the  new  world !  Yes,  sir,  it  is  at  this  auspicious  period  of  our 
country,  when  we  hold  a  proud  and  lofty  station  among  the  first 
nations  of  the  world,  that  we  are  called  upon  to  sanction  a  depar- 
ture from  the  established  laws  and  usages  which  have  regulated 
our  Indian  hostilities.  And  does  the  honorable  gentleman  from 
Massachusetts  expect,  in  this  august  body,  this  enlightened  assem- 
bly of  christians  and  Americans,  by  glowing  appeals  to  our 
passions,  to  make  us  forget  our  principles,  our  religion,  our  clemen- 
cy, and  our  humanity  ?  Why  is  it  that  we  have  not  practiced 
towards  the  Indian  tribes  the  right  of  retaliation,  now  for  the  first 
time  asserted  in  regard  to  them  ?  It  is  because  it  is  a  principle 
proclaimed  by  reason,  and  enforced  by  every  respectable  writer  on 
the  law  of  nations,  that  retaliation  is  only  justifiable  as  calculated 
to  produce  effect  in  the  war.  Vengeance  is  a  new  motive  for 
resorting  to  it.  If  retaliation  will  produce  no  effect  on  the  enemy, 
we  are  bound  to  abstain  from  it  by  every  consideration  of  humanity 


374  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

and  of  justice.  Will  it  then  produce  effect  on  the  Indian  tribes  ? 
No ;  they  care  not  about  the  execution  of  those  of  their  warriors 
who  are  taken  captive.  They  are  considered  as  disgraced  by  the 
very  circumstance  of  their  captivity,  and  it  is  often  mercy  to  the 
unhappy  captive  to  deprive  him  of  his  existence.  The  poet  evinced 
a  profound  knowledge  of  the  Indian  character,  when  he  put  into 
the  mouth  of  a  son  of  a  distinguished  chief,  about  to  be  led  to  the 
stake  and  tortured  by  his  victorious  enemy,  the  words : 

'  Begin,  ye  tormentors !  your  threats  are  in  vain : 
The  son  of  Alknomook  will  never  complain.' 

Retaliation  of  Indian  excesses,  not  producing  then  any  effect  in 
preventing  their  repetition,  is  condemned  by  both  reason  and  the 
principles  upon  which  alone,  in  any  case,  it  can  be  justified.  On 
this  branch  of  the  subject  much  more  might  be  said,  but  as  I  shall 
possibly  again  allude  to  it,  I  will  pass  from  it,  for  the  present,  to 
another  topic. 

It  is  not  necessary,  for  the  purpose  of  my  argument  in  regard  to 
the  trial  and  execution  of  Arbuthnot  and  Ambrister,  to  insist  on  the 
innocency  of  either  of  them.  I  will  yield  for  the  sake  of  that 
argument,  without  inquiry,  that  both  of  them  were  guilty ;  that  both 
had  instigated  the  war;  and  that  one  of  them  had  led  the  enemy  to 
battle.  It  is  possible,  indeed,  that  a  critical  examination  of  the 
evidence  would  show,  particularly  in  the  case  of  Arbuthnot,  that 
the  whole  amount  of  his  crime  consisted  in  his  trading,  without  the 
limits  of  the  United  States,  with  the  Seminole  Indians,  in  the 
accustomed  commodities  which  form  the  subject  of  Indian  trade, 
and  that  he  sought  to  ingratiate  himself  with  his  customers  by 
espousing  their  interests,  in  regard  to  the  provision  of  the  treaty 
of  Ghent,  which  he  may  have  honestly  believed  entitled  them  to 
the  restoration  of  their  lands.  And  if,  indeed,  the  treaty  of  Fort 
Jackson,  for  the  reasons  already  assigned,  were  not  binding  upon 
the  Creeks,  there  would  be  but  too  much  cause  to  lament  his 
unhappy  if  not  unjust  fate.  The  first  impression  made,  on  the 
examination  of  the  proceedings  in  the  trial  and  execution  of  those 
two  men,  is,  that  on  the  part  of  Ambrister  there  was  the  most  guilt, 
but,  at  the  same  time,  the  most  irregularity.  Conceding  the  point 
of  guilt  of  both,  with  the  qualification  which  I  have  stated,  I  will 
proceed  to  inquire,  first,  if  their  execution  can  be  justified  upon  the 
principles  assumed  by  general  Jackson  himself.  If  they  do  not 
afford  a  justification,  I  will  next  inquire,  if  there  be  any  other 
principles  authorizing  their  execution;  and  I  will  in  the  third  place 
make  some  other  observations  upon  the  mode  of  proceeding. 

The  principle  assumed  by  general  Jackson,  which  may  be  found 
in  his  general  orders  commanding  the  execution  of  these  men,  is, 
'  that  it  is  an  established  principle  of  the  law  of  nations,  that  any 
individual  of  a  nation  making  war  against  the  citizens  of  any  other 


ON     THE     SEMINOLE     WAR.  375 

nation,  they  being  at  peace,  forfeits  his  allegiance,  and  becomes  an 
outlaw  and  a  pirate.'  Whatever  may  be  the  character  of  individ- 
uals waging  private  war,  the  principle  assumed  is  totally  erroneous 
when  applied  to  such  individuals  associated  with  a  power,  whether 
Indian  or  civilized,  capable  of  maintaing  the  relations  of  peace  and 
war.  Suppose,  however,  the  principle  were  true,  as  asserted,  what 
disposition  should  he  have  made  of  these  men  ?  What  jurisdiction, 
and  how  acquired,  has  the  military  over  pirates,  robbers,  and 
outlaws  ?  If  they  were  in  the  character  imputed,  they  were  alone 
amenable,  and  should  have  been  turned  over,  to  the  civil  authority. 
But  the  principle,  I  repeat,  is  totally  incorrect,  when  applied  to  men 
in  their  situation.  A  foreigner  connecting  himself  with  a  bellige- 
rent, becomes  an  enemy  of  the  party  to  whom  that  belligerent  is 
opposed,  subject  to  whatever  he  may  be  subject,  entitled  to 
whatever  he  is  entitled.  Arbuthnot  and  Ambrister,  by  associating 
themselves,  became  identified  with  the  Indians ;  they  became  our 
enemies,  and  we  had  a  right  to  treat  them  as  we  could  lawfully 
treat  the  Indians.  These  positions  are  so  obviously  correct,  that  I 
shall  consider  it  an  abuse  of  the  patience  of  the  committee  to 
consume  time  in  their  proof.  They  are  supported  by  the  practice 
of  all  nations,  and  of  our  own.  Every  page  of  history,  in  all 
times,  and  the  recollection  of  every  member,  furnish  evidence 
of  their  truth.  Let  us  look  for  a  moment  into  some  of  the  conse- 
quences of  this  principle,  if  it  were  to  go  to  Europe,  sanctioned  by 
the  approbation,  express  or  implied,  of  this  house.  We  have  now 
in  our  armies  probably  the  subjects  of  almost  every  European 
power.  Some  of  the  nations  of  Europe  maintain  the  doctrine 
of  perpetual  allegiance.  Suppose  Britain  and  America  in  peace, 
and  America  and  France  at  war.  The  former  subjects  of  England, 
naturalized  and  unnaturalized,  are  captured  by  the  navy  or  army 
of  France.  What  is  their  condition?  According  to  the  principle 
of  general  Jackson,  they  would  be  outlawrs  and  pirates,  and  liable 
to  immediate  execution.  Are  gentlemen  prepared  to  return  to 
their  respective  districts  with  this  doctrine  in  their  mouths,  and  to 
say  to  their  Irish,  English,  Scotch,  and  other  foreign  constituents, 
that  they  are  liable,  on  the  contingency  supposed,  to  be  treated  as 
outlaws  and  pirates  ? 

Is  there  any  other  principle  which  justifies  the  proceedings  ?  On 
this  subject,  if  I  admire  the  wonderful  ingenuity  with  which  gentle- 
men seek  a  colorable  pretext  for  those  executions,  I  am  at  the  same 
time  shocked  at  some  of  the  principles  advanced.  What  said  the 
honorable  gentlemen  from  Massachusetts  (Mr.  Holmes),  in  a  cold 
address  to  the  committee?  Why,  that  these  executions  were  only 
the  wrong  mode  of  doing  a  right  thing.  A  wrong  mode  of  doing 
a  right  thing!  In  what  code  of  public  law;  in  what  system  of 
ethics ;  nay,  in  what  respectable  novel ;  where,  if  the  gentleman 
were  to  take  the  range  of  the  whole  literature  of  the  world ;  will  he 


376  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

find  any  sanction  for  a  principle  so  monstrous?  I  will  illustrate 
its  enormity  by  a  single  case.  Suppose  a  man,  being  guilty  of 
robbery,  is  tried,  condemned,  and  executed,  for  murder,  upon  an 
indictment  for  that  robbery  merely.  The  judge  is  arraigned  for 
having  executed,  contrary  to  law,  a  human  being,  innocent  at  heart 
of  the  crime  for  which  he  was  sentenced.  The  judge  has  nothing 
to  do,  to  insure  his  own  acquittal,  but  to  urge  the  gentleman's  plea, 
that  he  had  done  a  right  thing  in  a  wrong  way  ! 

The  principles  which  attached  to  the  cases  of  Arbuthnot  and 
Ambrister,  constituting  them  merely  par ticipes  in  the  war,  supposing 
them  to  have  been  combatants,  which  the  former  was  not,  he  having 
been  taken  in  a  Spanish  fortress,  without  arms  in  his  hands,  all  that 
we  could  possibly  have  a  right  to  do,  was  to  apply  to  them  the  rules 
which  we  had  a  right  to  enforce  against  the  Indians.  Their  English 
character  was  only  merged  in  iheir  Indian  character.  Now,  if  the 
law  regulating  Indian  hostilities  be  established  by  long  and 
immemorial  usage,  that  we  have  no  moral  right  to  retaliate  upon 
them,  we  consequently  had  no  right  to  retaliate  upon  Arbuthnot 
and  Ambrister.  Even  if  it  were  admitted  that,  in  regard  to  future 
wars,  and  to  other  foreigners,  their  execution  may  have  a  good 
effect,  it  would  not  thence  follow  that  you  had  a  right  to  execute 
them.  It  is  not  always  just  to  do  what  may  be  -advantageous. 
And  retaliation,  during  a  war,  must  have  relation  to  the  events  of 
that  war,  and  must,  to  be  just,  have  an  operation  on  that  war,  and 
upon  the  individuals  only  who  compose  the  belligerent  party.  It 
becomes  gentlemen,  then,  on  the  other  side,  to  show,  by  some 
known,  certain,  and  recognised  rule  of  public  or  municipal  law, 
that  the  execution  of  these  men  was  justified.  Where  is  it?  I 
should  be  glad  to  see  it.  We  are  told  in  a  paper  emanating  from 
the  department  of  state,  recently  laid  before  this  house,  distinguished 
for  the  fervor  of  ils  eloquence,  and  of  which  the  honorable  gentle- 
man from  Massachusetts  has  supplied  us  in  part  with  a  second 
edition,  in  one  respect  agreeing  with  the  prototype  —  that  they  both 
ought  to  be  inscribed  to  the  American  public  —  we  are  justly  told 
in  that  paper,  that  this  is  the  first  instance  of  the  execution  of 
persons  for  the  crime  of  instigating  Indians  to  war.  Sir,  there  are 
two  topics  which,  in  Europe,  are  constantly  employed  by  the  friends 
and  minions  of  legitimacy  against  our  country.  The  one  is  an 
inordinate  spirit  of  aggrandizement  —  of  coveting  other  people's 
goods;  the  other  is  the  treatment  which  we  extend  to  the  Indians. 
Against  both  these  charges,  the  public  servants  who  conducted  at 
Ghent  the  negotiations  with  the  British  commissioners,  endeavored 
to  vindicate  our  country,  and  I  hope  with  some  degree  of  success. 
What  will  be  the  condition  of  future  American  negotiators,  when 
pressed  upon  this  head,  I  know  not,  after  the  unhappy  executions 
on  our  southern  border.  The  gentleman  from  Massachusetts 
seemed  yesterday  to  read,  with  a  sort  of  triumph,  the  names  of  the 


ON     THE     SEMINOLE     WAR.  377 

commissioners  employed  in  the  negotiation  at  Ghent.  Will  he 
excuse  me  for  saying,  that  I  thought  he  pronounced,  even  with  more 
complacency,  and  with  a  more  gracious  smile,  the  first  name  in  the 
commission,  than  he  emphasized  that  of  the  humble  individual  who 
addresses  you  ? 

[Mr.  Holmes  desired  to  explain.] 

There  is  no  occasion  for  explanation  ;  I  am  perfectly  satisfied. 

[  Mr.  Holmes,  however,  proceeded  to  say  that  his  intention  was, in  pronouncing  the 
gentleman's  name,  to  add  to  the  respect  due  to  the  negotiator  that  which  was  due  to 
the  speaker  of  this  house.] 

To  return  to,  the  case  of  Arbuthnot  and  Ambrister.  Will  the 
principle  of  these  men  having  been  the  instigators  of  the  war, 
justify  their  execution?  It  is  a  new  one;  there  are  no  landmarks 
to  guide  us  in  its  adoption,  or  to  prescribe  limits  in  its  application. 
If  William  Pitt  had  been  taken  by  the  French  army,  during  the 
late  European  war,  could  France  have  justifiably  executed  him  on 
the  ground  of  his  having  notoriously  instigated  the  continental  powers 
to  war  against  France  ?  Would  France,  if  she  had  stained  her 
character  by  executing  him,  have  obtained  the  sanction  of  the 
world  to  the  act,  by  appeals  to  the  passions  and  prejudices,  by 
pointing  to  the  cities  sacked,  the  countries  laid  waste,  the  human 
lives  sacrificed  in  the  wars  which  he  had  kindled,  and  by  exclaiming 
to  the  unfortunate  captive,  you,  miscreant,  monster,  have  occasioned 
all  these  scenes  of  devastation  and  blood  ?  What  has  been  the 
conduct  even  of  England  towards  the  greatest  instigator  of  all  the 
wars  of  the  present  age?  The  condemnation  of  that  illustrious 
man  to  the  rock  of  St.  Helena,  is  a  great  blot  on  the  English  name. 
And  I  repeat  what  I  have  before  said,  that  if  Chatham,  or  Fox,  or 
even  William  Pitt  himself,  had  been  prime  minister  in  England, 
Bonaparte  had  never  been  so  condemned.  On  that  transaction  history 
will  one  day  pass  its  severe  but  just  censure.  Yes,  although 
Napoleon  had  desolated  half  Europe ;  although  there  was  scarcely 
a  power,  however  humble,  that  escaped  the  mighty  grasp  of  his 
ambition;  although  in  the  course  of  his  splendid  career,  he  is 
charged  with  having  committed  the  greatest  atrocities,  disgraceful 
to  himself  and  to  human  nature,  yet  even  his  life  has  been  spared. 
The  allies  would  not,  England  would  not,  execute  him  upon  the 
ground  of  his  being  an  instigator  of  wars. 

The  mode  of  the  trial  and  sentencing  these  men  was  equally 
objectionable  with  the  principles  on  which  it  has  been  attempted  to 
prove  a  forfeiture  of  their  lives.  I  know  the  laudable  spirit  which 
prompted  the  ingenuity  displayed  in  finding  out  a  justification  for 
these  proceedings.  I  wish  most  sincerely  that  I  could  reconcile 
them  to  my  conscience.  It  has  been  attempted  to  vindicate  the 
vol.  i.  48 


378  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

general  upon  grounds  which  I  am  persuaded  he  would  himself 
disown.  It  has  been  asserted,  that  he  was  guilty  of  a  mistake  in 
calling  upon  the  court  to  try  them,  and  that  he  might  have  at  once 
ordered  their  execution,  without  that  formality.  I  deny  that  there 
was  any  such  absolute  right  in  the  commander  of  any  portion 
of  our  army.  The  right  of  retaliation  is  an  attribute  of 
sovereignty.  It  is  comprehended  in  the  war-making  power  that 
congress  possesses.  It  belongs  to  this  body  not  only  to  declare 
war,  but  to  raise  armies,  and  to  make  rules  and  regulations  for 
their  government.  It  is  in  vain  for  gentlemen  to  look  to  the  law  of 
nations  for  instances  in  which  retaliation  is  lawful.  The  laws  of 
nations  merely  lay  down  the  principle  or  rule ;  it  belongs  to  the 
government  to  constitute  the  tribunal  for  applying  that  principle  or 
rule.  There  is,  for  example,  no  instance  in  which  %the  death  of  a 
captive  is  more  certainly  declared  by  the  law  of  nations  to  be 
justifiable,  than  in  the  case  of  spies.  Congress  has  accordingly 
provided,  in  the  rules  and  articles  of  war,  a  tribunal  for  the  trial  of 
spies,  and  consequently  for  the  application  of  the  principle  of  the 
national  law.  The  legislature  has  not  left  the  power  over  spies 
undefined,  to  the  mere  discretion  of  the  commander-in-chief,  or  of 
any  subaltern  officer  in  the  army.  For,  if  the  doctrines  now 
contended  for  were  true,  they  would  apply  to  the  commander  of 
any  corps,  however  small,  acting  as  a  detachment.  Suppose 
congress  had  not  legislated  in  the  case  of  spies,  what  would  have 
been  their  condition  ?  It  would  have  been  a  casus  omissus,  and 
although  the  public  law  pronounced  their  doom,  it  could  not  be 
executed,  because  congress  had  assigned  no  tribunal  for  enforcing 
that  public  law.  No  man  can  be  executed  in  this  free  country 
without  two  things  being  shown  —  first,  that  the  law  condemns  him 
to  death  ;  and,  secondly,  that  his  death  is  pronounced  by  that  tribunal 
which  is  authorized  by  the  law  to  try  him.  These  principles  will 
reach  every  man's  case,  native  or  foreign,  citizen  or  alien.  The 
instant  quarters  are  granted  to  a  prisoner,  the  majesty  of  the  law 
surrounds  and  sustains  him,  and  he  cannot  be  lawfully  punished 
with  death  without  the  concurrence  of  the  two  circumstances  just 
insisted  upon.  I  deny  that  any  commander-in-chief,  in  this  country, 
has  this  absolute  power  of  life  and  death,  at  his  sole  discretion.  It 
is  contrary  to  the  genius  of  all  our  laws  and  institutions.  To 
concentrate  in  the  person  of  one  individual  the  powers  to  make  the 
rule,  to  judge  and  to  execute  the  rule,  or  to  judge  and  execute  the 
rule  only,  is  utterly  irreconcilable  with  every  principle  of  free 
government,  and  is  the  very  definition  of  tyranny  itself;  and 
I  trust  that  this  house  will  never  give  even  a  tacit  assent 
to  such  a  principle.  Suppose  the  commander  had  made  even 
reprisals  on  property,  would  that  property  have  belonged  to 
the  nation,  or  could  he  have  disposed  of  it  as  he  pleased? 
Had   he   more    power,   will    gentlemen    tell    me,   over  the    lives 


ON     THE     SEMINOLE     WAR.  379 

of  human  beings  than  over  property?  The  assertion  of  such 
a  power  to  the  commander-in-chief  is  contrary  to  the  practice  of 
the  government.  By  an  act  of  congress  which  passed  in  1799, 
vesting  the  power  of  retaliation  in  certain  cases  in  the  president  of 
the  United  States  —  an  act  which  passed  during  the  quasi  war  with 
France  —  ihe  president  is  authorized  to  retaliate  upon  any  of  the 
citizens  of  the  French  republic,  the  enormities  which  may  be 
practiced,  in  certain  cases,  upon  our  citizens.  Under  what  admin- 
istration was  this  act  passed  ?  It  was  under  that  which  has  been 
justly  charged  with  stretching  the  constitution  to  enlarge  the 
executive  powers.  Even  during  the  mad  career  of  Mr.  Adams, 
when  every  means  was  resorted  to  for  the  purpose  of  infusing 
vigor  into  the  executive  arm,  no  one  thought  of  claiming  for  him 
the  inherent  right  of  retaliation.  I  will  not  trouble  the  house  with 
reading  another  law,  which  passed  thirteen  or  fourteen  years  after, 
during  the  late  war  with  Great  Britain,  under  the  administration  of 
that  great  constitutional  president,  the  father  of  the  instrument  itself, 
by  which  Mr.  Madison  was  empowered  to  retaliate  on  the  British  in 
certain  instances.  It  is  not  only  contrary  to  the  genius  of  our 
institutions,  and  to  the  uniform  practice  of  the  government,  but  it 
is  contrary  to  the  obvious  principles  on  which  the  general  himself 
proceeded;  for,  in  forming  the  court,  he  evidently  intended  to 
proceed  under  the  rules  and  articles  of  war.  The  extreme  number 
which  they  provide  for  is  thirteen,  precisely  that  which  is  detailed 
in  the  present  instance.  The  court  proceeded  not  by  a  bare 
plurality,  but  by  a  majority  of  two  thirds.  In  the  general  orders 
issued  from  the  adjutant  general's  office,  at  head  quarters,  it  is 
described  as  a  court-martial.  The  prisoners  are  said,  in  those 
orders,  to  have  been  tried,  '  on  the  following  charges  and  specifica- 
tions.' The  court  understood  itself  to  be  acting  as  a  court-martial. 
It  was  so  organized,  it  so  proceeded,  having  a  judge  advocate, 
hearing  witnesses,  and  the  written  defence  of  the  miserable 
trembling  prisoners,  who  seemed  to  have  a  presentiment  of  their 
doom.  And  the  court  was  finally  dissolved.  The  whole  proceed- 
ing manifestly  shows,  that  all  parties  considered  it  as  a  court- 
martial,  convened  and  acting  under  the  rules  and  articles  of  war. 
In  his  letter  to  the  secretary  of  war,  noticing  the  transaction,  the 
general  says,  'these  individuals  were  tried  under  my  orders, 
leg-ally  convicted  as  exciters  of  this  savage  and  negro  war,  legally 
condemned,  and  most  justly  punished  for  their  iniquities.'  The 
Lord  deliver  us  from  such  legal  conviction,  and  such  legal  condem- 
nation !  The  general  himself  considered  the  laws  of  his  country 
to  have  justified  his  proceedings.  It  is  in  vain  then  to  talk  of  a 
power  in  him  beyond  the  law,  and  above  the  law,  when  he  himself 
does  not  assert  it.  Let  it  be  conceded  that  he  was  clothed  wTith 
absolute  authority  over  the  lives  of  those  individuals,  and  that, 
upon  his  own  fiat,  without  trial,  without  defence,  he  might  have 


380  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

commanded  their  execution.  Now,  if  an  absolute  sovereign,  in 
any  particular  respect,  promulgates  a  rule,  which  he  pledges  him- 
self to  observe,  if  he  subsequently  deviates  from  that  rule,  he 
subjects  himself  to  the  imputation  of  odious  tyranny.  If  general 
Jackson  had  the  power,  without  a  court,  to  condemn  these  men,  he 
had  also  the  power  to  appoint  a  tribunal.  He  did  appoint  a  tribunal, 
and  became,  therefore,  morally  bound  to  observe  and  execute  the 
sentence  of  that  tribunal.  In  regard  to  Ambrister,  it  is  with  grief 
and  pain  I  am  compelled  to  say,  that  he  was  executed  in  defiance 
of  all  law;  in  defiance  of  the  law  to  which  general  Jackson  had 
voluntarily,  if  you  please,  submitted  himself,  and  given,  by  his 
appeal  to  the  court,  his  implied  pledge  to  observe.  I  know  but 
little  of  military  law,  and  what  has  happened,  has  certainly  not 
created  in  me  a  taste  for  acquiring  a  knowledge  of  more;  but  I 
believe  there  is  no  example  on  record,  where  the  sentence  of  the  court 
has  been  erased,  and  a  sentence  not  pronounced  by  it  carried  into 
execution.  It  has  been  suggested  that  the  court  had  pronounced 
two  sentences,  and  that  the  general  had  a  right  to  select  either. 
Two  sentences!  Two  verdicts!  It  was  not  so.  The  first  being 
revoked,  was  as  though  it  had  never  been  pronounced.  And  there 
remained  only  one  sentence,  which  was  put  aside  upon  the  sole 
authority  of  the  commander,  and  the  execution  of  the  prisoner 
ordered.  He  either  had  or  had  not  a  right  to  decide  upon  the  fate 
of  that  man,  with  the  intervention  of  a  court.  If  he  had  the  right, 
he  waived  it,  and  having  violated  the  sentence  of  the  court,  there 
was  brought  upon  the  judicial  administration  of  the  army  a 
reproach,  which  must  occasion  the  most  lasting  regret. 

However  guilty  these  men  were,  they  should  not  have  been 
condemned  or  executed  without  the  authority  of  the  law.  I  will 
not  dwell,  at  this  time,  on  the  effect  of  these  precedents  in  foreign 
countries;  but  I  shall  not  pass  unnoticed  their  dangerous  influence 
in  our  own  country.  Bad  examples  are  generally  set  in  the  cases  of 
bad  men,  and  often  remote  from  the  central  government.  It  was 
in  the  provinces  that  were  laid  the  abuses  and  the  seeds  of  the 
ambitious  projects  which  overturned  the  liberties  of  Rome.  I 
beseech  the  committee  not  to  be  so  captivated  with  the  charms  of 
eloquence,  and  the  appeals  made  to  our  passions  and  our  sympa- 
thies, as  to  forget  the  fundamental  principles  of  our  government. 
The  influence  of  a  bad  example  will  often  be  felt,  when  its  authors 
and  all  the  circumstances  connected  with  it  are  no  longer  remem- 
bered. I  know  of  but  one  analogous  instance  of  the  execution  of 
a  prisoner,  and  that  has  brought  more  odium  than  almost  any  other 
incident  on  the  unhappy  emperor  of  France.  I  allude  to  the 
instance  of  the  execution  of  the  unfortunate  member  of  the 
Bourbon  house.  He  sought  an  asylum  in  the  territories  of  Baden. 
Bonaparte  despatched  a  corps  of  gen-d'armes  to  the  place  of  his 
retreat,  seized  him,  and  brought  him  to  the  dungeons  of  Vincennes. 


ON     THE     SEMINOLE     WAR.  381 

He  was  there  tried  by  a  court-martial,  condemned,  and  shot. 
There,  as  here,  was  a  violation  of  neutral  territory ;  there,  the 
neutral  ground  was  not  stained  with  the  blood  of  him  whom 
it  should  have  protected.  And  there  is  another  most  unfortunate 
difference  for  the  American  people.  The  duke  d'Enghein  was 
executed  according  to  his  sentence.  It  is  said  by  the  defenders  of 
Napoleon,  that  the  duke  had  been  machinating  not  merely  to 
overturn  the  French  government,  but  against  the  life  of  its  chief. 
If  that  were  true,  he  might,  if  taken  in  France,  have  been  legally 
executed.  Such  was  the  odium  brought  upon  the  instruments  of 
this  transaction,  that  those  persons  who  have  been  even  suspected 
of  participation  in  it,  have  sought  to  vindicate  themselves  from 
what  they  appear  to  have  considered  as  an  aspersion,  before  foreign 
courts.  In  conclusion  of  this  part  of  my  subject,  I  most  cheerfully 
and  entirely  acquit  general  Jackson  of  any  intention  to  violate  the 
laws  of  the  country,  or  the  obligations  of  humanity.  I  am 
persuaded,  from  all  that  I  have  heard,  that  he  considered  himself 
as  equally  respecting  and  observing  both.  With  respect  to  the 
purity  of  his  intentions,  therefore,  I  am  disposed  to  allow  it  in  the 
most  extensive  degree.  Of  his  acts,  it  is  my  duty  to  speak,  with  the 
freedom  which  belongs  to  my  station.  And  I  shall  now  proceed 
to  consider  some  of  them,  of  the  most  momentous  character, 
as  it  regards  the  distribution  of  the  powers  of  government. 

Of  all  the  powers  conferred  by  the  constitution  of  the  United 
Stales,  not  one  is  more  expressly  and  exclusively  granted,  than  that 
which  gives  to  congress  the  power  to  declare  war.  The  immortal 
convention  who  formed  that  instrument,  had  abundant  reason, 
drawn  from  every  page  of  history,  for  confiding  this  tremendous 
power  to  the  deliberate  judgment  of  the  representatives  of  the 
people.  It  was  there  seen,  that  nations  are  often  precipitated  into 
ruinous  war,  from  folly,  from  pride,  from  ambition,  and  from  the 
desire  of  military  fame.  It  was  believed,  no  doubt,  in  committing 
this  great  subject  to  the  legislature  of  the  union,  we  should  be  safe 
from  the  mad  wars  that  have  afflicted,  and  desolated,  and  ruined 
other  countries.  It  was  supposed,  that  before  any  war  was 
declared,  the  nature  of  the  injury  complained  of,  would  be  care- 
fully examined,  and  the  power  and  resources  of  the  enemy  esti- 
mated, and  the  power  and  resources  of  our  own  country,  as  well  as 
the  probable  issue  and  consequences  of  the  war.  It  was  to  guard 
our  country  against  precisely  that  species  of  rashness  which  has 
been  manifested  in  Florida,  that  the  constitution  was  so  framed. 
If,  then,  this  power,  thus  cautiously  and  clearly  bestowed  upon 
congress,  has  been  assumed  and  exercised  by  any  other  functionary 
of  the  government,  it  is  cause  of  serious  alarm,  and  it  becomes  this 
body  to  vindicate  and  maintain  its  authority  by  all  the  means  in 
its  power;  and  yet  there  are  some  gentlemen,  who  would  have 
us  not  merely  to  yield  a  tame  and  silent  acquiescence  in  the 
encroachment,  but  even  to  pass  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  author. 


382  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

On  the  twenty-fifth  of  March,  1818,  the  president  of  the  United 
States  communicated  a  message  to  congress  in  relation  to  the 
Seminole  war,  in  which  he  declared,  that  although,  in  the  prosecu- 
tion of  it,  orders  had  been  given  to  pass  into  the  Spanish  territory, 
they  were  so  guarded  as  that  the  local  authorities  of  Spain  should 
be  respected.  How  respected  ?  The  president,  by  the  documents 
accompanying  the  message,  the  orders  themselves  which  issued 
from  the  department  of  war  to  the  commanding  general,  had 
assured  the  legislature  that,  even  if  the  enemy  should  take  shelter 
under  a  Spanish  fortress,  the  fortress  was  not  to  be  attacked,  but 
the  fact  to  be  reported  to  that  department  for  further  orders.  Con- 
gress saw,  therefore,  that  there  was  no  danger  of  violating  the 
existing  peace.  And  yet,  on  the  same  twenty-fifth  day  of  March, 
(a  most  singular  concurrence  of  dates,)  when  the  representatives 
of  the  people  received  this  solemn  message,  announced  in  the 
presence  of  the  nation  and  in  the  face  of  the  world,  and  in  the 
midst  of  a  friendly  negotiation  with  Spain,  does  general  Jackson 
write  from  his  head-quarters,  that  he  shall  take  St.  Marks  as  a 
necessary  depot  for  his  military  operations !  The  general  states, 
in  his  letter,  what  he  had  heard  about  the  threat  on  the  part  of  the 
Indians  and  negroes,  to  occupy  the  fort,  and  declares  his  purpose 
to  possess  himself  of  it,  in  either  of  the  two  contingences,  of  its 
being  in  their  hands,  or  in  the  hands  of  the  Spaniards.  He 
assumed  a  right  to  judge  what  Spain  was  bound  to  do  by  her 
treaty,  and  judged  very  correctly ;  but  then  he  also  assumed  the 
power,  belonging  to  congress  alone,  of  determining  what  should 
be  the  effect  and  consequence  of  her  breach  of  engagement.  Gen- 
eral Jackson  generally  performs  what  he  intimates  his  intention  to 
do.  Accordingly,  finding  St.  Marks  yet  in  the  hands  of  the 
Spaniards,  he  seized  and  occupied  it.  Was  ever,  I  ask,  the  just 
confidence  of  the  legislative  body,  in  the  assurances  of  the  chief 
magistrate,  more  abused?  The  Spanish  commander  intimated 
his  willingness  that  the  American  army  should  take  post  near  him, 
until  he  could  have  instructions  from  his  superior  officer,  and 
promised  to  maintain,  in  the  mean  time,  the  most  friendly  relations. 
No !  St.  Marks  was  a  convenient  post  for  the  American  army, 
and  delay  was  inadmissible.  I  have  always  understood  that  the 
Indians  but  rarely  take  or  defend  fortresses,  because  they  are 
unskilled  in  the  modes  of  attack  and  defence.  The  threat,  there- 
fore, on  their  part,  to  seize  on  St.  Marks,  must  have  been  empty, 
and  would  probably  have  been  impossible.  At  all  events,  when 
general  Jackson  arrived  there,  no  danger  any  longer  threatened  the 
Spaniards,  from  the  miserable  fugitive  Indians,  who  fled  on  all 
sides,  upon  his  approach.  And,  sir,  upon  what  plea  is  this  viola- 
tion of  orders,  and  this  act  of  war  upon  a  foreign  power,  attempted 
to  be  justified?  Upon  the  grounds  of  the  conveniency  of  the 
depot  and  the  Indian  threat.     The  first  I  will  not  seriously  examine 


ON     THE     SEMINOLE     WAR.  383 

and  expose.  If  the  Spanish  character  of  the  fort  had  been  totally 
merged  in  the  Indian  character,  it  might  have  been  justifiable  to 
seize  it.  But  that  was  not  the  fact;  and  the  bare  possibility  of  its 
being  forcibly  taken  by  the  Indians,  could  not  justify  our  anticipat- 
ing their  blow.  Of  all  the  odious  transactions  which  occurred 
during  the  late  war  between  France  and  England,  none  was  more 
condemned  in  Europe  and  in  this  country,  than  her  seizure  of  the 
fleet  of  Denmark,  at  Copenhagen.  And  I  lament  to  be  obliged  to 
notice  the  analogy  which  exists  in  the  defences  made  of  the  two 
cases.  If  my  recollection  does  not  deceive  me,  Bonaparte  had 
passed  the  Rhine  and  the  Alps,  had  conquered  Italy,  the  Nether- 
lands, Holland,  Hanover,  Lubec,  and  Hamburg,  and  extended  his 
empire  as  far  as  Altona,  on  the  side  of  Denmark.  A  few  days' 
march  would  have  carried  him  through  Holstein,  over  the  two 
Belts,  through  Funen,  and  into  the  island  of  Zealand.  What  then 
was  the  conduct  of  England  ?  It  was  my  lot  to  fall  into  conversa- 
tion with  an  intelligent  Englishman  on  this  subject.  '  We  knew 
(said  he)  that  we  were  fighting  for  our  existence.  It  was  absolutely 
necessary  that  we  should  preserve  the  command  of  the  seas.  If 
the  fleet  of  Denmark  fell  inlo  the  enemy's  hands,  combined  with 
his  other  fleets,  that  command  might  be  rendered  doubtful.  Den- 
mark had  only  a  nominal  independence.  She  was,  in  truth, 
subject  to  his  sway.  We  said  to  her,  give  us  your  fleet;  it  will 
otherwise  be  taken  possession  of  by  your  secret  and  our  open 
enemy.  We  will  preserve  it,  and  restore  it  to  you  whenever  the 
danger  shall  be  over.  Denmark  refused.  Copenhagen  was  bom- 
barded, gallantly  defended,  but  the  fleet  was  seized  Everywhere 
the  conduct  of  England  was  censured ;  and  the  name  even  of  the 
negotiator  who  was  employed  by  her,  who  was  subsequently  the 
minister  near  this  government,  was  scarcely  ever  pronounced  here 
without  coupling  with  it  an  epithet,  indicating  his  participation  in 
the  disgraceful  transaction.  And  yet  we  are  going  to  sanction 
acts  of  violence,  committed  by  ourselves,  which  but  too  much 
resemble  it!  What  an  important  difference,  too,  between  the 
relative  condition  of  England  and  of  this  country!  She,  perhaps, 
was  struggling  for  her  existence.  She  was  combating,  single- 
handed,  the  most  enormous  military  power  that  the  world  has  ever 
known.  With  whom  were  we  contending?  With  a  few  half- 
starved,  half-clothed,  wretched  Indians,  and  fugitive  slaves.  And, 
whilst  carrying  on  this  inglorious  war,  inglorious  as  it  regards 
the  laurels  or  renown  won  in  it,  we  violate  neutral  rights,  which 
the  government  had  solemnly  pledged  itself  to  respect,  upon  the 
principle  of  convenience,  or  upon  ihe  light  presumption  that,  by 
possibility,  a  post  might  be  taken  by  this  miserable  combination 
of  Indians  and  slaves. 

On  the  eighth  of  April,  the  general  writes  from  St.  Marks,  that  he 
shall  march  for  the  Suwaney  river ;  the  destroying  of  the  establish- 


384  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

ments  on  which  will,  in  his  opinion,  bring  the  war  to  a  close. 
Accordingly,  having  effected  that  object,  he  writes,  on  the  twentieth 
of  April,  that  he  believes  he  may  say  that  the  war  is  at  an  end  for 
the  present.  He  repeats  the  same  opinion  in  his  letter  to  the 
secretary  of  war,  written  six  days  after.  The  war  being  thus  ended, 
it  might  have  been  hoped  that  no  further  hostilities  would  be 
committed.  But  on  the  twenty-third  of  May,  on  his  way  home, 
he  receives  a  letter  from  the  commandant  of  Pensacola,  intimating 
his  surprise  at  the  invasion  of  the  Spanish  territory,  and  the  acts 
of  hostility  performed  by  the  American  army,  and  his  determina- 
tion, if  persisted  in,  to  employ  force  to  repel  them.  Let  us  pause 
and  examine  the  proceeding  of  the  governor,  so  very  hostile  and 
affrontive  in  the  view  of  general  Jackson.  Recollect  that  he  was 
governor  of  Florida;  that  he  had  received  no  orders  from  his 
superiors,  to  allow  a  passage  to  the  American  army;  that  he  had 
heard  of  the  reduction  of  St.  Marks ;  and  that  general  Jackson,  at 
the  head  of  his  army,  was  approaching  in  the  direction  of  Pensa- 
cola. He  had  seen  the  president's  message  of  the  twenty-fifth  of 
March,  and  reminded  general  Jackson  of  it,  to  satisfy  him  that 
the  American  government  could  not  have  authorized  all  those 
measures.  I  cannot  read  the  allusion  made  by  the  governor  to  that 
message,  without  feeling  that  the  charge  of  insincerity,  which  it 
implied,  had  at  least  but  too  much  the  appearance  of  truth  in  it. 
Could  the  governor  have  done  less  than  write  some  such  letter? 
We  have  only  to  reverse  situations,  and  to  suppose  him  to  have 
been  an  American  governor.  General  Jackson  says,  that  when  he 
received  that  letter,  he  no  longer  hesitated.  No,  sir,  he  did  no 
longer  hesitate.  He  received  it  on  the  twenty-third,  he  was  in 
Pensacola  on  the  twenty-fourth,  and  immediately  after  set  himself 
before  the  fortress  of  San  Carlos  de  Barancas,  which  he  shortly 
reduced.  Veni,  vidi,  vici.  Wonderful  energy!  Admirable 
promptitude  !  Alas,  that  it  had  not  been  an  energy  and  a  prompti- 
tude within  the  pale  of  the  constitution,  and  according  to  the  orders 
of  the  chief  magistrate.  It  is  impossible  to  give  any  definition  of 
war,  that  would  not  comprehend  these  acts.  It  was  open,  undis- 
guised, and  unauthorized  hostility. 

The  honorable  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  has  endeavored 
to  derive  some  authority  to  general  Jackson  from  the  message 
of  the  president,  and  the  letter  of  the  secretary  of  war  to  governor 
Bibb.  The  message  declares,  that  the  Spanish  authorities  are  to  be 
respected  wherever  maintained.  What  the  president  means  by 
their  being  maintained,  is  explained  in  the  orders  themselves,  by 
the  extreme  case  being  put  of  the  enemy  seeking  shelter  under  a 
Spanish  fort.  If  even  in  that  case  he  was  not  to  attack,  certainly 
he  was  not  to  attack  in  any  case  of  less  strength.  The  letter  to 
governor  Bibb  admits  of  a  similar  explanation.  When  the 
secretary  says,  in  that  letter,  that  general  Jackson  is  fully  empow- 


ON     THE     SEMINOLE     WAR.  385 

ered  to  bring  the  Seminole  war  to  a  conclusion,  he  means  that  he 
is  so  empowered  by  his  orders,  which,  being  now  before  us,  must 
speak  for  themselves.  It  does  not  appear  that  general  Jackson 
ever  saw  that  letter,  which  wTas  dated  at  this  place  after  the  capture 
of  St.  Marks.  I  will  take  a  momentary  glance  at  the  orders.  On 
the  second  of  December,  1817,  general  Gaines  was  forbidden  to 
cross  the  Florida  line.  Seven  days  after,  the  secretary  of  war 
having  arrived  here,  and  infused  a  little  more  energy  into  our 
councils,  he  was  authorized  to  use  a  sound  discretion  in  crossing 
or  not.  On  the  sixteenth,  he  was  instructed  again  to  consider 
himself  at  liberty  to  cross  the  line,  and  pursue  the  enemy ;  but, 
if  he  took  refuge  under  a  Spanish  fortress,  the  fact  was  to  be 
reported  to  the  department  of  war.  These  orders  were  transmitted 
to  general  Jackson,  and  constituted,  or  ought  to  have  constituted, 
his  guide.  There  was  then  no  justification  for  the  occupation 
of  Pensacola,  and  the  attack  on  the  Barancas,  in  the  message  of  the 
president,  the  letter  to  governor  Bibb,  or  in  the  orders  themselves. 
The  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  will  pardon  me  for  saying,  that 
he  has  undertaken  what  even  his  talents  are  not  competent  to  — 
the  maintenance  of  directly  contradictory  propositions,  that  it  was 
right  in  general  Jackson  to  take  Pensacola,  and  wrong  in  the 
president  to  keep  it.  The  gentleman  has  made  a  greater  mistake 
than  he  supposes  general  Jackson  to  have  done  in  attacking 
Pensacola  for  an  Indian  town,  by  attempting  the  defence  both 
of  the  president  and  general  Jackson.  If  it  were  right  in  him  to 
seize  the  place,  it  is  impossible  that  it  should  have  been  right  in  the 
president  immediately  to  surrender  it.  We,  sir,  are  the  supporters 
of  the  president.  We  regret  that  we  cannot  support  general 
Jackson  also.  The  gentleman's  liberality  is  more  comprehensive 
than  ours.  I  approve  with  all  my  heart  of  the  restoration  of 
Pensacola.  I  think  St.  Marks  ought,  perhaps,  to  have  been  also 
restored;  but  I  say  this  with  doubt  and  diffidence.  That  the 
president  thought  the  seizure  of  the  Spanish  posts  was  an  act  of 
war,  is  manifest  from  his  opening  message,  in  which  he  says  that, 
to  have  retained  them,  would  have  changed  our  relations  with 
Spain,  to  do  which  the  power  of  the  executive  was  incompetent, 
congress  alone  possessing  it.  The  president  has,  in  this  instance, 
deserved  well  of  his  country.  He  has  taken  the  only  course  which 
he  could  have  pursued,  consistent  with  the  constitution  of  the  land. 
And  I  defy  the  gentleman  to  make  good  both  his  positions,  that 
the  general  was  right  in  taking,  and  the  president  right  in  giving  up, 
the  posts. 

[Mr.  Holmes  explained.  We  took  these  posts,  he  said,  to  keep  them  from  the 
hands  of  the  enemy,  and,  in  restoring  them,  made  it  a  condition  that  Spain  should  not 
let  our  enemy  have  them.  We  said  to  her,  here  is  your  dagger ;  we  found  it  in  the 
hands  of  our  enemy,  and,  having  wrested  it  from  him,  we  restore  it  to  you,  in  the 
hope  that  you  will  take  better  care  of  it  for  the  future.] 

vol.  i.  49 


386  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

The  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  is  truly  unfortunate;  fact  or 
principle  is  always  against  him.  The  Spanish  posts  were  not  in 
the  possession  of  the  enemy.  One  old  Indian  only  was  found  in 
the  Barancas,  none  in  Pensacola,  none  in  St.  Marks.  There  was 
not  even  the  color  of  a  threat  of  Indian  occupation  as  it  regards 
Pensacola  and  the  Barancas.  Pensacola  was  to  be  restored 
unconditionally,  and  might,  therefore,  immediately  have  come  into 
the  possession  of  the  Indians,  if  they  had  the  power  and  the  will  to 
take  it.  The  gentleman  is  in  a  dilemma  from  which  there  is  no 
escape.  He  gave  up  general  Jackson  when  he  supported  the 
president,  and  gave  up  the  president  when  he  supported  general 
Jackson.  I  rejoice  to  have  seen  the  president  manifesting,  by  the 
restoration  of  Pensacola,  his  devotedness  to  the  constitution.  When 
the  whole  country  was  ringing  with  plaudits  for  its  capture,  I  said, 
and  I  said  alone,  in  the  limited  circle  in  which  I  moved,  that  the 
president  must  surrender  it ;  that  he  could  not  hold  it.  It  is  not 
my  intention  to  inquire,  whether  the  army  was  or  was  not  constitu- 
tionally marched  into  Florida.  It  is  not  a  clear  question,  and  I  am 
inclined  to  think  that  the  express  authority  of  congress  ought  to 
have  been  asked.  The  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  will  allow 
me  to  refer  to  a  part  of  the  correspondence  at  Ghent  different  from 
that  which  he  has  quoted.  He  will  find  the  condition  of  the 
Indians  there  accurately  denned.  And  it  is  widely  variant  from 
the  gentleman's  ideas  on  this  subject.  The  Indians,  inhabiting  the 
United  States,  according  to  the  statement  of  the  American  commis- 
sioners at  Ghent,  have  a  qualified  sovereignty  only,  the  supreme 
sovereignty  residing  in  the  government  of  the  United  States. 
They  live  under  their  own  laws  and  customs,  may  inhabit  and 
hunt  their  lands ;  but  acknowledge  the  protection  of  the  United 
States,  and  have  no  right  to  sell  their  lands  but  to  the  government 
of  the  United  States.  Foreign  powers  or  foreign  subjects  have  no 
right  to  maintain  any  intercourse  with  them,  without  our  permission. 
They  are  not,  therefore,  independent  nations,  as  the  gentleman 
supposes.  Maintaining  the  relation  described  with  them,  we  must 
allow  a  similar  relation  to  exist  between  Spain  and  the  Indians 
residing  within  her  dominions.  She  must  be,  therefore,  regarded 
as  the  sovereign  of  Florida,  and  we  are,  accordingly,  treating  with 
her  for  the  purchase  of  it.  In  strictness,  then,  we  ought  first  to 
have  demanded  of  her  to  restrain  the  Indians,  and,  that  failing,  we 
should  have  demanded  a  right  of  passage  for  our  army.  But,  if 
the  president  had  the  power  to  march  an  army  into  Florida,  without 
consulting  Spain,  and  without  the  authority  of  congress,  he  had  no 
power  to  authorize  any  act  of  hostility  against  her.  If  the  gentle- 
man had  even  succeeded  in  showing  that  an  authority  was 
conveyed  by  the  executive  to  general  Jackson  to  take  the  Spanish 
posts,  he  would  only  have  established  that  unconstitutional  orders 
had  been  given,  and  thereby  transferred  the  disapprobation  from 


ON     THE     SEMINOLE     WAR.  387 

the  military  officer  to  the  executive.  But  no  such  orders  were,  in 
truth,  given.  The  president  acted  in  conformity  to  the  constitution, 
when  he  forbade  the  attack-  of  a  Spanish  fort,  and  when,  in  the. 
same  spirit,  he  surrendered  the  posts  themselves. 

I  will  not  trespass  much  longer  upon  the  time  of  the  committee ; 
but  I  trust  I  shall  be  indulged  with  some  few  reflections  upon  the 
danger  of  permitting  the  conduct  on  which  it  has  been  my  painful 
duty  to  animadvert,  to  pass  without  a  solemn  expression  of  the 
disapprobation  of  this  house.  Recall  to  your  recollection  the  free 
nations  which  have  gone  before  us.     "Where  are  they  now  ? 

*  Gone  glimmering  through  the  dream  of  things  that  were, 
A  school-boy's  tale,  the  wonder  of  an  hour.' 

And  how  have  they  lost  their  liberties?  If  we  could  transport 
ourselves  back  to  the  ages  when  Greece  and  Rome  flourished  in 
their  greatest  prosperity,  and,  mingling  in  the  throng,  should  ask 
a  Grecian  if  he  did  not  fear  that  some  daring  military  chieftain, 
covered  with  glory,  some  Philip  or  Alexander,  would  one  day 
overthrow  the  liberties  of  his  country,  the  confident  and  indignant 
Grecian  would  exclaim,  no!  no!  we  have  nothing  to  fear  from  our 
heroes  ;  our  liberties  will  be  eternal.  If  a  Roman  citizen  had  been 
asked,  if  he  did  not  fear  that  the  conqueror  of  Gaul  might  establish  a 
throne  upon  the  ruins  of  public  liberty,  he  would  have  instantly 
repelled  the  unjust  insinuation.  Yet  Greece  fell ;  Caesar  passed 
the  Rubicon,  and  the  patriotic  arm  even  of  Brutus  could  not 
preserve  the  liberties  of  his  devoted  country!  The  celebrated 
Madame  de  Stael,  in  her  last  and  perhaps  her  best  work,  has  said, 
that  in  the  very  year,  almost  the  very  month,  when  the  president  of 
the  directory  declared  that  monarchy  would  never  more  show  its 
frightful  head  in  France,  Bonaparte,  with  his  grenadiers,  entered 
the  palace  of  St.  Cloud,  and  dispersing,  with  the  bayonet,  the 
deputies  of  the  people,  deliberating  on  the  affairs  of  the  state,  laid 
the  foundation  of  that  vast  fabric  of  despotism  which  overshadowed 
all  Europe.  I  hope  not  to  be  misunderstood  ;  I  am  far  from  inti- 
mating that  general  Jackson  cherishes  any  designs  inimical  to  the 
liberties  of  the  country.  I  believe  his  intentions  to  be  pure  and 
patriotic.  I  thank  God  that  he  would  not,  but  I  thank  him  still 
more  that  he  could  not  if  he  would,  overturn  the  liberties  of  the 
republic.  But.  precedents,  if  bad,  are  fraught  with  the  most  danger- 
ous consequences.  Man  has  been  described,  by  some  of  those 
who  have  treated  of  his  nature,  as  a  bundle  of  habits.  The 
definition  is  much  truer  when  applied  to  governments.  Precedents 
are  their  habits.  There  is  one  important  difference  between  the 
formation  of  habits  by  an  individual  and  by  governments.  He 
contracts  it  only  after  frequent  repetition.  A  single  instance  fixes 
the  habit  and  determines  the  direction  of  governments.     Against 


388  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

the  alarming  doctrine  of  unlimited  discretion  in  our  military 
commanders  when  applied  even  to  prisoners  of  war,  I  must  enter 
my  protest.  It  begins  upon  them ;  it  will  end  on  us.  I  hope  our 
happy  form  of  government  is  to  be  perpetual.  But,  if  it  is  to  be 
preserved,  it  must  be  by  the  practice  of  virtue,  by  justice,  by 
moderation,  by  magnanimity,  by  greatness  of  soul,  by  keeping  a 
watchful  and  steady  eye  on  the  executive;  and,  above  all,  by 
holding  to  a  strict  accountability  the  military  branch  of  the  public 
force. 

We  are  fighting  a  great  moral  battle,  for  the  benefit  not  only  of 
our  country,  but  of  all  mankind.  The  eyes  of  the  whole  world  are 
in  fixed  attention  upon  us.  One,  and  the  largest  portion  of  it,  is 
gazing  with  contempt,  with  jealousy,  and  with  envy;  the  other 
portion,  with  hope,  with  confidence,  and  with  affection.  Every- 
where the  black  cloud  of  legitimacy  is  suspended  over  the  world, 
save  only  one  bright  spot,  which  breaks  out  from  the  politi- 
cal hemisphere  of  the  west,  to  enlighten,  and  animate,  and  gladden 
the  human  heart.  Obscure  that,  by  the  downfall  of  liberty  here, 
and  all  mankind  are  enshrouded  in  a  pall  of  universal  darkness. 
To  you,  Mr.  Chairman,  belongs  the  high  privilege  of  transmitting, 
unimpaired,  to  posterity,  the  fair  character  and  liberty  of  our 
country.  Do  you  expect  to  execute  this  high  trust,  by  trampling, 
or  suffering  to  be  trampled  down,  law,  justice,  the  constitution,  and 
the  rights  of  the  people  ?  by  exhibiting  examples  of  inhumanity, 
and  cruelty,  and  ambition  ?  When  the  minions  of  despotism 
heard,  in  Europe,  of  the  seizure  of  Pensacola,  how  did  they 
chuckle,  and  chide  the  admirers  of  our  institutions,  tauntingly 
pointing  to  the  demonstration  of  a  spirit  of  injustice  and  aggran- 
dizement made  by  our  country,  in  the  midst  of  an  amicable 
negotiation.  Behold,  said  they,  the  conduct  of  those  who  are 
constantly  reproaching  kings.  You  saw  how  those  admirers  were 
astounded  and  hung  their  heads.  You  saw,  too,  when  that  illus- 
trious man,  who  presides  over  us,  adopted  his  pacific,  moderate, 
and  just  course,  how  they  once  more  lifted  up  their  heads  with 
exultation  and  delight  beaming  in  their  countenances.  And 
you  saw  how  those  minions  themselves  were  finally  compelled 
to  unite  in  the  general  praises  bestowed  upon  our  government. 
Beware'  how  you  forfeit  this  exalted  character.  Beware  how 
you  give  a  fatal  sanction,  in  this  infant  period  of  our  republic, 
scarcely  yet  two  score  years  old,  to  military  insubordination.  Re- 
member that  Greece  had  her  Alexander,  Rome  her  Csesar,  England 
her  Cromwell,  France  her  Bonaparte,  and  that  if  we  would  escape 
the  rock  on  which  they  split,  we  must  avoid  their  errors. 

How  different  has  been  the  treatment  of  general  Jackson,  and 
that  modest,  but  heroic  young  man,  a  native  of  one  of  the  smallest 
states  in  the  union,  who  achieved  for  his  country,  on  lake  Erie, 
one  of  the  most  glorious  victories  of  the  late  war.     In  a  moment 


ON     THE     SEMINOLE     WAR.  389 

of  passion,  he  forgot  himself,  and  offered  an  act  of  violence  which 
was  repented  of  as  soon  as  perpetrated.  He  was  tried,  and 
suffered  the  judgment  to  be  pronounced  by  his  peers.  Public 
justice  was  thought  not  even  then  to  be  satisfied.  The  press  and 
congress  took  up  the  subject.  My  honorable  friend  from  Virginia 
(Mr.  Johnson),  the  faithful  and  consistent  sentinel  of  the  law  and 
of  the  constitution,  disapproved  in  that  instance,  as  he  does  in  this, 
and  moved  an  inquiry.  The  public  mind  remained  agitated  and 
unappeased,  until  the  recent  atonement  so  honorably  made  by  the 
gallant  commodore.  And  is  there  to  be  a  distinction  between  the 
officers  of  the  two  branches  of  the  public  service?  Are  former 
services,  however  eminent,  to  preclude  even  inquiry  into  recent 
misconduct  ?  Is  there  to  be  no  limit,  no  prudential  bounds  to  the 
national  gratitude  ?  I  am  not  disposed  to  censure  the  president 
for  not  ordering  a  court  of  inquiry,  or  a  general  court-martial. 
Perhaps,  impelled  by  a  sense  of  gratitude,  he  determined,  by 
anticipation,  to  extend  to  the  general  that  pardon  which  he  had  the 
undoubted  right  to  grant  after  sentence.  Let  us  not  shrink  from 
our  duty.  Let  us  assert  our  constitutional  powers,  and  vindicate 
the  instrument  from  military  violation. 

I  hope  gentlemen  will  deliberately  survey  the  awful  isthmus  on 
which  we  stand.  They  may  bear  down  all  opposition  ;  they  may 
even  vote  the  general  the  public  thanks ;  they  may  carry  him 
triumphantly  through  this  house.  But,  if  they  do,  in  my  humble 
judgment,  it  will  be  a  triumph  of  the  principle  of  insubordination, 
a  triumph  of  the  military  over  the  civil  authority,  a  triumph  over 
the  powers  of  this  house,  a  triumph  over  the  constitution  of  the 
land.  And  I  pray  most  devoutly  to  Heaven,  that  it  may  not  prove, 
in  its  ultimate  effects  and  consequences,  a  triumph  over  the  liberties 
of  th3  people. 


ON  SOUTH  AMERICAN  AFFAIRS. 


IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  FEBRUARY  9,  1S19. 


[The  house  being  in  committee  of  the  whole,  on  the  bill  to  increase  the  salaries 
of  certain  officers  of  government,  Mr.  Clay  rose  and  said  :] 

It  had  been  his  settled  intention  to  renew,  pending  this  bill,  the 
proposition  which  he  had  the  honor  of  submitting  at  the  last 
session,  having  for  its  object  the  recognition  of  the  independence 
of  the  United  Provinces  of  South  America.  He  was  restrained 
from  executing  that  intention,  by  two  considerations;  one  was  his 
personal  indisposition,  but  another  and  more  important  one,  was, 
the  small  portion  of  the  session  yet  remaining,  to  transact  the 
public  business.  Whilst  he  was  up,  he  would  say,  that  so  far 
from  his  opinions,  expressed  on  the  former  occasion,  having  under- 
gone any  change,  they  had  been  strengthened  and  confirmed,  by 
all  the  occurrences  which  had  subsequently  taken  place.  He  had 
been  anxious,  if  time  had  permitted,  to  examine  what  appeared  to 
him  very  exceptionable  reasons  assigned  for  declining  to  recognise 
our  sister  republic,  in  a  paper  entitled  to  the  most  profound  respect, 
the  message  of  the  president  at  the  opening  of  congress.  He  was 
desirous,  also,  of  noticing  the  still  more  exceptionable  grounds 
taken  in  a  paper  recently  transmitted  to  the  house,  from  the  depart- 
ment of  state  (it  ought  to  be  laid  on  our  table  ;  why  it  was  not,  he 
did  not  know;  he  hoped  our  worthy  clerk  would,  in  his  fulure 
contract  for  the  public  printing,  guard  against  the  delay  to  which 
we  have  so  often  been  subjected).  From  that  paper  it  appeared, 
that  even  a  consul  could  not  be  received  from  the  southern  republic, 
because  the  grant  of  an  exequator  implied  recognition !  We 
receive  her  flag,  we  admit  her  commerce,  and  yet  refuse  the 
consular  protection  which  that  flag  and  commerce  necessarily 
drew  with  them!  But  to  submit  his  proposition,  would  be  to 
occasion,  perhaps,  a  protracted  debate.  And  considering  the  few 
days  yet  left  us,  the  pressing  and  urgent,  though  not  more  impor- 
tant business  yet  to  be  done,  he  should  not  hold  himself  excusable 
to  the  house  and  to  the  country,  after  having  himself  so  materially 
contributed  to  the  consumption  of  time  in  debate,  if  he  were  even 


ON     SOUTH     AMERICAN     AFFAIRS.  391 

the  unintentional  instrument  of  preventing  the  passage  of  what 
might  be  thought  essential  laws.  He  would  like  exceedingly  to 
contrast  the  objections  urged  against  the  reception  of  the  Venezue- 
lan minister,  with  the  more  forcible  and  stronger  personal  ones 
that  lay  to  the  present  Spanish  minister.  But  deep  as  the  interest 
which  he  heretofore  had  felt  and  still  felt,  in  the  success  of  that 
great  struggle  to  the  south,  he  must,  for  the  reasons  assigned, 
forbear  to  press  any  proposition  upon  the  house,  at  present.  Should 
it  be  necessary  at  another  session,  and  should  he  have  the  honor 
of  a  seat  on  this  floor  then,  he  pledged  himself  to  bring  up  the 
subject,  unless  adverse  causes  should  render  it  highly  inexpedient. 


ON  THE  SPANISH  TREATY. 

IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  APRIL  3,  1820. 


[A  pkrusal  of  this  speech  will  be  always  gratifying  and  instructive,  to  all  who 
would  wish  to  be  well  informed  in  the  political  history  of  the  United  States.  While 
it  shows,  in  a  striking  manner,  the  foresight  and  sagacity  of  Mr.  Clay,  as  an  American 
statesman,  it  contains  facts  of  much  importance  with  regard  to  the  settlement  of  the 
southern  boundaries  of  the  United  States  and  the  acquisition  of  Florida.  It  will  be 
seen,  that  Mr.  Clay  disapproved  of  the  treaty  between  this  country  and  Spain,  made 
in  1819,  by  the  administration  of  Mr.  Munroe,  for  reasons  stated  in  this  speech,  which 
was  made'  before  the  treaty  was  ratified  by  Spain.  His  principal  objection  to  the 
treaty  appears  to  have  been,  that  it  relinquished  our  claim  to  Texas,  which  territory 
Mr.  Clay  considered  of  much  greater  value  to  us  than  Florida.  The  settlement  of 
these  questions,  by  the  subsequent  ratification  of  the  treaty,  in  October,  1820,  by 
which  we  relinquished  Texas  and  acquired  Florida,  does  not  diminish  the  value  of 
this  record  of  Mr.  Clay's  views  on  a  subject,  which  has  increased  in  importance  since 
the  independence  of  both  Mexico  and  Texas  has  been  established.] 


The  house  having  resolved  itself  into  a  committee  of  the  whole, 
on  the  state  of  the  union,  and  the  following  resolutions,  submitted 
some  days  ago  by  Mr.  Clay  (the  speaker)  being  under  consider- 
ation : 

First,  resolved,  that  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  vests 
in  congress  the  power  to  dispose  of  the  territory  belonging  to  them  ; 
and  that  no  treaty,  purporting  to  alienate  any  portion  thereof,  is 
valid  without  the  concurrence  of  congress : 

Second,  resolved,  that  the  equivalent  proposed  to  be  given  by 
Spain  to  the  United  States  in  the  treaty  concluded  between  them, 
on  the  twenty-second  of  February,  1819,  for  that  part  of  Louisiana 
lying  west  of  the  Sabine,  was  inadequate ;  and  that  it  would  be 
inexpedient  to  make  a  transfer  thereof  to  any  foreign  power,  or  to 
renew  the  aforesaid  treaty  : 

Mr.  Clay  said,  that,  whilst  he  felt  very  grateful  to  the  house  for 
the  prompt  and  respectful  manner  in  which  they  had  allowed  him 
to  enter  upon  the  discussion  of  the  resolutions  which  he  had  the 
honor  of  submitting  to  their  notice,  he  must  at  the  same  time 
frankly  say,  that  he  thought  their  character  and  consideration,  in 
the  councils  of  this  country,  were  concerned  in  not  letting  the 
present  session  pass  off  without  deliberating  upon  our  affairs  with 


ON     THE     SPANISH     TREATY.  393 

Spain.  In  coming  to  the  present  session  of  congress,  it  had  been 
his  anxious  wish  to  be  able  to  concur  with  the  executive  branch 
of  the  government  in  the  measures  which  it  might  conceive  itself 
called  upon  to  recommend  on  that  subject,  for  two  reasons,  of 
which  the  first,  relating  personally  to  himself,  he  would  not  trouble 
the  committee  with  further  noticing.  The  other  was,  that  it 
appeared  to  him  to  be  always  desirable,  in  respect  to  the  foreign 
action  of  this  government,  that  there  should  be  a  perfect  coincidence 
in  opinion  between  its  several  coordinate  branches.  In  time  of 
peace,  however,  it  might  be  allowable,  to  those  who  are  charged 
with  the  public  interests,  to  entertain  and  express  their  respective 
views,  although  there  might  be  some  discordance  between  them. 
In  a  season  of  war  there  should  be  no  division  in  the  public 
councils ;  but  a  united  and  vigorous  exertion  to  bring  the  war  to 
an  honorable  conclusion.  For  his  part,  whenever  that  calamity 
may  befall  his  country,  he  would  entertain  but  one  wish,  and  that 
is,  that  success  might  crown  our  struggle,  and  the  war  be  honorably 
and  gloriously  terminated.  He  would  never  refuse  to  share  in  the 
joys  incident  to  the  victory  of  our  arms,  nor  to  participate  in  the 
griefs  of  defeat  and  discomfiture.  He  conceded  entirely  in  the 
sentiment  once  expressed  by  that  illustrious  hero,  whose  recent 
melancholy  fall  we  all  so  sincerely  deplore,  that  fortune  may  attend 
our  country  in  whatever  war  it  may  be  involved. 

There  are  two  systems  of  policy,  he  said,  of  which  our  govern- 
ment had  had  the  choice.  The  first  was,  by  appealing  to  the 
justice  and  affections  of  Spain,  to  employ  all  those  persuasives 
which  could  arise  out  of  our  abstinence  from  any  direct  countenance 
to  the  cause  of  South  America,  and  the  observance  of  a  strict 
neutrality.  The  other  was,  by  appealing  to  her  justice  also,  and  to 
her  fears,  to  prevail  upon  her  to  redress  the  injuries  of  which  we 
complain  —  her  fears  by  a  recognition  of  the  independent  govern- 
ments of  South  America,  and  leaving  her  in  a  state  of  uncertainty 
as  to  the  further  step  we  might  take  in  respect  to  those  governments. 
The  unratified  treaty  was  the  result  of  the  first  system.  It  could 
not  be  positively  affirmed,  what  effect  the  other  system  would  have 
produced;  but  he  verily  believed  that,  whilst  it  rendered  justice  to 
those  governments,  and  would  have  better  comported  with  that 
magnanimous  policy  which  ought  to  have  characterized  our  own, 
it  would  have  more  successfully  tended  to  an  amicable  and 
satisfactory  arrangement  of  our  differences  with  Spain. 

The  first  system  has  so  far  failed.  At  the  commencement  of  the 
session,  the  president  recommended  an  enforcement  of  the  provis- 
ions of  the  treaty.  After  three  months'  deliberation,  the  committee 
of  foreign  affairs,  not  being  able  to  concur  with  him,  has  made  us 
a  report,  recommending  the  seizure  of  Florida  in  the  nature  of  a 
reprisal.  Now  the  president  recommends  our  postponement  of  the 
subject  until  the  next  session.     It  had  been  his  intention j  whenever 

VOL*  I.  60 


394  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

the  committee  of  foreign  affairs  should  engage  the  house  to  act 
upon  their  bill,  to  offer,  as  a  substitute  for  it>  the  system  which  he 
thought  it  became  this  country  to  adopt,  of  which  the  occupation  of 
Texas,  as  our  own,  would  have  been  a  part,  and  the  recognition  of 
the  independent  governments  of  South  America  another.  If  he 
did  not  now  bring  forward  this  system,  it  was  because  the  committee 
proposed  to  withdraw  their  bill,  and  because  he  knew  too  much 
of  the  temper  of  the  house  and  of  the  executive,  to  think  that  it 
was  advisable  to  bring  it  forward.  He  hoped  that  some  suitable 
opportunity  might  occur  during  the  session,  for  considering  the 
propriety  of  recognising  the  independent  governments  of  South 
America. 

Whatever  he  might  think  of  the  discretion  which  was  evinced  in 
recommending  the  postponement  of  the  bill  of  the  committee  of 
foreign  relations,  he  could  not  think  that  the  reasons,  assigned  by 
the  president  for  that  recommendation,  were  entitled  to  the  weight 
which  he  had  given  them.  He  thought  the  house  was  called  upon, 
by  a  high  sense  of  duty,  seriously  to  animadvert  upon  some  of 
those  reasons.  He  believed  it  was  the  first  example,  in  the  annals 
of  the  country,  in  which  a  course  of  policy,  respecting  one  foreign 
power,  which  we  must  suppose  had  been  deliberately  considered, 
has  been  recommended  to  be  abandoned,  in  a  domestic  communi- 
cation from  one  to  another  coordinate  branch  of  the  government, 
upon  the  avowed  ground  of  the  interposition  of  foreign  powers. 
And  what  is  the  nature  of  this  interposition  ?  It  is  evinced  by  a 
cargo  of  scraps,  gathered  up  from  this  charge  d'affaires,  and  that ; 
of  loose  conversations  held  with  this  foreign  minister,  and 
that  —  perhaps  mere  levee  conversations,  without  a  commitment  in 
writing,  in  a  solitary  instance,  of  any  of  the  foreign  parties 
concerned,  except  only  in  the  case  of  his  imperial  majesty;  and 
what  was  the  character  of  his  commitment  we  shall  presently  see. 
But,  he  must  enter  his  solemn  protest  against  this  and  every  other 
species  of  foreign  interference  in  our  matters  with  Spain.  What 
have  they  to  do  with  them  ?  Would  they  not  repel  as  officious 
and  insulting  intrusion,  any  interference  on  our  part  in  their  concerns 
with  foreign  states  ?  Would  his  imperial  majesty  have  listened 
with  complacency,  to  our  remonstrances  against  the  vast  acquisi- 
tions which  he  has  recently  made  ?  He  has  lately  crammed  his 
enormous  maw  with  Finland,  and  with  the  spoils  of  Poland,  and, 
whilst  the  difficult  process  of  digestion  is  going  on,  he  throws 
himself  upon  a  couch,  and  cries  out,  don't,  don't  disturb  my 
repose. 

He  charges  his  minister  here  to  plead  the  cause  of  peace  and 
concord!  The  American  'government  is  too  enlightened'  (ah! 
sir,  how  sweet  this  unction  is,  which  is  poured  down  oar  backs,) 
to  take  hasty  steps.  And  his  imperial  majesty's  minister  here  is 
required  to  engage  (Mr.  Clay  said,  he  hoped  the  original  expression 


ON     THE     SPANISH     TREATY.  395 

was  less  strong,  but  he  believed  the  French  word  engager  bore  the 
same  meaning,)  '  the  American  government,'  &c.  '  Nevertheless, 
the  emperor  does  not  interpose  in  this  discussion.'  No !  not  he. 
He  makes  above  all  '  no  pretension  to  exercise  influence  in  the 
councils  of  a  foreign  power.'  Not  the  slightest.  And  yet,  at  the 
very  instant  when  he  is  protesting  against  the  imputation  of  this 
influence,  his  interposition  is  proving  effectual!  His  imperial 
majesty  has  at  least  manifested  so  far,  in  this  particular,  his 
capacity  to  govern  his  empire,  by  the  selection  of  a  sagacious 
minister.  For  if  count  Nesselrode  had  never  written  another 
paragraph,  the  extract  from  his  despatch  to  Mr.  Poletica,  which 
has  been  transmitted  to  this  house,  will  demonstrate  that  he  merited 
the  confidence  of  his  master.  It  is  quite  refreshing  to  read  such 
state  papers,  after  perusing  those  (he  was  sorry  to  say  it,  he  wished 
there  was  a  veil  broad  and  thick  enough  to  conceal  them  for  ever,) 
which  this  treaty  had  produced  on  the  part  of  our  government. 

Conversations  between  my  lord  Castlereagh  and  our  minister  at 
London  had  also  been  communicated  to  this  house.  Nothing 
from  the  hand  of  his  lordship  is  produced;  no!  he  does  not 
commit  himself  in  that  way.  The  sense  in  which  our  minister 
understood  him,  and  the  purport  of  certain  parts  of  despatches 
from  the  British  government  to  its  minister  at  Madrid,  which  he 
deigned  to  read  to  our  minister,  are  alone  communicated  to  us. 
Now  we  know  very  well  how  diplomatists,  when  it  is  their 
pleasure  to  do  so,  can  wrap  themselves  up  in  mystery.  No  man 
more  than  my  lord  Castlereagh,  who  is  also  an  able  minister, 
possessing  much  greater  talents  than  are  allowed  to  him  generally 
in  this  country,  can  successfully  express  himself  in  ambiguous 
language,  when  he  chooses  to  employ  it.  He  recollected  himself 
once  to  have  witnessed  this  facility,  on  the  part  of  his  lordship. 
The  case  was  this.  When  Bonaparte  made  his  escape  from  Elba, 
and  invaded  France,  a  great  part  of  Europe  believed  it  was  with 
the  connivance  of  the  British  ministry.  The  opposition  charged 
them,  in  parliament,  with  it,  and  they  were  interrogated,  to  know 
what  measures  of  precaution  they  had  taken  against  such  an  event. 
Lord  Castlereagh  replied  by  stating,  that  there  was  an  understand- 
ing with  a  certain  naval  officer  of  high  rank,  commanding  in  the 
adjacent  seas,  that  he  was  to  act  on  certain  contingences.  Now, 
Mr.  Chairman,  if  you  can  make  any  thing  intelligible  out  of  this 
reply,  you  will  have  much  more  success  than  the  English  opposi- 
tion had. 

The  allowance  of  interference  by  foreign  powers  in  the  affairs 
of  our  government,  not  pertaining  to  themselves,  is  against  the 
councils  of  all  our  wisest  politicians  —  those  of  Washington, 
Jefferson,  and  he  would  also  add  those  of  the  present  chief  magis- 
trate; for,  pending  this  very  Spanish  negotiation,  the  offer  of 
the  mediation  of  foreign  states  was  declined,  upon  the  true  ground, 


396  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

that  Europe  had  her  system,  and  we  ours ;  and  that  it  was  not 
compatible  with  our  policy  to  entangle  ourselves  in  the  labyrinths 
of  hers.  But  a  mediation  is  far  preferable  to  the  species  of  inter- 
ference on  which  it  had  been  his  reluctant  duty  to  comment.  The 
mediator  is  a  judge,  placed  on  high  ;  his  conscience  his  guide,  the 
world  his  spectators,  and  posterity  his  judge.  His  position  is 
one,  therefore,  of  the  greatest  responsibility.  But  what  respon- 
sibility is  attached  to  this  sort  of  irregular,  drawing-room,  intriguing 
interposition  ?  He  could  see  no  motive  for«governing  or  influenc- 
ing our  policy,  in  regard  to  Spain,  furnished  in  any  of  the 
communications  which  respected  the  disposition  of  foreign  powers. 
He  regretted,  for  his  part,  that  they  had  at  all  been  consulted. 
There  was  nothing  in  the  character  of  the  power  of  Spain,  nothing 
in  the  beneficial  nature  of  the  stipulations  of  the  treaty  to  us,  which 
warranted  us  in  seeking  the  aid  of  foreign  powers,  if  in  any  case 
whatever  that  aid  were  desirable.  He  was  far  from  saying  that, 
in  the  foreign  action  of  this  government,  it  might  not  be  prudent 
to  keep  a  watchful  eye  upon  the  probable  conduct  of  foreign 
powers.  That  might  be  a  material  circumstance  to  be  taken  into 
consideration.  But  he  never  would  avow  to  our  own  people,  never 
promulgate  to  foreign  powers,  that  their  wishes  and  interference 
were  the  controlling  cause  of  our  policy.  Such  promulgation 
would  lead  to  the  most  alarming  consequences.  It  was  to  invite 
further  interposition.  It  might,  in  process  of  time,  create  in  the 
bosom  of  our  country  a  Russian  faction,  a  British  faction,  a  French 
faction.  Every  nation  ought  to  be  jealous  of  this  species  of  inter- 
ference, whatever  was  its  form  of  government.  But  of  all  forms  of 
government,  the  united  testimony  of  ail  history,  admonished  a 
republic  to  be  most  guarded  against  it.  From  the  moment  Philip 
intermeddled  with  the  affairs  of  Greece,  the  liberty  of  Greece  was 
doomed  to  inevitable  destruction. 

Suppose,  said  Mr.  Clay,  we  could  see  the  communications  which 
have  passed  between  his  imperial  majesty  and  the  British  govern- 
ment, respectively,  and  Spain,  in  regard  to  the  United  States;  what 
do  you  imagine  would  be  their  character  ?  Do  you  suppose  the  same 
language  has  been  held  to  Spain  and  to  us?  Do  you  not,  on  the 
contrary,  believe  that  sentiments  have  been  expressed  to  her,  consol- 
ing to  her  pride  ?  That  we  have  been  represented,  perhaps  as  an 
ambitious  republic,  seeking  to  aggrandize  ourselves  at  her  expense? 

In  the  other  ground  taken  by  the  president,  the  present  distressed 
condition  of  Spain,  for  his  recommendation  of  forbearance  to  act 
during  the  present  session,  he  was  also  sorry  to  say,  that  it  did  not 
appear  to  him  to  be  solid.  He  could  well  conceive,  how  the  weak- 
ness of  your  aggressor  might,  when  he  was  withholding  from  you 
justice,  form  a  motive  for  your  pressing  your  equitable  demands 
upon  him  ;  but  he  could  not  accord  in  the  wisdom  of  that  policy 
which  would  wait  his  recovery  of  strength,  so  as  to  enable  him 


ON     THE     SPANISH     TREATY.  397 

successfully  to  resist  those  demands.  Nor  would  it  comport  with 
the  practice  of  our  government  heretofore.  Did  we  not,  in  1811, 
when  the  present  monarch  of  Spain  was  an  ignoble  captive,  and 
the  people  of  the  peninsula  were  contending  for  the  inestimable 
privilege  of  self-government,  seize  and  occupy  that  part  of  Louis- 
iana which  is  situated  between  the  Mississippi  and  the  Perdido? 
What  must  the  people  of  Spain  think  of  that  policy  which  would 
not  spare  them,  and  which  commiserates  alone  an  unworthy  prince, 
who  ignominiously  surrendered  himself  to  his  enemy;  a  vile 
despot,  of  whom  I  cannot  speak  in  appropriate  language,  without 
departing  from  the  respect  due  to  this  house  or  to  myself?  What 
must  the  people  of  South  America  think  of  this  sympathy  for 
Ferdinand,  at  a  moment  when  they,  as  well  as  the  people  of  the 
peninsula,  themselves,  (if  we  are  to  believe  the  late  accounts,  and 
God  send  that,  they  may  be  true,)  are  struggling  for  liberty  ? 

Again:  when  we  declared  our  late  just  war  against  Great 
Britain,  did  we  wait  for  a  moment  when  she  was  free  from  embar- 
rassment or  distress ;  or  did  we  not  rather  wisely  select  a  period 
when  there  was  the  greatest  probability  of  giving  success  to  our 
arms  ?  What  was  the  complaint  in  England;  what  the  language 
of  faction  here?  Was  it  not,  that  we  had  cruelly  proclaimed  the 
war  at  a  time  when  she  was  struggling  for  the  liberties  of  the 
world  ?  How  truly,  let  the  sequel  and  the  voice  of  impartial 
history  tell. 

Whilst  he  could  not,  therefore,  persuade  himself,  that  the  reasons 
assigned  by  the  president  for  postponing  the  subject  of  oar  Spanish 
affairs  until  another  session,  were  entitled  to  all  the  weight  which 
he  seemed  to  think  belonged  to  them,  he  did  not,  nevertheless, 
regret  that  the  particular  project  recommended  by  the  committee 
of  foreign  relations  was  thus  to  be  disposed  of;  for  it  was  war  — 
war,  attempted  to  be  disguised.  And  if  wTe  went  to  war,  he 
thought  it  should  have  no  other  limit  than  indemnity  for  the  past, 
and  security  for  the  future.  He  had  no  idea  of  the  wisdom  of 
that  measure  of  hostility  which  would  bind  us,  whilst  the  other 
party  is  left  free. 

Before  he  proceeded  to  consider  the  particular  propositions  which 
Ihe  resolutions  contained,  which  he  had  had  the  honor  of  submit- 
ting, it  was  material  to  determine  the  actual  posture  of  our  relations 
to  Spain.  He  considered  it  too  clear  to  need  discussion,  that  the 
treaty  was  at  an  end;  that  it  contained,  in  its  present  state,  no 
obligation  whatever  upon  us,  and  no  obligation  whatever  on  the 
part  of  Spain.  It  was,  as  if  it  had  never  been.  We  are  remitted 
back  to  the  state  of  our  rights  and  our  demands  which  existed 
prior  to  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty,  with  this  only  difference,  that, 
instead  of  being  merged  in,  or  weakened  by  the  treaty,  they  had 
acquired  all  the  additional  force  which  the  intervening  time,  and 
the  faithlessness  of  Spain,  can  communicate  to  them.      Standing 


398  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

on  this  position,  he  should  not  deem  it  necessary  to  interfere  with 
the  treaty-making  power,  if  a  fixed  and  persevering  purpose  had 
not  been  indicated  by  it,  to  obtain  the  revival  of  the  treaty.  Now 
he  thought  it  a  bad  treaty.  The  interest  of  the  country,  as  it 
appeared  to  him,  forbade  its  renewal.  Being  gone,  it  was  perfectly 
incomprehensible  to  him,  why  so  much  solicitude  was  manifested 
to  restore  it.  Yet  it  is  clung  to  with  the  same  sort  of  frantic  affec- 
tion with  which  the  bereaved  mother  hugs  her  dead  infant,  in  the 
vain  hope  of  bringing  it  back  to  life. 

Has  the  house  of  representatives  a  right  to  express  its  opinion 
upon  the  arrangement  made  in  that  treaty?  The  president,  by 
asking  congress  to  carry  it  into  effect,  has  given  us  jurisdiction  of 
the  subject,  if  we  had  it  not  before.  We  derive  from  that  circum- 
stance the  right  to  consider,  first,  if  there  be  a  treaty ;  secondly,  if 
we  ought  to  carry  it  into  effect ;  and,  thirdly,  if  there  be  no  treaty, 
whether  it  be  expedient  to  assert  our  rights,  independent  of  the 
treaty.  It  will  not  be  contended  that  we  are  restricted  to  that 
specific  mode  of  redress  which  the  president  intimated  in  his 
opening  message. 

The  first  resolution  which  he  had  presented,  asserted,  that  the 
constitution  vests  in  the  congress  of  the  United  States  the  power  to 
dispose  of  the  territory  belonging  to  them ;  and  that  no  treaty, 
purporting  to  alienate  any  portion  thereof,  is  valid,  without  the 
concurrence  of  congress.*  It  was  far  from  his  wish  to  renew  at 
large  a  discussion  of  the  treaty-making  power.  The  constitution 
of  the  United  States  had  not  defined  the  precise  limits  of  that 
power,  because,  from  the  nature  of  it,  they  could  not  be  prescribed. 
It  appeared  to  him,  however,  that  no  safe  American  statesman 
would  assign  to  it  a  boundless  scope.  He  presumed,  for  example, 
that  it  would  not  be  contended  that  in  a  government  which  was 
itself  limited,  there  was  a  functionary  without  limit.  The  first 
great  bound  to  the  power  in  question,  he  apprehended,  was,  that 
no  treaty  could  constitutionally  transcend  the  very  objects  and 
purposes  of  the  government  itself.  He  thought,  also,  that  wherever 
there  were  specific  grants  of  powers  to  congress,  they  limited  and 
controlled,  or,  he  would  rather  say,  modified  the  exercise  of  the 
general  grant  of  the  treaty-making  power,  upon  the  principle  which 
was  familiar  to  every  one.  He  did  not  insist,  that  the  treaty-making 
power  could  not  act  upon  the  subjects  committed  to  the  charge  of 
congress ;  he  merely  contended  that  the  concurrence  of  congress,  in 
its  action  upon  those  subjects,  was  necessary.  Nor  would  he  insist, 
that  the  concurrence  should  precede  that  action.  It  would  be 
always  most  desirable  that  it  should  precede  it,  if  convenient,  to 
guard  against  the  commitment  of  congress,  on   the  one   hand,  by 

*  The  proposition  which  it  asserts  was,  he  thought,  sufficiently  maintained  by 
barely  reading1  the  clause  in  the  constitution  on  which  it  rests:  'the  congress  shall 
have  power  to  dispose,  &c.  the  territory  or  other  property  belonging  to  the  United 
States.' 


ON     THE     SPANISH     TREATY.  399 

the  executive,  or  on  the  other,  what  might  seem  to  be  a  violation 
of  the  faith  of  the  country,  pledged  for  the  ratification  of  the  treaty. 
But  he  was  perfectly  aware,  that  it  would  be  very  often  highly 
inconvenient  to  deliberate,  in  a  body  so  numerous  as  congress,  on 
the  nature  of  those  terms  on  which  it  might  be  proper  to  treat  with 
foreign  powers.  In  the  view  of  the  subject  which  he  had  been 
taking,  there  was  a  much  higher  degree  of  security  to  the  interests 
of  this  country.  For,  with  all  respect  to  the  president  and  senate, 
it  could  not  disparage  the  wisdom  of  their  councils,  to  add  to  lhat 
of  this  house  also.  But,  if  the  concurrence  of  this  house  be  not 
necessary  in  the  cases  asserted,  if  there  be  no  restriction  upon  the 
power  he  was  considering,  it  might  draw  to  itself  and  absorb  the 
whole  of  the  powers  of  government.  To  contract  alliances ;  to 
stipulate  for  raising  troops  to  be  employed  in  a  common  war  about 
to  be  waged ;  to  grant  subsidies ;  even  to  introduce  foreign  troops 
within  the  bosom  of  the  country  ;  were  not  unfrequent  instances  of 
the  exercise  of  this  power;  and  if,  in  all  such  cases,  the  honor  and 
faith  of  the  nation  were  committed,  by  the  exclusive  act  of  the 
president  and  senate,  the  melancholy  duty  alone  might  be  left  to 
congress  of  recording  the  ruin  of  the  republic* 

Supposing,  however,  that  no  treaty,  which  undertakes  to  dispose 
of  the  territory  of  the  United  States,  is  valid,  without  the  concurrence 
of  congress,  it  may  be  contended,  that  such  treaty  may  constitution- 
ally fix  the  limits  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States,  where  they 
are  disputed,  without  the  cooperation  of  congress.  He  admitted  it, 
when  the  fixation  of  the  limits  simply  was  the  object.  As  in  the 
case  of  the  river  St.  Croix,  or  the  more  recent  stipulation  in  the  treaty 
of  Ghent,  or  in  that  of  the  treaty  of  Spain  in  1795.  In  all  these  cases, 
the  treaty-making  power  merely  reduces  to  certainty  that  which 
was  before  unascertained.  It  announces  the  fact;  it  proclaims,  in  a 
tangible  form,  the  existence  of  the  boundary.  It  does  not  make  a 
new  boundary;  it  asserts  only  wThere  the  old  boundary  was.  But 
it  cannot,  under  color  of  fixing  a  boundary  previously  existing, 
though  not  in  fact  marked,  undertake  to  cede  away,  without  the 
concurrence  of  congress,  whole  provinces.  If  the  subject  be  one  of 
a  mixed  character,  if  it  consists  partly  of  cession,  and  partly  of  the 
fixation  of  a  prior  limit,  he  contended  that  the  president  must  come 
here  for  the  consent  of  congress.  But  in  the  Florida  treaty  it  was 
not  pretended  that  the  object  was  simply  a  declaration  of  where  the 
western  limit  of  Louisiana  was.     It  was,  on  the  contrary,  the  case 

*  The  house  of  representatives  has  uniformly  maintained  its  right  to  deliherate 
upon  those  treaties,  in  which  their  cooperation  was  asked  by  the  executive  Tn  the 
first  case  that  occurred  in  the  operation  of  our  government,  that  of  the  treaty  commonly 
called  Mr.  Jay's  treaty,  after  general  Washington  refused  to  communicate  his  instruc- 
tions to  that  minister,  the  house  asserted  its  rights,  by  fifty  odd  votes  to  thirty  odd. 
In  the  last  case  that  occurred,  the  convention  in  1815  with  Great  Britain,  although  it 
passed  off  upon  what  was  called  a  compromise,  this  house  substantially  obtained  its 
object;  for.  if  that  convention  operated  as  a  repeal  of  the  laws  with  which  it  was 
incompatible,  the  act  which  passed  was  altogether  unnecessary. 


400  SPEECHES    OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

of  an  avowed  cession  of  territory  from  the  United  States  to  Spain. 
The  whole  of  ihe  correspondence  manifested  that  the  respective 
parties  to  the  negotiation  were  not  engaged  so  much  in  an  inquiry 
where  the  limit  of  Louisiana  was,  as  that  they  were  exchanging 
overtures  as  to  where  it  should  be.  Hence,  we  find  various  limits 
proposed  and  discussed.  At  one  time  the  Mississippi  is  proposed; 
then  the  Missouri;  then  a  river  discharging  itself  into  the  gulf  east 
of  the  Sabine.  A  vast  desert  is  proposed  to  separate  the  territories 
of  the  two  powers ;  and  finally  the  Sabine,  which  neither  of  the 
parties  had  ever  contended  was  the  ancient  limit  of  Louisiana,  is 
adopted,  and  the  boundary  is  extended  from  its  source  by  a  line 
perfectly  new  and  arbitrary  ;  and  the  treaty  itself  proclaims  its 
purpose  to  be  a  cession  from  the  United  States  to  Spain. 

The  second  resolution  comprehended  three  propositions;  the 
first  of  which  was,  that  the  equivalent  granted  by  Spain  to  the 
United  States,  for  the  province  of  Texas,  was  inadequate.  To 
determine  this,  it  was  necessary  to  estimate  the  value  of  what 
we  gave,  and  of  what  we  received.  This  involved  an  inquiry  into 
our  claim  to  Texas.  It  was  not  his  purpose  to  enter  at  large  into 
this  subject.  He  presumed  the  spectacle  would  not  be  presented 
of  questioning,  in  this  branch  of  the  government,  our  title  to 
Texas,  which  had  been  constantly  maintained  by  the  executive  for 
more  than  fifteen  years  past,  under  three  several  administrations. 
He  was,  at  the  same  time,  ready  and  prepared  to  make  out  our 
title,  if  any  one  in  the  house  were  fearless  enough  to  controvert  it. 
He  would,  for  the  present,  briefly  state,  that  the  man  who  is  most 
familiar  with  the  transactions  of  this  government,  who  largely 
participated  in  the  formation  of  our  constitution,  and  all  that  has 
been  done  under  it,  who,  besides  the  eminent  services  that  he  has 
rendered  his  country,  principally  contributed  to  the  acquisition  of 
Louisiana,  who  must  be  supposed,  from  his  various  opportunities, 
best  to  know  its  limits,  declared,  fifteen  years  ago,  that  our  title  to 
the  Rio  del  Norte  was  as  well  founded  as  it  was  to  the  island  of 
New  Orleans.  [Here  Mr.  Clay  read  an  extract  from  a  memoir 
presented  in  1805,  by  Mr.  iMonroe  and  Mr.  Pinckney,  to  Mr. 
Cevallos,  proving  that  the  boundary  of  Louisiana  extended  east- 
ward to  the  Perdido,  and  westward  to  the  Rio  del  Norte,  in  which 
they  say,  'the  facts  and  principles  which  justify  this  conclusion, 
are  so  satisfactory  to  their  government  as  to  convince  it,  that  the 
United  States  have  not  a  better  right  to  the  island  of  New  Orleans, 
under  the  cession  referred  to,  than  they  have  to  the  whole  district  of 
territory  thus  described.']  The  title  to  the  Perdido  on  the  one  side, 
and  to  the  Rio  del  Norte  on  the  other,  rested  on  the  same  principle 
—  the  priority  of  discovery  and  of  occupation  by  France.  Spain 
had  first  discovered  and  made  an  establishment  at  Pensacola ; 
France  at  Dauphine  island,  in  the  bay  of  Mobile.  The  interme- 
diate space  was  unoccupied;  and  ihe  principle  observed  among 
European  nations  having  contiguous  settlements^  beings  that  the 


ON     THE     SPANISH     TREATY.  401 

unoccupied  space  between  them  should  be  equally  divided,  was 
applied  to  it,  and  the  Perdido  thus  became  the  common  boundary. 
So,  west  of  the  Mississippi,  La  Salle,  acting  under  France,  in 
1682  or  3,  first  discovered  that  river.  In  1685,  he  made  an  estab- 
lishment on  the  bay  of  St.  Bernard,  west  of  the  Colorado,  emptying 
into  it.  The  nearest  Spanish  settlement  was  Panuco;  and  the 
Rio  del  Norte,  about  the  midway  line,  became  the  common  boun- 
dary. 

All  the  accounts  concurred  in  representing  Texas  to  be  extremely 
valuable.  Its  superficial  extent  was  three  or  four  times  greater 
than  that  of  Florida.  The  climate  was  delicious;  the  soil  fertile; 
the  margins  of  the  rivers  abounding  in  live  oak;  and  the  conn- 
try  admitting  of  easy  settlement.  It.  possessed,  moreover,  if  he 
were  not  misinformed,  one  of  the  finest  ports  in  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico.  The  productions  of  which  it  was  capable  were  suited  to 
our  wants.  The  unfortunate  captive  of  St.  Helena  wished  for 
ships,  commerce,  and  colonies.  We  have  them  all,  if  we  do  not 
wantonly  throw  them  away.  The  colonies  of  other  countries  are 
separated  from  them  by  vast  seas,  requiring  great  expense  to 
protect  them,  and  are  held  subject  to  a  constant  risk  of  their  being 
torn  from  their  grasp.  Our  colonies,  on  the  contrary,  are  united  to 
and  form  a  part  of  our  continent;  and  the  same  Mississippi,  from 
whose  rich  deposit  the  best  of  them  (Louisiana)  has  been  formed, 
will  transport  on  her  bosom  the  brave,  the  patriotic  men  from  her 
tributary  streams,  to  defend  and  preserve  the  next  most  valuable, 
the  province  of  Texas. 

We  wanted  Florida,  or  rather  we  shall  want  it ;  or,  to  speak 
more  correctly,  we  want  no  body  else  to  have  it.  We  do  not  desire 
it  for  immediate  use.  It  fills  a  space  in  our  imagination,  and  we 
wish  it  to  complete  the  arrondissement  of  our  territory.  It  must 
certainly  come  to  us.  .  The  ripened  fruit  will  not  more  surely  fall. 
Florida  is  enclosed  in  between  Alabama  and  Georgia,  and  cannot 
escape.  Texas  may.  Whether  we  get  Florida  now,  or  some  five 
or  ten  years  hence,  it  is  of  no  consequence,  provided  no  other 
power  gets  it;  and  if  any  other  power  should  attempt  to  take  it, 
an  existing  act  of  congress  authorizes  the  president  to  prevent  it. 
He  was  not  disposed  to  disparage  Florida,  but  its  intrinsic  value 
was  incomparably  less  than  that  of  Texas.  Almost  its  sole  value 
was  military.  The  possession  of  it  would  undoubtedly  communi- 
cate some  additional  security  to  Louisiana,  and  to  the  American 
commerce  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  But  it  was  not  very  essential 
to  have  it  for  protection  to  Georgia  and  Alabama.  There  could 
be  no  attack  upon  either  of  them,  by  a  foreign  power,  on  the  side 
of  Florida.  It  now  covered  those  states.  Annexed  to  the  United 
States,  and  we  should  have  to  extend  our  line  of  defence  so  as  to 
embrace  Florida.  Far  from  being,  therefore,  a  source  of  immediate 
profit,  it  would  be  the  occasion  of  considerable  immediate  expense* 
Von  i.  61 


402  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

The  acquisition  of  it  was  certainly  a  fair  object  of  our  policy ;  and 
ought  never  to  be  lost  sight  of.  It  is  even  a  laudable  ambition,  in 
any  chief  magistrate,  to  endeavor  to  illustrate  the  epoch  of  his 
administration,  by  such  an  acquisition.  It  was  less  necessary, 
however,  to  fill  the  measure  of  honors  of  the  present  chief  magis- 
trate, than  that  of  any  other  man,  in  consequence  of  the  large  share 
which  he  had  in  obtaining  all  Louisiana.  But,  whoever  may 
deserve  the  renown  which  may  attend  the  incorporation  of  Florida 
into  our  confederacy,  it  is  our  business,  as  the  representatives  of 
that  people  who  are  to  pay  the  price  of  it,  to  take  care,  as  far  as  we 
constitutionally  can,  that  too  much  is  not  given.  He  would  not 
give  Texas  for  Florida  in  a  naked  exchange.  We  were  bound  by 
the  treaty  to  give  not  merely  Texas,  but  five  millions  of  dollars, 
also,  and  the  excess  beyond  that  sum  of  all  our  claims  upon  Spain, 
which  have  been  variously  estimated  at  from  fifteen  to  twenty 
millions  of  dollars ! 

The  public  is  not  generally  apprized  of  another  large  consideration 
which  passed  from  us  to  Spain ;  if  an  interpretation  which  he  had 
heard  given  to  the  treaty  were  just;  and  it  certainly  was  plausible. 
Subsequent  to  the  transfer,  but  before  the  delivery  of  Louisiana 
from  Spain  to  France,  the  then  governor  of  New  Orleans  (he 
believed  his  name  was  Gayoso)  made  a  number  of  concessions, 
upon  the  payment  of  an  inconsiderable  pecuniary  consideration, 
amounting  to  between  nine  hundred  thousand  and  a  million  acres 
of  land,  similar  to  those  recently  made  at  Madrid  io  the  royal 
favorites.  This  land  is  situated  in  Feliciana,  and  between  the 
Mississippi  and  the  Amite,  in  the  present  state  of  Louisiana.  It 
was  granted  to  persons  who  possessed  the  very  best  information 
of  the  country,  and  is  no  doubt,  therefore,  the  choice  land.  The 
United  States  have  never  recognised,  but  have  constantly  denied 
the  validity  of  these  concessions.  It  is  contended  by  the  parties 
concerned,  that  they  are  confirmed  by  the  late  treaty.  By  the 
second  article  his  catholic  majesty  cedes  to  the  United  States,  in 
full  property  and  sovereignty,  all  the  territories  which  belong  to 
him,  situated  to  the  eastward  of  the  Mississippi,  known  by  the 
name  of  East  and  West  Florida.  And  by  the  eighth  article,  all 
grants  of  land  made  before  the  twenty-fourth  of  January,  1818,  by 
his  catholic  majesty,  or  by  his  lawful  authorities,  shall  be  ratified 
and  confirmed,  &c.  Now,  the  grants  in  question  having  been 
made  long  prior  to  that  day,  are  supposed  to  be  confirmed.  He 
understood  from  a  person  interested,  that  don  Onis  had  assured 
him  it  was  his  intention  to  confirm  them.  Whether  the  American 
negotiator  had  the  same  intention  or  not,  he  did  not  know.  It 
will  not  be  pretended,  that  the  letter  of  Mr.  Adams,  of  the  twelfth 
of  March,  1818,  in  which  he  declines  to  treat  any  further  with 
respect  to  any  part  of  the  territory  included  within  the  limits  of  the 
state  of  Louisiana,  can  control  the  operation  of  the  subsequent 
treaty.     That  treaty  must  be  interpreted  by  what  is  in  it,  and  not 


ON     THE,    SPANISH     TREATY.  403 

by  what  is  out  of  it.  The  overtures  which  passed  between  the 
parties  respectively,  prior  to  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty,  can  neither 
restrict  nor  enlarge  its  meaning.  Moreover,  when  Mr.  Madison 
occupied,  in  1811,  the  country  between  the  Mississippi  and  the 
Perdido,  he  declared,  that  in  our  hands  it  should  be,  as  it  has  been, 
subject  to  negotiation. 

It  results,  then,  that  we  have  given  for  Florida,  charged  and 
incumbered  as  it  is, 

First,  unincumbered  Texas ; 

Secondly,  five  millions  of  dollars ; 

Thirdly,  a  surrender  of  all  our  claims  upon  Spain,  not  included 
in  that  five  millions ;  and, 

Fourthly,  if  the  interpretation  of  the  treaty  which  he  had  stated 
were  well  founded,  about  a  million  of  acres  of  the  best  unseated 
land  in  the  state  of  Louisiana,  worth  perhaps  ten  millions  of 
dollars. 

The  first  proposition  contained  in  the  second  resolution,  was 
thus,  he  thought,  fully  sustained.  The  next  was,  that  it  was  inex- 
pedient to  cede  Texas  to  any  foreign  power.  They  constituted,  in 
his  opinion,  a  sacred  inheritance  of  posterity,  wThich  we  ought  to 
preserve  unimpaired.  He  wished  it  was,  if  it  were  not,  a  funda- 
mental and  inviolable  law  of  the  land,  that  they  should  be 
inalienable  to  any  foreign  power.  It  was  quite  evident,  that  it 
was  in  the  order  of  providence ;  that  it  was  an  inevitable  result  of 
the  principle  of  population,  that  the  whole  of  this  continent, 
including  Texas,  was  to  be  peopled  in  process  of  time.  The 
question  was,  by  whose  race  shall  it  be  peopled  ?  In  our  hands  it 
will  be  peopled  by  freemen,  and  the  sons  of  freemen,  carrying 
with  them  our  language,  our  laws,  and  our  liberties ;  establishing, 
on  the  prairies  of  Texas,  temples  dedicated  to  the  simple,  and 
devout  modes  of  worship  of  God,  incident  to  our  religion,  and 
temples  dedicated  to  that  freedom  which  we  adore  next  to  Him. 
In  the  hands  of  others,  it  may  become  the  habitation  of  despotism 
and  of  slaves,  subject  to  the  vile  dominion  of  the  inquisition  and 
of  superstition.  He  knew  that  there  were  honest  and  enlightened 
men,  who  feared  that  our  confederacy  was  already  too  large,  and 
that  there  was  danger  of  disruption,  arising  out  of  the  want  of 
reciprocal  coherence  between  its  several  parts.  He  hoped  and 
believed,  that  the  principle  of  representation,  and  the  formation  of 
states,  would  preserve  us  a  united  people.  But  if  Texas,  after 
being  peopled  by  us,  and  grappling  with  us,  should,  at  some  distant 
day,  break  off,  she  will  carry  along  with  her  a  noble  crew,  consist- 
ing of  our  children's  children.  The  difference  between  those  who 
might  be  disinclined  to  its  annexation  to  our  confederacy,  and  him, 
was,  that  their  system  began  where  his  might,  possibly,  in  some 
distant  future  day,  terminate;  and  their's  began  with  a  foreign 
race,  aliens  to  every  thing  that  we  hold  dear,  and  his  ended  with  a 
race  partaking  of  all  our  qualities. 


404  SPEECHES      OF      HENRY      CLAY. 

The  last  proposition  which  the  second  resolution  affirms,  is,  that 
it  is  inexpedient  to  renew  the  treaty.  If  Spain  had  promptly 
ratified  it,  bad  as  it  is,  he  would  have  acquiesced  in  it.  Alter  the 
protracted  negotiation  which  it  terminated ;  after  the  irritating  and 
exasperating  correspondence  which  preceded  it,  he  would  have 
taken  the  treaty  as  a  man  who  has  passed  a  long  and  restless 
night,  turning  and  tossing  in  his  bed,  snatches  at  day  an  hour's 
disturbed  repose.  But  she  would  not  ratify  it;  she  would  not 
consent  to  be  bound  by  it ;  and  she  has  liberated  us  from  it.  Is  it 
wise  to  renew  the  negotiation,  if  it  is  to  be  recommenced,  by 
announcing  to  her  at  once  our  ultimatum?  Shall  we  not  give 
her  the  vantage  ground?  In  early  life  he  had  sometimes  indulged 
in  a  species  of  amusement,  which  years  and  experience  had 
determined  him  1o  renounce,  which,  if  the  committee  would  allow 
him  to  use  it,  furnished  him  with  a  figure  —  shall  we  enter  on  the 
game,  with  our  hand  exposed  to  the  adversary,  whilst  he  shuffles 
the  cards  to  acquire  more  strength  ?  What  has  lost  us  his  ratifica- 
tion of  the  treaty  ?  Incontestably,  our  importunity  to  procure  the 
ratification,  and  the  hopes  which  that  importunity  inspired,  that  he 
could  yet  obtain  more  from  us.  Let  us  undeceive  him.  Let  us 
proclaim  the  acknowledged  truth,  that  the  treaty  is  prejudicial  to 
the  interests  of  this  country.  Are  we  not  told,  by  the  secretary  of 
state,  in  the  bold  and  confident  assertion,  that  don  Onis  was 
authorized  to  grant  us  muck  more,  and  that  Spain  dare  not  deny 
his  instructions?  The  line  of  demarcation  is /or  within  his  limits? 
If  she  would  have  then  granted  us  more,  is  her  position  now  more 
favorable  to  her  in  the  negotiation  ?  In  our  relations  to  foreign 
powers,  it  may  be  sometimes  politic  to  sacrifice  a  portion  of  our 
rights  to  secure  the  residue.  But  is  Spain  such  a  power,  as  that  it 
becomes  us  to  sacrifice  those  rights  ?  Is  she  entitled  to  it  by  her 
justice,  by  her  observance  of  good  faith,  or  by  her  possible  annoy- 
ance of  us  in  the  event  of  war?  She  will  seek,  as  she  has  sought, 
procrastination  in  the  negotiation,  taking  the  treaty  as  the  basis. 
She  will  dare  to  offend  us,  as  she  has  insulted  us,  by  asking  the 
disgraceful  stipulation,  that  we  shall  not  recognise  the  patriots. 
Let  us  put  aside  the  treaty;  tell  her  to  grant  us  our  rights,  to  their 
uttermost  extent.  And  if  she  still  palters,  let  us  assert  those  rights 
by  whatever  measures  it  is  for  the  interest  of  our  country  to  adopt. 

If  the  treaty  were  abandoned;  if  we  were  not  on  the  contrary 
signified,  too  distinctly,  that  there  was  to  be  a  continued  and  unre- 
mitting endeavor  to  obtain  its  revival;  he  would  not  think  it 
advisable  for  this  house  to  interpose.  But,  with  all  the  information 
in  our  possession,  and  holding  the  opinions  which  he  entertained, 
he  thought  it  the  bounden  duty  of  the  house  to  adopt  the  resolu- 
tions. He  had  acquitted  himself  of  what  he  deemed  a  solemn 
duty,  in  bringing  up  the  subject.  Others  would  discharge  their's, 
according  to  their  own  sense  of  them. 


ON  THE   PROTECTION   OF  HOME   INDUSTRY. 

IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  APRIL  26,  1820. 


[  On  the  twenty-second  of  March,  Mr.  Baldwin,  of  Pennsylvania,  from  the  com- 
mittee on  manufactures,  reported  a  tariff  bill,  embracing  provisions  of  great  importance, 
particularly  as  a  measure  of  protection  to  home  industry,  and  the  same  being  under 
consideration  in  committee  of  the  whole,  Mr.  Clay  (speaker)  renewed  his  efforts  in 
support  of  the  American  system,  in  the  following  speech.  The  bill  passed  the  house 
by  a  vote  of  ninety  to  sixty-nine,  but  was  postponed  in  the  senate  twenty-two  to 
twenty-one.] 


Mr.  Chairman, 

Whatever  may  be  the  value  of  my  opinions  on  the  interesting 
subject  now  before  us,  they  have  not  been  hastily  formed.  It  may 
possibly  be  recollected  by  some  gentlemen,  that  I  expressed  them 
when  the  existing  tariff  was  adopted;  and  that  I  ihen  urged,  that 
the  period  of  t.he  termination  of  the  war,  during  which  the  manu- 
facturing industry  of  the  country  had  received  a  powerful  spring, 
was  precisely  that  period  when  government  was  alike  impelled,  by 
duty  and  interest,  to  protect  it  against  the  free  admission  of  foreign 
fabrics,  consequent  upon  a  state  of  peace.  I  insisted,  on  that 
occasion,  that  a  less  measure  of  protection  would  prove  more 
efficacious,  at  that  time,  than  one  of  greater  extent  at  a  fulure  day. 
My  wishes  prevailed  only  in  part;  and  we  are  now  called  upon  to 
decide  whether  we  will  correct  the  error  which,  I  think,  we  then 
committed. 

In  considering  the  subject,  the  first  important  inquiry  that  we 
should  make  is,  whether  it  be  desirable  that  such  a  portion  of  the 
capital  and  labor  of  the  country  should  be  employed  in  the  busi- 
ness of  manufacturing,  as  would  furnish  a  supply  of  our  necessary 
wants  ?  Since  the  first  colonization  of  America,  the  principal 
direction  of  the  labor  and  capital  of  the  inhabitants,  has  been  to 
produce  raw  materials  for  the  consumption  or  fabrication  of  foreign 
nations.  We  have  always  had,  in  great  abundance,  the  means  of 
subsistence,  but  we  have  derived  chiefly  from  other  countries  our 
clothes,  and  the  instruments  of  defence.  Except  during  ihose 
interruptions  of  commerce  arising  from  a  state  of  war,  or  from 
measures  adopted  for  vindicating  our  commercial  rights,  we  have 


406  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

experienced  no  very  great  inconvenience  heretofore  from  this  mode 
of  supply.  ,  The  limited  amount  of  our  surplus  produce,  resulting 
from  the  smallness  of  our  numbers,  and  the  long  and  arduous 
convulsions  of  Europe,  secured  us  good  markets  for  that  surplus 
in  her  ports,  or  those  of  her  colonies.  But  those  convulsions  have 
now  ceased,  and  our  population  has  reached  nearly  ten  millions. 
A  new  epoch  has  arisen  ;  and  it  becomes  us  deliberately  to  con- 
template our  own  actual  condition,  and  the  relations  which  are 
likely  to  exist  between  us  and  the  other  parts  of  the  world.  The 
actual  state  of  our  population,  and  the  ratio  of  its  progressive 
increase,  when  compared  with  the  ratio  of  the  increase  of  the 
population  of  the  countries  which  have  hitherto  consumed  our  raw- 
produce,  seem,  to  me,  alone  to  demonstrate  the  necessity  of  divert- 
ing some  portion  of  our  industry  from  its  accustomed  channel.  We 
double  our  population  in  about  the  term  of  twenty-five  years.  If 
there  be  no  change  in  the  mode  of  exerting  our  industry,  we  shall 
double,  during  the  same  term,  the  amount  of  our  exportable 
produce.  Europe,  including  such  of  her  colonies  as  we  have  free 
access  to,  taken  altogether,  does  not  duplicate  her  population  in  a 
shorter  term,  probably,  than  one  hundred  years.  The  ratio  of  the 
increase  of  her  capacity  of  consumption,  therefore,  is,  to  that  of 
our  capacity  of  production,  as  one  is  to  four.  And  it  is  manifest, 
from  the  simple  exhibition  of  the  powers  of  the  consuming 
countries,  compared  with  those  of  the  supplying  country,  that  the 
former  are  inadequate  to  the  latter,  It  is  certainly  true,  that  a 
portion  of  the  mass  of  our  raw  produce,  which  we  transmit  to  her, 
reverts  to  us  in  a  fabricated  form,  and  that  this  return  augments 
with  our  increasing  population.  This  is,  however,  a  very  incon- 
siderable addition  to  her  actual  ability  to  afford  a  market  for  the 
produce  of  our  industry. 

I  believe  that  we  are  already  beginning  to  experience  the  want 
of  capacity  in  Europe  to  consume  our  surplus  produce.  Take  the 
articles  of  cotton,  tobacco,  and  bread-stuffs.  For  the  latter  we 
have  scarcely  any  foreign  demand.  And  is  there  not  reason  to 
believe,  that  we  have  reached,  if  we  have  not  passed,  the  maximum 
of  the  foreign  demand  for  the  other  two  articles?  Considerations 
connected  with  the  cheapness  of  cotton,  as  a  raw  material,  and  the 
facility  with  which  it  can  be  fabricated,  will  probably  make  it  to  be 
more  and  more  used  as  a  substitute  for  other  materials.  But,  after 
you  allow  to  the  demand  for  it  the  utmost  extension  of  which  it  is 
susceptible,  it  is  yet  quite  limited — limited  by  the  number  of 
persons  who  use  it,  by  their  wants  and  their  ability  to  supply  them. 
If  we  have  not  reached,  therefore,  the  maximum  of  the  foreign 
demand,  (as  I  believe  we  have,)  we  must  soon  fully  satisfy  it.  With 
respect  to  tobacco,  that  article  affording  an  enjoyment  not  neces- 
sary, as  food  and  clothes  are,  to  human  existence,  the  foreign  demand 
for  it  is  still  more  precarious,  and  I  apprehend  that  we  have  already 


ON     PROTECTION     OF     HOME     INDUSTRY.  407 

passed  its  limits.  It  appears  to  me,  then,  that,  if  we  consult  our 
interest  merely,  we  ought  to  encourage  home  manufactures.  But 
there  are  other  motives  to  recommend  it,  of  not  less  importance. 

The  wants  of  man  may  be  classed  under  three  heads ;  food, 
raiment,  and  defence.  They  are  felt  alike  in  the  state  of  barbarism 
and  of  civilization.  He  must  be  defended  against  the  ferocious  beasts 
of  prey  in  the  one  condition,  and  against  the  ambition,  violence, 
and  injustice,  incident  to  the  other.  If  he  seeks  to  obtain  a  supply 
of  those  wants  without  giving  an  equivalent,  he  is  a  beggar  or  a 
robber;  if  by  promising  an  equivalent  which  he  cannot  give,  he  is 
fraudulent;  and  if  by  commerce,  in  which  there  is  perfect  free- 
dom on  his  side,  whilst  he  meets  with  nolhing  but  restrictions  on 
the  other,  he  submits  to  an  unjust  and  degrading  inequality.  What 
is  true  of  individuals  is  equally  so  of  nations.  The  counlry,  then, 
which  relies  upon  foreign  nations  for  either  of  those  great  essentials, 
is  not,  in  fact,  independent.  Nor  is  it  any  consolation  for  our 
dependence  upon  other  nations,  that  they  are  also  dependent  upon 
us,  even  were  it  true.  Every  nation  should  anxiously  endeavor  to 
establish  its  absolute  independence,  and  consequently  be  able  to  feed, 
and  clothe,  and  defend  itself.  If  it.  rely  upon  a  foreign  supply,  thai 
may  be  cut  off  by  the  caprice  of  the  nation  yielding  it,  by  war  with 
it,  or  even  by  war  with  other  nations,  it  cannot  be  independent. 
But  it  is  not  true,  that  any  other  nations  depend  upon  us  in  a 
degree  any  thing  like  equal  to  that  of  our  dependence  upon  ihem  for 
the  great  necessaries  to  which  I  have  referred.  Every  other  nation 
seeks  to  supply  itself  with  them  from  its  own  resources  ;  and,  so 
strong  is  the  desire  which  they  feel  to  accomplish  this  purpose,  that 
they  exclude  the  cheaper  foreign  article,  for  the  dearer  home 
production.  Witness  the  English  policy  in  regard  to  corn.  So 
selfish,  in  this  respect,  is  the  conduct  of  other  powers,  that,  in  some 
instances,  they  even  prohibit  the  produce  of  the  industry  of  their 
own  colonies,  when  it  comes  into  competition  wilh  the  produce  of 
the  parent  country.  All  other  countries  but  our  own,  exclude  by 
high  duties,  or  absolute  prohibitions,  whatever  they  can  respectively 
produce  within  themselves.  The  truth  is,  and  it  is  in  vain  to 
disguise  it,  that  we  are  a  sort  of  independent  colonies  of  England 
—  politically  free,  commercially  slaves.  Gentlemen  tell  us  of  the 
advantages  of  a  free  exchange  of  the  produce  of  the  world.  But 
they  tell  us  of  what  has  never  existed,  does  not  exist,  and  perhaps 
never  will  exist.  They  invoke  us  to  give  perfect  freedom  on  our 
side,  whilst,  in  the  ports  of  every  other  nation,  we  are  met  with  a 
code  of  odious  restrictions,  shutting  out  entirely  a  great  part  of  our 
produce,  and  letting  in  only  so  much  as  they  cannot  possibly  do 
without.  I  will  hereafter  examine  their  favorite  maxim,  of  leaving 
things  to  themselves,  more  particularly.  At  present,  I  will  only  say 
th  it  I  too  am  a  friend  to  free  trade,  but  it  must  be  a  free  trade  of 
perfect  reciprocity.    If  the  governing  consideration  were  cheapness ; 


408  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

if  national  independence  were  to  weigh  nothing  ;  if  honor  nothing; 
why  not  subsidize  foreign  powers  to  defend  us?  why  not  hire 
Swiss  or  Hessian  mercenaries  to  protect  us  ?  why  not  get  our  arms 
of  all  kinds,  as  we  do  in  part,  the  blankets  and  clothing  of  our 
soldiers,  from  abroad  ?  We  should  probably  consult  economy  by 
these  dangerous  expedients. 

But,  say  gentlemen,  1  here  are  to  the  manufacturing  system  some 
inherent  objections,  which  should  induce  us  to  avoid  its  introduc- 
tion into  this  country  ;  and  we  are  warned  by  the  example  of 
England,  by  her  pauperism,  by  the  vices  of  her  population,  her 
wars,  and  so  forth.  It  would  be  a  strange  order  of  Providence,  if 
it  were  true,  that  he  should  create  necessary  and  indispensable 
wants,  and  yet  should  render  us  unable  to  supply  them  without 
the  degradation  or  contamination  of  our  species. 

Pauperism  is,  in  general,  the  effect  of  an  overflowing  population. 
Manufactures  may  undoubtedly  produce  a  redundant  population ; 
but  so  may  commerce,  and  so  may  agriculture.  In  this  respect  they 
are  alike  ;  and  from  whatever  cause  the  disproportion  of  a  popula- 
tion to  the  subsisting  faculty  of  a  country  may  proceed,  its  effect  of 
pauperism  is  the  same.  Many  parts  of  Asia  would  exhibit,  perhaps, 
as  afflicting  effects  of  an  extreme  prosecution  of  the  agricultural 
system,  as  England  can  possibly  furnish,  respecting  the  manufac- 
turing. It  is  not,  however,  fair  to  argue  from  these  extreme  cases, 
against  either  the  one  system  or  the  other.  There  are  abuses 
incident  to  every  branch  of  industry,  to  every  profession.  It  would 
not  be  thought  very  just  or  wise  to  arraign  the  honorable  profes- 
sions of  law  and  physic,  because  the  one  produces  the  pettifogger, 
and  the  other  the  quack.  Even  in  England  it  has  been  estab- 
lished, by  the  diligent  search  of  Colquhoun,  from  the  most  authentic 
evidence,  the  judicial  records  of  the  country,  that  the  instances  of 
crime  were  much  more  numerous  in  the  agricultural  than  in  the 
manufacturing  districts;  thus  proving  that  the  cause  of  wretch- 
edness and  vice  in  that  country  was  to  be  sought  for,  not  in  this  or 
that  system,  so  much  as  in  the  fact  of  the  density  of  its  popula- 
tion. France  resembles  this  country  more  than  England,  in  respect 
to  the  employments  of  her  population ;  and  we  do  not  find  that 
there  is  any  thing  in  the  condition  of  the  manufacturing  portion 
of  it,  which  ought  to  dissuade  us  from  the  introduction  of  it  into 
our  own  country.  But.  even  France  has  not  that  great  security 
against  the  abuses  of  the  manufacturing  system,  against  the  effects 
of  too  great  a  density  of  population,  which  we  possess  in  our 
waste  lands.  While  this  resource  exists,  we  have  nothing  to 
apprehend.  Do  capitalists  give  too  low  wages ;  are  the  laborers 
too  crowded,  and  in  danger  of  starving?  the  unsettled  lands  will 
draw  off*  the  redundancy,  and  leave  the  others  better  provided  for. 
If  an  unsettled  province,  such  as  Texas,  for  example,  could,  by 
some  convulsion  of  nature,  be  wafted  alongside  of^and  attached  to, 


ON     PROTECTION     OF     HOME      INDUSTRY.  409 

the  island  of  Great  Britain,  the  instantaneous  effect  would  be,  to 
draw  off  the  redundant  portion  of  the  population,  and  to  render 
more  comfortable  both  the  emigrants  and  those  whom  they  would 
leave  behind.  I  am  aware,  that  while  the  public  domain  is  an 
acknowledged  security  against  the  abuses  of  the  manufacturing,  or 
any  other  system,  it  constitutes,  at  the  same  time,  an  impediment, 
in  the  opinion  of  some,  to  the  success  of  manufacturing  industry, 
by  its  tendency  to  prevent  the  reduction  of  the  wages  of  labor. 
Those  who  urge  this  objection  have  their  eyes  too  much  fixed  on 
the  ancient  system  of  manufacturing,  when  manual  labor  was  the 
principal  instrument  which  it  employed.  During  the  last  half 
century,  since  the  inventions  of  Arkwright,  and  the  long  train  of 
improvements  which  followed,  the  labor  of  machinery  is  principally 
used.  I  have  understood,  from  sources  of  information  which  I 
believe  to  be  accurate,  that  the  combined  force  of  all  the  machinery 
employed  by  Great  Britain,  in  manufacturing,  is  equal  to  the  labor 
of  one  hundred  millions  of  able-bodied  men.  If  we  suppose  the 
aggregate  of  the  labor  of  all  the  individuals  which  she  employs 
in  that  branch  of  industry  to  be  equal  to  the  united  labor  of  two 
millions  of  able-bodied  men,  (and  I  should  think  it  does  not 
exceed  it,)  machine  labor  will  stand  to  manual  labor,  in  the  propor- 
tion of  one  hundred  to  two.  There  cannot  be  a  doubt  that  we 
have  skill  and  enterprise  enough  to  command  the  requisite  amount 
of  machine  power. 

There  are,  too,  some  checks  to  emigration  from  the  settled  parts 
of  our  country  to  the  waste  lands  of  the  west.  Distance  is  one, 
and  it  is  every  day  becoming  greater  and  greater.  There  exists, 
also,  a  natural  repugnance  (felt  less,  it  is  true,  in  the  United  States 
than  elsewhere,  but  felt  even  here,)  to  abandoning  the  place  of  our 
nativity.  Women  and  children,  who  could  not  migrate,  and  who 
would  be  comparatively  idle  if  manufactures  did  not  exist,  may  be 
profitably  employed  in  them.  This  is  a  very  great  benefit.  I 
witnessed  the  advantage  resulting  from  the  employment  of  this 
description  of  our  population,  in  a  visit  which  I  lately  made  to  the 
Waltham  manufactory,  near  Boston.  There,  some  hundreds  of 
girls  and  boys  were  occupied  in  separate  apartments.  The  greatest 
order,  neatness,  and  apparent  comfort,  reigned  throughout  the 
whole  establishment.  The  daughters  of  respectable  farmers,  in 
one  instance,  I  remember,  the  daughter  of  a  senator  in  the  state 
legislature,  were  usefully  employed.  They  would  come  down  to 
the  manufactory,  remain  perhaps  some  months,  and  return,  with 
their  earnings,  to  their  families,  to  assist  them  throughout  the  year. 
But  one  instance  had  occurred,  I  was  informed  by  the  intelligent 
manager,  of  doubtful  conduct  on  the  part  of  any  of  the  females, 
and,  after  she  was  dismissed,  there  was  reason  to  believe  that 
injustice  had  been  done  her.  Suppose  that  establishment  to  be 
destroyed,  what  would  become  of  all  the  persons  who  are  there 
vol.  i.  52 


410  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

engaged  so  beneficially  to  themselves,  and  so  usefully  to  the  state  ? 
Can  it  be  doubted  that,  if  the  crowds  of  little  mendicant  boys  and 
girls  who  infest  this  edifice,  and  assail  us,  every  day,  at  its  very 
thresholds,  as  we  come  in  and  go  out,  begging  for  a  cent,  were 
employed  in  some  manufacturing  establishment,  it  would  be  better 
for  them  and  the  city  ?  Those  who  object  to  the  manufacturing 
system  should  recollect,  that  constant  occupation  is  the  best  security 
for  innocence  and  virtue,  and  that  idleness  is  the  parent  of  vice  and 
crime.  They  should  contemplate  the  laboring  poor  with  employ- 
ment, and  ask  themselves  what  would  be  their  condition  without 
it.  If  there  are  instances  of  hard  taskmasters  among  the  manufac- 
turers, so  also  are  there  in  agriculture.  The  cause  is  to  be  sought 
for,  not  in  the  nature  of  this  or  that  system,  but  in  the  nature  of 
man.  If  there  are  particular  species  of  unhealthy  employment  in 
manufactures,  so  there  are  in  agriculture  also.  There  has  been 
an  idle  attempt  to  ridicule  the  manufacturing  system,  and  we 
have  heard  the  expression,  '  spinning-jenny  tenure.'  It  is  one  of 
the  noblest  inventions  of  human  skill.  It  has  diffused  comforts 
among  thousands  who,  without  it,  would  never  have  enjoyed  them  ; 
and  millions  yet  unborn  will  bless  the  man  by  whom  it  was 
invented.  Three  important  inventions  have  distinguished  the  last 
half  century,  each  of  which,  if  it  had  happened  at  long  intervals  of 
time  from  the  other,  would  have  been  sufficient  to  constitute  an 
epoch  in  the  progress  of  the  useful  arts.  The  first  was  that  of 
Arkwright ;  and  our  own  country  is  entitled  to  the  merit  of  the 
other  two.  The  world  is  indebted  to  Whitney  for  the  one,  and 
to  Fulton  for  the  other.  Nothing  is  secure  against  the  shafts  of 
ridicule.  What  would  be  thought  of  a  man  who  should  speak  of 
a  cotton-gin  tenure,  or  a  steamboat  tenure  ? 

In  one  respect  there  is  a  great  difference  in  favor  of  manufac- 
tures, when  compared  with  agriculture.  It  is  the  rapidity  with 
which  the  whole  manufacturing  community  avail  themselves  of  an 
improvement.  It  is  instantly  communicated  and  put  in  operation. 
There  is  an  avidity  for  improvement  in  the  one  system,  an  aver- 
sion to  it  in  the  other.  The  habits  of  generation  after  generation 
pass  down  the  long  track  of  time  in  perpetual  succession  without 
the  slightest  change  in  agriculture.  The  ploughman  who  fastens 
his  plough  to  the  tails  of  his  cattle,  will  not  own  that  there  is  any 
other  mode  equal  to  his.  An  agricultural  people  will  be  in  the 
neighborhood  of  other  communities,  who  have  made  the  greatest 
progress  in  husbandry,  without  advancing  in  the  slightest  degree. 
Many  parts  of  our  country  are  one  hundred  years  in  advance  of 
Sweden  in  the  cultivation  and  improvement  of  the  soil. 

It  is  objected,  that  the  effect  of  the  encouragement  of  home 
manufactures,  by  the  proposed  tariff,  will  be,  to  diminish  the 
revenue  from  the  customs  The  amount  of  the  revenue  from  that 
source  will  depend  upon  the   amount  of  importations,  and    the 


ON     PROTECTION     OF     HOME     INDUSTRY.  411 

measure  of  these  will  be  the  value  of  the  exports  from  this  country. 
The  quantity  of  the  exportable  produce  will  depend  upon  the 
foreign  demand ;  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that,  under  any  dis- 
tribution of  the  labor  and  capital  of  this  country,  from  the  greater 
allurements  which  agriculture  presents  than  any  other  species  of 
industry,  there  would  be  always  a  quantity  of  its  produce  sufficient 
to  satisfy  that  demand.  If  there  be  a  diminution  in  the  ability  of 
foreign  nations  to  consume  our  raw  produce,  in  the  proportion  of 
our  diminished  consumption  of  theirs,  under  the  operation  of  this 
system,  that  will  be  compensated  by  the  substitution  of  a  home  for 
a  foreign  market,  in  the  same  proportion.  It  is  true,  that  we  cannot 
remain  in  the  relation  of  seller,  only  to  foreign  powers,  for  any 
length  of  time;  but  if,  as  I  have  no  doubt,  our  agriculture  will 
continue  to  supply,  as  far  as  it  can  profitably,  to  the  extent  of  the 
limits  of  foreign  demand,  we  shall  receive  not  only  in  return  many 
of  the  articles  on  which  the  tariff  operates,  for  our  own  consumption, 
but  they  may  also  form  the  objects  of  trade  with  South  America 
and  other  powers,  and  our  comforts  may  be  multiplied  by  the 
importation  of  other  articles.  Diminished  consumption,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  augmentation  of  duties,  does  not  necessarily  imply 
diminished  revenue.  The  increase  of  the  duty  may  compensate 
the  decrease  in  the  consumption,  and  give  you  as  large  a  revenue 
as  you  before  possessed. 

Can  any  one  doubt  the  impolicy  of  government  resting  solely 
upon  the  precarious  resource  of  such  a  revenue  ?  It  is  constantly 
fluctuating.  It  tempts  us,  by  its  enormous  amount,  at  one  time, 
into  extravagant  expenditure ;  and  we  are  then  driven,  by  its  sudden 
and  unexpected  depression,  into  the  opposite  extreme.  We  are 
seduced  by  its  flattering  promises  into  expenses  which  we  might 
avoid ;  and  we  are  afterwards  constrained  by  its  treachery,  to  avoid 
expenses  which  we  ought  to  make.  It  is  a  system  under  which 
there  is  a  sort  of  perpetual  war,  between  the  interest  of  the  govern- 
ment and  the  interest  of  the  people.  Large  importations  fill  the 
coffers  of  government,  and  empty  the  pockets  of  the  people.  Small 
importations  imply  prudence  on  the  part  of  the  people,  and  leave 
Ihe  treasury  empty.  In  war,  the  revenue  disappears ;  in  peace  it 
is  unsteady.  On  such  a  system  the  government  will  not  be  able 
much  longer  exclusively  to  rely.  We  all  anticipate  that  we  shall 
have  shortly  to  resort  to  some  additional  supply  of  revenue  within 
ourselves.  I  was  opposed  to  the  total  repeal  of  the  internal  revenue. 
I  would  have  preserved  certain  parts  of  it  at  least,  to  be  ready  for 
emergences  such  as  now  exist.  And  I  am,  for  one,  ready  to 
exclude  foreign  spirits  altogether,  and  substitute  for  the  revenue 
levied  on  them  a  tax  upon  the  spirits  made  within  the  country. 
No  other  nation  lets  in  so  much  of  foreign  spirits  as  we  do.  By 
the  encouragement  of  home  industry,  you  will  lay  a  basis  of 
internal   taxation,  when   it   gets  strong,  that   will   be   steady  and 


412  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

uniform,  yielding  alike  in  peace  and  in  war.  We  do  not  derive 
our  ability  from  abroad,  to  pay  taxes.  That  depends  upon  our 
wealth  and  our  industry  ;  and  it  is  the  same,  whatever  may  be  the 
form  of  levying  the  public  contributions. 

But  it  is  urged,  that  you  tax  other  interests  of  the  state  to  sustain 
manufacturers.  The  business  of  manufacturing,  if  encouraged, 
will  be  open  to  all.  It  is  not  for  the  sake  of  the  particular  indi- 
viduals who  may  happen  to  be  engaged  in  it,  that  we  propose  to 
foster  it ;  but  it  is  for  the  general  interest.  We  think  that  it  is 
necessary  to  the  comfort  and  well-being  of  society,  that  fabrication, 
as  well  as  the  business  of  production  and  distribution,  should  be 
supported  and  taken  care  of.  Now,  if  it  be  even  true,  that  the 
price  of  the  home  fabric  will  be  somewhat  higher,  in  the  first 
instance,  than  the  rival  foreign  articles,  that  consideration  ought 
not  to  prevent  our  extending  reasonable  protection  to  the  home 
fabric.  Present  temporary  inconvenience  may  be  well  submitted 
to  for  the  sake  of  future  permanent  benefit.  If  the  experience  of 
all  other  countries  be  not  utterly  fallacious ;  if  the  promises  of  the 
manufacturing  system  be  not  absolutely  illusory;  by  the  compe- 
tition which  will  be  elicited  in  consequence  of  your  parental  care, 
prices  will  be  ultimately  brought  down  to  a  level  with  that  of  the 
foreign  commodity.  Now,  in  a  scheme  of  policy  which  is  devised 
for  a  nation,  we  should  not  limit  our  views  to  its  operation  during 
a  single  year,  or  for  even  a  short  term  of  years.  We  should  look 
at  its  operation  for  a  considerable  time,  and  in  war  as  well  as  in 
peace.  Can  there  be  a  doubt,  thus  contemplating  it,  that  we  shall 
be  compensated  by  the  certainly  and  steadiness  of  the  supply  in 
all  seasons,  and  the  ultimate  reduction  of  the  price  for  any  tempo- 
rary sacrifices  we  make  ?  Take  the  example  of  salt,  which  the 
ingenious  gentleman  from  Virginia  (Mr.  Archer)  has  adduced. 
He  says,  during  the  war,  the  price  of  that  article  rose  to  ten  dollars 
per  bushel,  and  he  asks  if  you  would  lay  a  duty,  permanent  in  its 
duration,  of  three  dollars  per  bushel,  to  secure  a  supply  in  war. 
I  answer,  no,  I  would  not  lay  so  high  a  duty.  That  which  is  now 
proposed,  for  the  encouragement  of  the  domestic  production,  is 
only  five  cents  per  bushel.  In  forty  years  the  duty  would  amount 
only  to  two  dollars.  If  the  recurrence  of  war  shall  be  only  after 
intervals  of  forty  years'  peace,  (and  we  may  expect  it  probably 
oftener,)  and  if,  when  it  does  come,  the  same  price  should  again  be 
given,  there  will  be  a  clear  saving  of  eight  dollars,  by  promoting 
the  domestic  fabrication.  All  society  is  an  affair  of  mutual  con- 
cession. If  we  expect  to  derive  the  benefits  which  are  incident  to 
it,  we  must  sustain  our  reasonable  share  of  burdens.  The  great 
interests  which  it  is  intended  to  guard  and  cherish,  must  be  sup- 
ported by  their  reciprocal  action  and  reaction.  The  harmony  of 
its  parts  is  disturbed,  the  discipline  which  is  necessary  to  its  order 
is  incomplete,  when  one  of  the  three  great  and  essential  branches 


ON     PROTECTION     OF     HOME     INDUSTRY.  413 

of  its  industry  is  abandoned  and  unprotected.  If  you  want  to  find 
an  example  of  order,  of  freedom  from  debt,  of  economy,  of  expen- 
diture falling  below  rather  than  exceeding  income,  you  will  go  to 
the  well-regulated  family  of  a  farmer.  You  will  go  to  the  house 
of  such  a  man  as  Isaac  Shelby ;  you  will  not  find  him  haunting 
taverns,  engaged  in  broils,  prosecuting  angry  lawsuits  ;  you  will 
behold  every  member  of  his  family  clad  with  the  produce  of  their 
own  hands,  and  usefully  employed ;  the  spinning-wheel  and  the 
loom  in  motion  by  day-break.  With  what  pleasure  will  his  wife 
carry  you  into  her  neat  dairy,  lead  you  into  her  store-house,  and  point 
you  to  the  table-cloths,  the  sheets,  the  counterpanes  which  lie  on 
this  shelf  for  one  daughter,  or  on  that  for  another,  all  prepared  in 
advance  by  her  provident  care  for  the  day  of  their  respective 
marriages.  If  you  want  to  see  an  opposite  example,  go  to  the 
house  of  a  man  who  manufactures  nothing  at  home,  whose  family 
resorts  to  the  store  for  every  thing  they  consume.  You  will  find 
him  perhaps  in  the  tavern,  or  at  the  shop  at  the  cross-roads.  He 
is  engaged,  with  the  rum-grog  on  the  table,  taking  depositions  to 
make  out  some  case  of  usury  or  fraud.  Or  perhaps  he  is  furnish- 
ing to  his  lawyer  the  materials  to  prepare  a  long  bill  of  injunction 
in  some  intricate  case.  The  sheriff  is  hovering  about  his  farm  to 
serve  some  new  writ.  On  court-days  —  he  never  misses  attending 
them  —  you  will  find  him  eagerly  collecting  his  witnesses  to  defend 
himself  against  the  merchant  and  doctor's  claims.  Go  to  his 
house,  and,  after  the  short  and  giddy  period  that  his  wife  and 
daughters  have  flirted  about  the  country  in  their  calico  and  muslin 
frocks,  what  a  scene  of  discomfort  and  distress  is  presented  to  you 
there !  What  the  individual  family  of  Isaac  Shelby  is,  I  wish  to 
see  the  nation  in  the  aggregate  become.  But  I  fear  we  shall 
shortly  have  to  contemplate  its  resemblance  in  the  opposite  picture. 
If  statesmen  would  carefully  observe  the  conduct  of  private  indi- 
viduals in  the  management  of  their  own  affairs,  they  would  have 
much  surer  guides  in  promoting  the  interests  of  the  state,  than  the 
visionary  speculations  of  theoretical  writers. 

The  manufacturing  system  is  not  only  injurious  to  agriculture, 
but,  say  its  opponents,  it  is  injurious  also  to  foreign  commerce. 
We  ought  not  to  conceal  from  ourselves  our  present  actual  position 
in  relation  to  other  powers.  During  the  protracted  war  which  has 
so  long  convulsed  all  Europe,  and  which  will  probably  be  succeeded 
by  a  long  peace,  we  transacted  the  commercial  business  of  other 
nations,  and  largely  shared  with  England  the  carrying  trade  of.  the 
world.  Now,  every  other  nation  is  anxiously  endeavoring  to 
transact  its  own  business,  to  rebuild  its  marine,  and  to  foster  its 
navigation.  The  consequence  of  the  former  state  of  things  was, 
that  our  mercantile  marine,  and  our  commercial  employment  were 
enormously  disproportionate  to  the  exchangeable  domestic  produce 
of  our   country.     And   the  result  of   the  latter  will  be,  that,  as 


414  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

exchanges  between  this  country  and  other  nations  will  hereafter 
consist  principally,  on  our  part,  of  our  domestic  produce,  that 
marine  and  that  employment  will  be  brought  down  to  what  is 
necessary  to  effect  those  exchanges.  I  regret  exceedingly  this 
reduction.  I  wish  the  mercantile  class  could  enjoy  the  same 
extensive  commerce  that  they  formerly  did.  But,  if  they  cannot, 
it  would  be  a  folly  to  repine  at  what  is  irrecoverably  lost,  and  we 
should  seek  rather  to  adapt  ourselves  to  the  new  circumstances  in 
which  we  find  ourselves.  If,  as  I  think,  we  have  reached  the 
maximum  of  our  foreign  demand  for  our  three  great  staples,  cotton, 
tobacco,  and  flour,  no  man  will  contend  that  we  should  go  on  to 
produce  more  and  more,  to  be  sent  to  the  glutted  foreign  markel, 
and  consumed  by  devouring  expenses,  merely  to  give  employment 
to  our  tonnage  and  to  our  foreign  commerce.  It  would  be 
extremely  unwise  to  accommodate  our  industry  to  produce,  not 
what  is  wanted  abroad,  but  cargoes  for  our  unemployed  ships.  I 
would  give  our  foreign  trade  every  legitimate  encouragement,  and 
extend  it  whenever  it  can  be  extended  profitably.  Hitherto  it  has 
been  stimulated  too  highly,  by  the  condition  of  the  world,  and  our 
own  policy  acting  on  that  condition.  And  we  are  reluctant  to 
believe  that  we  must  submit  to  its  necessary  abridgment.  The 
habits  of  trade,  the  tempting  instances  of  enormous  fortunes 
which  have  been  made  by  the  successful  prosecution  of  it,  are 
such,  that  we  turn  with  regret  from  its  pursuit ;  we  still  cherish  a 
lingering  hope ;  we  persuade  ourselves  that  something  will  occur, 
how  and  what  it  may  be,  we  know  not,  to  revive  its  former  activ- 
ity ;  and  we  would  push  into  every  untried  channel,  grope  through 
the  Dardanelles  into  the  Black  sea,  to  restore  its  former  profits.  I 
repeat  it,  let  us  proclaim  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  the 
incontestable  truth,  that  our  foreign  trade  must  be  circumscribed 
by  the  altered  state  of  the  world  ;  and,  leaving  it  in  the  possession 
of  all  the  gains  which  it  can  now  possibly  make,  let  us  present 
motives  to  the  capital  and  labor  of  our  country,  to  employ  them- 
selves in  fabrication  at  home.  There  is  no  danger  that,  by  a  with- 
drawal of  that  portion  which  is  unprofitably  employed  on  other 
objects,  and  an  application  of  it  to  fabrication,  our  agriculture 
would  be  too  much  cramped.  The  produce  of  it  will  always 
come  up  to  the  foreign  demand.  Such  are  the  superior  allure- 
ments belonging  to  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  to  all  other  branches 
of  industry,  that  it  will  always  be  preferred  when  it  can  profitably 
be  followed.  The  foreign  demand  will,  in  any  conceivable  state 
of  things,  limit  the  amount  of  the  exportable  produce  of  agricul- 
ture. The  amount  of  our  exportations  will  form  the  measure  of 
our  importations,  and,  whatever  these  may  be,  they  will  constitute 
the  basis  of  the  revenue  derivable  from  customs. 

The  manufacturing  system  is  favorable  to  the  maintenance  of 
peace.     Foreign   commerce  is  the  great  source  of  foreign  wars. 


ON  PROTECTION  OF   HOME  INDUSTRY.      415 

The  eagerness  with  which  we  contend  for  every  branch  of  it,  the 
temptations  which  it  offers,  operating  alike  upon  us  and  our  foreign 
competitors,  produce  constant  collisions.  No  country  on  earth,  by 
the  extent  of  its  superfices,  the  richness  of  its  soil,  the  variety  of 
its  climate,  contains  within  its  own  limits  more  abundant  facilities 
for  supplying  all  our  rational  wants  than  ours  does.  It  is  not 
necessary  or  desirable,  however,  to  cut  off  all  intercourse  with 
foreign  powers.  But,  after  securing  a  supply,  within  ourselves,  of 
all  the  great  essentials  of  life,  there  will  be  ample  scope  still  left 
for  preserving  such  an  intercourse.  If  we  had  no  intercourse  with 
foreign  states,  if  we  adopted  the  policy  of  China,  we  should  have 
no  external  wars.  And  in  proportion  as  we  diminish  our  depend- 
ence upon  them,  shall  we  lessen  the  danger  of  the  recurrence  of 
war.  Our  late  war  would  not  have  existed  if  the  counsels  of  the 
manufacturers  in  England  had  been  listened  to.  They  finally  did 
prevail,  in  their  steady  and  persevering  effort  to  produce  a  repeal 
of  the  orders  in  council ;  but  it  was  too  late  to  prevent  the  war. 
Those  who  attribute  to  the  manufacturing  system  the  burdens  and 
misfortunes  of  that  country,  commit  a  great  error.  These  were 
probably  a  joint  result  of  the  operation  of  the  whole  of  her  sys- 
tems, and  the  larger  share  of  it  was  to  be  ascribed  to  her  foreign 
commerce,  and  to  the  ambition  of  her  rulers,  than  to  any  other 
cause.  The  war  of  our  revolution,  in  which  that  ambition  dis- 
played its  monstrous  arrogance  and  pretensions,  laid  the  broad 
foundation  of  that  enormous  debt  under  which  she  now  groans. 

The  tendency  of  reasonable  encouragement  to  our  home  industry 
is  favorable  to  the  preservation  and  strength  of  our  confederacy. 
Now  our  connection  is  merely  political.  For  the  sale  of  the 
surplus  of  the  produce  of  our  agricultural  labor,  all  eyes  are  con- 
stantly turned  upon  the  markets  of  Liverpool.  There  is  scarcely 
any  of  that  beneficial  intercourse,  the  best  basis  of  political 
connection,  which  consists  of  the  exchange  of  the  produce  of  our 
labor.  On  our  maritime  frontier  there  has  been  too  much  stimulus, 
an  unnatural  activity ;  in  the  great  interior  of  the  country,  there 
exists  a  perfect  paralysis.  Encourage  fabrication  at  home,  and 
there  will  instantly  arise  animation  and  a  healthful  circulation 
throughout  all  the  parts  of  the  republic.  The  cheapness,  fertility, 
and  quantity  of  our  waste  lands,  offer  such  powerful  inducements 
to  cultivation,  that  our  countrymen  are  constantly  engaging  in  it. 
I  would  not  check  this  disposition,  by  hard  terms  in  the  sale  of  it. 
Let  it.  be  easily  accessible  to  all  who  wish  to  acquire  it.  But  I 
would  countervail  this  predilection,  by  presenting  to  capital  and 
labor  motives  for  employment  in  other  branches  of  industry. 
Nothing  is  more  uncertain  than  the  pursuit  of  agriculture,  when 
we  mainly  rely  upon  foreign  markets  for  the  sale  of  its  surplus 
produce.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  impossible  to  determine,  a  priori, 
the  amount  of  this  surplus;  and,  in  the  second,  it  is  equally  impos- 


416  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

sible  to  anticipate  the  extent  of  the  foreign  demand.  Both  the  one 
and  the  other  depend  upon  the  seasons.  From  the  fluctuations 
incident  to  these,  and  from  other  causes,  it  may  happen  that  the 
supplying  country  will,  for  a  long  series  of  years,  have  employed 
a  larger  share  of  its  capital  and  labor  than  is  wise,  in  production, 
to  supply  the  wants  of  the  consuming  countries,  without  becoming 
sensible  of  its  defect  of  policy.  The  failure  of  a  crop,  or  the 
failure  of  a  market,  does  not  discourage  the  cultivator.  He  renews 
his  labors  another  year,  and  he  renews  his  hopes.  It  is  otherwise 
with  manufacturing  industry.  The  precise  quantum  of  its  produce, 
at  least,  can  with  some  accuracy  be  previously  estimated.  And 
the  wants  of  foreign  countries  can  be  with  some  probability 
anticipated. 

I  am  sensible,  Mr.  Chairman,  if  I  have  even  had  a  success, 
which  I  dare  not  presume,  in  the  endeavor  I  have  been  making  to 
show  that  sound  policy  requires  a  diversion  of  so  much  of  the 
capital  and  labor  of  this  country  from  other  employments  as  may 
be  necessary,  by  a  different  application  of  them,  to  secure,  within 
ourselves,  a  steady  and  adequate  supply  of  the  great  necessaries 
of  life,  I  shall  have  only  established  one  half  of  what  is  incumbent 
upon  me  to  prove.  It  will  still  be  required  by  the  other  side,  that 
a  second  proposition  be  supported,  and  that  is,  that  government 
ought  to  present  motives  for  such  a  diversion  and  new  application 
of  labor  and  capital,  by  that  species  of  protection  which  the  tariff 
holds  out.  Gentlemen  say,  we  agree  with  you  ;  you  are  right  in 
your  first  proposition ;  but,  c  let  things  alone,'  and  they  will  come 
right  in  the  end.  Now,  I  agree  with  them,  that  things  would 
ultimately  get  right ;  but  not  until  after  a  long  period  of  disorder 
and  distress,  terminating  in  the  impoverishment,  and  perhaps  ruin, 
of  the  country.  Dissolve  government,  reduce  it  to  its  primitive 
elements,  and,  without  any  general  effort  to  reconstruct  it,  there 
would  arise,  out  of  the  anarchy  which  would  ensue,  partial  combi- 
nations for  the  purpose  of  individual  protection,  which  would 
finally  lead  to  a  social  form,  competent  to  the  conservation  of 
peace  within,  and  the  repulsion  of  force  from  without.  Yet  no 
one  would  say,  in  such  a  state  of  anarchy,  let  things  alone !  If 
gentlemen,  by  their  favorite  maxim,  mean  only  that,  within  the 
bosom  of  the  state,  things  are  to  be  left  alone,  and  each  individual, 
and  each  branch  of  industry,  allowed  to  pursue  their  respective 
interests,  without  giving  a  preference  to  either,  I  subscribe  to  it. 
But  if  they  give  it  a  more  comprehensive  import ;  if  they  require 
that  things  be  left  alone,  in  respect  not  only  to  interior  action,  but 
to  exterior  action  also ;  not  only  as  regards  the  operation  of  our 
own  government  upon  the  mass  of  the  interests  of  the  state,  but 
as  it  relates  to  the  operation  of  foreign  governments  upon  that 
mass,  I  dissent  from  it. 

This  maxim,  in  this  enlarged   sense,    is   indeed  every  where 


ON     PROTECTION     OF     HOME     INDUSTRY.  417 

proclaimed;  but  nowhere  practiced.  It  is  truth  in  the  books  ol 
European  political  economists.  It  is  error  in  the  practical  code  of 
every  European  state.  It  is  not  applied  where  it  is  most  appli- 
cable;  it  is  attempted  to  be  introduced  here,  where  it  is  least 
applicable;  and  even  here  its  friends  propose  to  limit  it  to  the 
single  branch  of  manufacturing  industry,  whilst  every  other  interest 
is  encouraged  and  protected  according  to  the  policy  of  Europe. 
The  maxim  would  best  suit  Europe,  where  each  interest  is 
adjusted  and  arranged  to  every  other,  by  causes  operating  during 
many  centuries.  Every  thing  there  has  taken  and  preserved  its 
ancient  position.  The  house  that  was  built  centuries  ago,  is 
occupied  by  the  descendants  of  its  original  constructor.  If  one 
could  rise  up,  after  the  lapse  of  ages,  and  enter  a  European  shop, 
he  would  see  the  same  hammer  at  work,  on  the  same  anvil  or  last, 
and  almost  by  the  same  hand.  There  every  thing  has  found  its 
place  and  its  level,  and  every  thing,  one  would  think,  might  there 
be  safely  left  alone.  But  the  policy  of  the  European  states  is 
otherwise.  Here  every  thing  is  new  and  unfixed.  Neither  the 
state,  nor  the  individuals  who  compose  it,  have  settled  down  in 
their  firm  and  permanent  positions.  There  is  a  constant  tend- 
ency, in  consequence  of  the  extent  of  our  public  domain,  towards 
production  for  foreign  markets.  The  maxim,  in  the  compre- 
hensive sense  in  which  I  am  considering  it,  requires,  to  entitle  it 
to  observation,  two  conditions,  neither  of  which  exists.  First,  that 
there  should  be  perpetual  peace,  and  secondly,  that  the  maxim 
should  be  every  where  respected.  When  war  breaks  out,  that  free 
and  general  circulation  of  the  produce  of  industry  among  the 
nations  which  it  recommends,  is  interrupted,  and  the  nation  that 
depends  upon  a  foreign  supply  of  its  necessaries,  must  be  subjected 
to  the  greatest  inconvenience.  If  it  be  not  every  where  observed, 
there  will  be,  between  the  nation  that  does  not,  and  the  nation  that 
does,  conform  to  it,  an  inequality  alike  condemned  by  honor  and 
by  interest.  If  there  be  no  reciprocity  ;  if,  on  the  one  side,  there  is 
perfect  freedom  of  trade,  and  on  the  other  a  code  of  odious  restric- 
tions ;  will  gentlemen  still  contend  that  we  are  to  submit  to  such  an 
unprofitable  and  degrading  intercourse  ?  Will  they  require  that 
we  shall  act  upon  the  social  system,  whilst  every  other  power  acts 
upon  the  selfish  ?  Will  they  demand  of  us  to  throw  widely  open 
our  ports  to  every  nation,  whilst  all  other  nations  entirely  or  partly 
exclude  theirs  against  our  productions?  It  is,  indeed,  possible, 
that  some  pecuniary  advantage  might  be  enjoyed  by  our  country  in 
prosecuting  the  remnant  of  the  trade  which  the  contracted  policy 
of  other  powers  leaves  to  us.  But  what  security  is  there  for  our 
continuing  to  enjoy  even  that?  And  is  national  honor,  is  national 
independence,  to  count  as  nothing  ?  I  will  not  enter  into  a  detail 
of  the  restrictions  with  which  we  are  every  where  presented  in 
foreign  countries.  I  will  content  myself  with  asserting  that  they 
vol.  i.  53 


418  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

take  nothing  from  us  which  they  can  produce  themselves,  upon 
even  worse  terms  than  we  could  supply  them.  Take,  again,  as  an 
example,  the  English  corn-laws.  America  presents  the  image  of  a 
fine,  generous-hearted  young  fellow,  who  had  just  come  to  the 
possession  of  a  rich  estate  —  an  estate,  which,  however,  requires 
careful  management.  He  makes  nothing;  he  buys  every  thing. 
He  is  surrounded  by  a  parcel  of  Jews,  each  holding  out  his  hand 
with  a  packet  of  buttons  or  pins,  or  some  other  commodity,  for  sale. 
If  he  asks  those  Jews  to  buy  any  thing  which  his  estate  produces, 
they  tell  him  no ;  it  is  not  for  our  interest ;  it  is  not  for  yours.  Take 
this  new  book,  says  one  of  them,  on  political  economy,  and  you 
will  there  perceive  it  is  for  your  interest  to  buy  from  us,  and  to  let 
things  alone  in  your  own  country.  The  gentleman  from  Virginia, 
to  whom  I  have  already  referred,  has  surrendered  the  whole  argu- 
ment, in  the  example  of  the  East  India  trade.  He  thinks  that 
because  India  takes  nothing  but  specie  from  us ;  because  there  is 
not  a  reciprocal  exchange  between  us  and  India,  of  our  respective 
productions,  that  the  trade  ought  to  be  discontinued.  Now  I  do 
not  agree  with  him,  that  it  ought  to  be  abandoned,  though  I  would 
put  it  under  considerable  restrictions,  when  it  comes  in  compe- 
tition with  the  fabrics  of  our  own  country.  If  the  want  of  entire 
reciprocity  be  a  sufficient  ground  for  the  total  abandonment  of  a 
particular  branch  of  trade,  the  same  principle  requires  that,  where 
there  are  some  restrictions  on  the  one  side,  they  should  be  counter- 
vailed by  equal  restrictions  on  the  other. 

But  this  maxim,  according  to  which  gentlemen  would  have  us 
abandon  the  home  industry  of  the  country,  to  the  influence  of  the 
restrictive  systems  of  other  countries,  without  an  effort  to  protect 
and  preserve  it,  is  not  itself  observed  by  the  same  gentlemen,  in 
regard  to  the  great  interests  of  the  nation.  We  protect  our  fisheries 
by  bounties  and  drawbacks.  We  protect  our  tonnage,  by  excluding 
or  restricting  foreign  tonnage,  exactly  as  our  tonnage  is  excluded 
or  restricted  by  foreign  states.  We  passed,  a  year  or  two  ago,  the 
bill  to  prohibit  British  navigation  from  the  West  India  colonies 
of  that  power  to  the  United  States,  because  ours  is  shut  out  from 
them.  The  session  prior  to  the  passage  of  that  law,  the  gentleman 
from  South  Carolina  and  I,  almost  alone,  urged  the  house  to  pass 
it.  But  the  subject  was  postponed  until  the  next  session,  when  it 
was  passed  by  nearly  a  unanimous  vote,  the  gentleman  from  South 
Carolina,  and  the  two  gentlemen  from  Virginia  (Messrs.  Barbour 
and  Tyler)  voting  with  the  majority.  We  have  now  upon  our 
table  other  bills  connected  with  that  object,  and  proposing  restric- 
tion upon  the  French  tonnage  to  countervail  theirs  upon  ours.  I 
shall,  with  pleasure,  vote  for  these  measures.  We  protect  our 
foreign  trade,  by  consuls,  by  foreign  ministers,  by  embargoes,  by 
non-intercourse,  by  a  navy,  by  fortifications,  by  squadrons  constantly 
acting  abroad,  by  war,  and  by  a  variety  of  commercial  regulations 


ON     PROTECTION     OF     HOME     INDUSTRY.  419 

in  our  statute-book.  The  whole  system  of  the  general  government, 
from  its  first  formation  to  the  present  time,  consists,  almost  exclu- 
sively, in  one  unremitting  endeavor  to  nourish,  and  protect,  and 
defend  the  foreign  trade.  Why  have  not  all  these  great  interests 
been  left  to  the  operation  of  the  gentlemen's  favorite  maxim  ?  Sir, 
it  is  perfectly  right  that  we  should  have  afforded  this  protection. 
And  it  is  perfectly  right,  in  my  humble  opinion,  that  we  should 
extend  the  principle  to  the  home  industry.  I  am  a  friend  to 
foreign  trade,  but  I  protest  against  its  being  the  monopolist  of  all 
the  parental  favor  and  care  of  this  government. 

But,  sir,  friendly  as  I  am  to  the  existence  of  domestic  manu- 
factures, I  would  not  give  to  them  unreasonable  encouragement, 
by  protecting  duties.  Their  growth  ought  to  be  gradual,  but  sure. 
I  believe  all  the  circumstances  of  the  present  period  highly  favor- 
able to  their  success.  But  they  are  the  youngest  and  the  weakest 
interest  of  the  state.  Agriculture  wants  but  little  or  no  protection 
against  the  regulations  of  foreign  powers.  The  advantages  of  our 
position,  and  the  cheapness,  and  abundance,  and  fertility  of  our 
land,  afford  to  that  greatest  interest  of  the  state  almost  all  the 
protection  it  wants.  As  it  should  be,  it  is  strong  and  flourishing ; 
or,  if  it  be  not,  at  this  moment,  prosperous,  it  is  not  because  its 
produce  is  not  ample,  but  because,  depending,  as  we  do  altogether, 
upon  a  foreign  market  for  the  sale  of  the  surplus  of  that  produce, 
the  foreign  market  is  glutted.  Our  foreign  trade,  having  almost 
exclusively  engrossed  the  protecting  care  of  government,  wants  no 
further  legislative  aid.  And,  whatever  depression  it  may  now 
experience,  it  is  attributable  to  causes  beyond  the  control  of  this 
government.  The  abundance  of  capital,  indicated  by  the  avidity 
with  which  loans  are  sought,  at  the  reduced  rate  of  five  per 
centum ;  the  reduction  in  the  wages  of  labor,  and  the  decline  in 
the  price  of  property  of  every  kind,  as  well  as  that  of  agricultural 
produce,  all  concur  favorably  for  domestic  manufactures.  Now,  as 
when  we  arranged  the  existing  tariff,  is  the  auspicious  moment  for 
government  to  step  in  and  cheer  and  countenance  them.  We  did 
too  little  then,  and  I  endeavored  to  warn  this  house  of  the  effects 
of  inadequate  protection.  We  were  called  upon,  at  that  time,  by 
the  previous  pledges  we  had  given,  by  the  inundation  of  foreign 
fabrics,  which  was  to  be  anticipated  from  their  free  admission  after 
the  termination  of  the  war,  and  by  the  lasting  interests  of  this 
country,  to  give  them  efficient  support.  We  did  not  do  it;  but  let 
us  not  now  repeat  the  error.  Our  great  mistake  has  been  in  the 
irregularity  of  the  action  of  the  measures  of  this  government  upon 
manufacturing  industry.  At  one  period  it  is  stimulated  too  high, 
and  then,  by  an  opposite  course  of  policy,  it  is  precipitated  into  a 
condition  of  depression  too  low.  First  there  came  the  embargo ; 
then  non-intercourse,  and  other  restrictive  measures  followed ;  and 
finally,  that  greatest  of  all  stimuli  to  domestic  fabrication,  war. 


420  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

During  all  that  long  period,  we  were  adding  to  the  positive  effect 
of  the  measures  of  government,  all  the  moral  encouragement 
which  results  from  popular  resolves,  legislative  resolves,  and  other 
manifestations  of  the  public  will  and  the  public  wish  to  foster  our 
home  manufactures,  and  to  render  our  confederacy  independent  of 
foreign  powers.  The  peace  ensued,  and  the  country  was  flooded 
with  the  fabrics  of  other  countries;  and  we,  forgetting  all  our 
promises,  coolly  and  philosophically  talk  of  leaving  things  to  them- 
selves ;  making  up  our  deficiency  of  practical  good  sense,  by  the 
stores  of  learning  which  we  collect  from  theoretical  writers.  I,  too, 
sometimes  amuse  myself  with  the  visions  of  these  writers,  (as  I  do 
with  those  of  metaphysicians  and  novelists,)  and,  if  I  do  not  forget, 
one  of  the  best  among  them  enjoins  it  upon  a  country  to  protect 
its  industry  against  the  injurious  influence  of  the  prohibitions  and 
restrictions  of  foreign  countries,  which  operate  upon  it. 

Monuments  of  the  melancholy  effects  upon  our  manufactures, 
and  of  the  fluctuating  policy  of  the  councils  of  the  union  in  regard 
to  them,  abound  in  all  parts  of  the  country.  Villages,  and  parts  of 
villages,  which  sprang  up  but  yesterday  in  the  western  country, 
under  the  excitement  to  which  I  have  referred,  have  dwindled  into 
decay,  and  are  abandoned.  In  New  England,  in  passing  along 
the  highway,  one  frequently  sees  large  and  spacious  buildings, 
with  the  glass  broken  out  of  the  windows,  the  shutters  hanging 
in  ruinous  disorder,  without  any  appearanre  of  activity,  and 
enveloped  in  solitary  gloom.  Upon  inquiring  what  they  are,  you 
are  almost  always  informed  that  they  were  somje  cotton  or  other 
factory,  which  their  proprietors  could  no  longer  keep  in  motion 
against  the  overwhelming  pressure  of  foreign  competition. 
Gentlemen  ask  for  facts  to  show  the  expediency  and  propriety  of 
extending  protection  to  our  manufactures.  Do  they  want  stronger 
evidence  than  the  condition  of  things  I  have  pointed  out  ?  They 
ask,  why  the  manufacturing  industry  is  not  resumed  under  the 
encouraging  auspices  of  the  present  time?  Sir,  the  answer  is 
obvious ;  there  is  a  general  dismay ;  there  is  a  want  of  heart ;  there 
is  the  greatest  moral  discouragement  experienced  throughout  the 
nation.  A  man  who  engages  in  the  manufacturing  business  is 
thought  by  his  friends  to  be  deranged.  Who  will  go  to  the  ruins 
of  Carthage  or  Balbec  to  rebuild  a  city  there?  Let  government 
commence  a  systematic  but  moderate  support  of  this  important 
branch  of  our  industry.  Let  it  announce  its  fix^d  purpose,  that 
the  protection  of  manufactures  against  the  influence  of  the  meas- 
ures of  foreign  governments,  will  enter  into  the  scope  of  our 
national  policy.  Let.  us  substitute,  for  the  irregular  action  of  our 
measures,  one  that  shall  be  steady  and  uniform ;  and  hope,  and 
animation,  and  activity,  will  again  revive.  The  gentleman  from 
South  Carolina  (Mr.  Lowndes)  offered  a  resolution,  which  the 
house  rejected,  having  for  its  object  to  ascertain  the  profits  now 


ON     PROTECTION     OF     HOME     INDUSTRY.  421 

made  upon  capital  employed  in  manufacturing.  It  is  not,  I  repeat 
it,  the  individuals,  but  the  interests  we  wish  to  have  protected. 
From  the  infinite  variety  of  circumstances  under  which  different 
manufacturing  establishments  are  situated,  it  is  impossible  that  any 
information,  such  as  the  gentleman  desires,  could  be  obtained, 
that  ought  to  guide  the  judgment  of  this  house.  It  may  happen 
that,  of  two  establishments  engaged  in  the  same  species  of  fabri- 
cation, one  will  be  prospering  and  the  other  laboring.  Take  the 
example  of  the  Waltham  manufactory  near  Boston,  and  that  of 
Brunswick  in  Maine.  The  former  has  the  advantage  of  a  fine 
water  situation,  a  manager  of  excellent  information,  enthusiastically 
devoted  to  its  success,  a  machinist  of  most  invenlive  genius,  who 
is  constantly  making  some  new  improvement,  and  who  has  carried 
the  water  loom  to  a  degree  of  perfection  which  it  has  not  attained 
in  England  —  to  such  perfection  as  to  reduce  the  cost  of  weaving 
a  yard  of  cloth  adapted  to  shirting  to  less  than  a  cent  —  while  it  is 
abundantly  supplied  with  capital  by  several  rich  capitalists  in 
Boston.  These  gentlemen  have  the  most  extensive  correspondence 
with  all  parts  of  the  United  States.  Owing  to  this  extraordinary 
combination  of  favorable  circumstances,  the  Waltham  establish- 
ment is  doing  pretty  well ;  whilst  that  of  Brunswick,  not  possessing 
all  of  +hem,  but  perhaps  as  many  as  would  enable  it,  under  adequate 
protection,  to  flourish,  is  laboring  arduously.  Will  gentlemen  infer, 
from  the  success  of  a  few  institutions  having  peculiar  advantages, 
which  form  exceptions  to  the  languishing  condition  of  manufac- 
turing industry,  that  there  exists  no  necessity  for  protection  ?  In 
the  most  discouraging  state  of  trade  and  navigation,  there  are,  no 
doubt,  always  some  individuals  who  are  successful  in  prosecuting 
them.  Would  it  be  fair  to  argue,  from  these  instances,  against  any 
measure  brought  forward  to  revive  their  activity  ? 

The  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  (Mr.  Whitman)  has  mani- 
fested peculiar  hostility  to  the  tariff,  and  has  allowed  himself  to 
denominate  it  a  mad,  quixotic,  ruinous  scheme.  The  gentleman 
is  dissatisfied  with  the  quarter  —  the  west  —  from  which  it  emanates. 
To  give  higher  tone  and  more  effect  to  the  gentleman's  declama- 
tion, which  is  vague  and  indefinite,  he  has  even  assumed  a  new 
place  in  this  house.  Sir,  I  would  advise  the  gentleman  to  return 
to  his  ancient  position,  moral  and  physical.  It  was  respectable  and 
useful.  The  honorable  gentleman  professes  to  be  a  friend  to 
manufacturers !  And  yet  he  has  found  an  insurmountable  constitu- 
tional impediment  to  their  encouragement,  of  which,  as  no  other 
gentleman  has  relied  upon  it,  I  shall  leave  him  in  the  undisturbed 
possession.  The  honorable  gentleman  a  friend  to  manufacturers ! 
And  yet  he  has  delivered  a  speech,  marked  with  peculiar  emphasis, 
against  their  protection.  The  honorable  gentleman  a  friend  to 
manufacturers  !  And  yet  he  requires,  if  this  constitutional  difficulty 
could  be  removed,  such  an  arrangement  of  the  tariff  as  shall  please 


422  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

him,  although  every  one  else  should  be  dissatisfied.  The  intimation 
is  not  new  of  the  presumptuousness  of  western  politicians,  in 
endeavoring  to  give  to  the  policy  of  this  country  such  a  direction 
as  will  assert  its  honor  and  sustain  its  interests.  It  was  first  made 
whilst  the  measures  preparatory  to  the  late  war  were  under  consid- 
eration, and  it  now  probably  emanates  from  the  same  quarter.  The 
predilection  of  the  school  of  the  Essex  junto  for  foreign  trade  and 
British  fabrics  —  I  am  far  from  insinuating  that  other  gentlemen 
who  are  opposed  to  the  tariff  are  actuated  by  any  such  spirit  —  is 
unconquerable.  We  disregarded  the  intimation  when  it  was  first 
made ;  we  shall  be  uninfluenced  by  it  now.  If,  indeed,  there  were 
the  least  color  for  the  assertion,  that  the  foreign  trade  is  to  be  crushed 
by  the  tariff,  is  it  not  strange,  that  the  whole  of  the  representation 
from  all  our  great  commercial  metropolises  should  unite  to  destroy 
it?  The  member  from  Boston,  —  to  whose  rational  and  disinter- 
ested course  I  am  happy,  on  this,  as  on  many  other  occasions,  to  be 
able  to  testify,  —  the  renresentatives  from  the  city  of  New  York, 
from  Philadelphia,  from  Baltimore,  all  entered  into  this  confederacy, 
to  destroy  it,  by  supporting  this  mad  and  ruinous  scheme.  Some 
gentlemen  assert  that  it  is  too  comprehensive.  But  its  chief 
recommendation  to  me  is,  that  it  leaves  no  important  interest 
unprovided  for. 

The  same  gentlemen,  or  others,  if  it  had  been  more  limited, 
would  have  objected  to  its  partial  operation.  The  general  measure 
of  the  protection  which  it  communicates,  is  pronounced  to  be 
immoderate  and  enormous.  Yet  no  one  ventures  to  enter  into  a 
specification  of  the  particular  articles  of  which  it  is  composed,  to 
show  that  it  deserves  thus  to  be  characterized.  The  article  of 
molasses  has,  indeed,  been  selected,  and  held  up  as  an  instance  of 
the  alleged  extravagance.  The  existing  tariff  imposes  a  duty  of 
five  cents,  the  proposed  tariff  ten  cents  per  gallon.  We  tax  foreign 
spirits  very  high,  and  yet  we  let  in,  with  a  very  low  duty,  foreign 
molasses,  which  ought  to  be  considered  as  rum  in  disguise,  filling 
the  space  of  so  much  domestic  spirits.  If  (which  I  do  not  believe 
will  immediately  be  the  case,  to  any  considerable  extent)  the 
manufacture  of  spirits  from  molasses,  should  somewhat  decline 
under  the  new  tariff,  the  manufacture  of  spirits  from  the  raw 
material,  produced  at  home,  will  be  extended  in  the  same  ratio. 
Besides  the  incidental  advantage  of  increasing  our  security  against 
the  effect  of  seasons  of  scarcity,  by  increasing  the  distillation  of 
spirits  from  grain,  there  is  scarcely  any  item  in  the  tariff  which 
combines  so  many  interests  in  supporting  the  proposed  rate  of 
duty.  The  grain-growing  country,  the  fruit  country,  and  the 
culture  of  cane,  would  be  all  benefited  by  the  duty.  Its  operation 
is  said,  however,  to  be  injurious  to  a  certain  quarter  of  the  union. 
It  is  not  to  be  denied,  that  each  particular  section  of  the  country 
will  feel  some  one  or  more  articles  of  the  tariff  to  bear  hard  upon 


ON     PROTECTION     OF     HOME  INDUSTRY.  423 

it,  during  a  short  period ;  but  the  compensation  is  to  be  found  in 
the  more  favorable  operation  of  others.  Now  I  am  fully  persuaded 
that,  in  the  first  instance,  no  part  of  the  union  would  share  more 
largely  than  New  England,  in  the  aggregate  of  the  benefits  result- 
ing from  the  tariff.  But  the  habits  of  economy  of  her  people,  their 
industry,  their  skill,  their  noble  enterprise,  the  stimulating  effects 
of  their  more  rigorous  climate,  all  tend  to  insure  to  her  the  first 
and  the  richest  fruits  of  the  tariff.  The  middle  and  the  western 
states  will  come  in  afterwards  for  their  portion,  and  all  will  partici- 
pate in  the  advantage  of  internal  exchanges  and  circulation.  No 
quarter  of  the  union  will  urge,  with  a  worse  grace  than  New 
England,  objections  to  a  measure,  having  for  its  object  the  advance- 
ment of  the  interests  of  the  whole;  for  no  quarter  of  the  union 
participates  more  extensively  in  the  benefits  flowing  from  the 
general  government.  Her  tonnage,  her  fisheries,  her  foreign  trade, 
have  been  constantly  objects  of  federal  care.  There  is  expended 
the  greatest  portion  of  the  public  revenue.  The  building  of  the 
public  ships;  their  equipments;  the  expenses  incident  to  their 
remaining  in  port,  chiefly  take  place  there.  That  great  drain  on 
the  revenue,  the  revolutionary  pension  law,  inclines  principally 
towards  New  England.  I  do  not,  however,  complain  of  these 
advantages  which  she  enjoys.  She  is  probably  fairly  entitled  to 
them.  But  gentlemen  from  that  quarter  may,  at  least,  be  justly 
reminded  of  them,  when  they  complain  of  the  onerous  effect  of 
one  or  two  items  of  the  tariff. 

Mr.  Chairman,  I  frankly  own  that  I  feel  great  solicitude  for  the 
success  of  this  bill.  The  entire  independence  of  my  country  on 
all  foreign  states,  as  it  respects  a  supply  of  our  essential  wants,  has 
ever  been  with  me  a  favorite  object.  The  war  of  our  revolution 
effected  our  political  emancipation.  The  last  war  contributed 
greatly  towards  accomplishing  our  commercial  freedom.  But  our 
complete  independence  will  only  be  consummated  after  the  policy 
of  this  bill  shall  be  recognised  and  adopted.  We  have,  indeed, 
great  difficulties  to  contend  with  —  old  habits,  colonial  usages,  the 
obduracy  of  the  colonial  spirit,  the  enormous  profits  of  a  foreign 
trade,  prosecuted  under  favorable  circumstances,  which  no  longer 
continue.  I  will  not  despair ;  the  cause,  I  verily  believe,  is  the 
cause  of  the  country.  It  may  be  postponed  ;  it  may  be  frustrated 
for  the  moment,  but  it  must  finally  prevail.  Let  us  endeavor  to 
acquire  for  the  present  congress,  the  merit  of  having  laid  this  solid 
foundation  of  the  national  prosperity.  If,  as  I  think,  fatally  for 
the  public  interest,  the  bill  shall  be  defeated,  what  will  be  the 
character  of  the  account  which  we  shall  have  to  render  to  our 
constituents  upon  our  return  among  them  ?  We  shall  be  asked, 
what  have  you  done  to  remedy  the  disorders  of  the  public  cur- 
rency ?  Why,  Mr.  Secretary  of  the  treasury  made  us  a  long  report 
on  that  matter,  containing  much  valuable  information,  and  some 


424  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

very  good  reasoning,  but,  upon  the  whole,  we  found  that  subject 
rather  above  our  comprehension,  and  we  concluded  that  it  was 
wisest  to  let  it  regulate  itself.  What  have  you  done  to  supply  the 
deficit  in  the  treasury  ?  We  thought  that,  although  you  are  all 
endeavoring  to  get  out  of  the  banks,  it  was  a  very  good  time  for  us 
to  go  into  them,  and  we  have  authorized  a  loan.  You  have  done 
something  then,  certainly,  on  the  subject  of  retrenchment.  Here,  at 
home,  we  are  practicing  the  greatest  economy,  and  our  daughters, 
no  longer  able  to  wear  calico  gowns,  are  obliged  to  put  on  home- 
spun. Why,  we  have  saved,  by  the  indefatigable  exertions  of  a 
member  from  Tennessee  (general  Cocke),  fifty  thousand  dollars, 
which  were  wanted  for  the  Yellow  Stone  expedition.  No,  not 
quite  so  much  ;  for  thirty  thousand  dollars  of  that  sum  were  still 
wanted,  although  we  stopped  the  expedition  at  the  Council  Bluffs. 
And  we  have  saved  another  sum,  which  we  hope  will  give  you 
great  satisfaction.  After  nearly  two  days'  debate,  and  a  division 
between  the  two  houses,  we  struck  off  two  hundred  dollars  from 
the  salary  of  the  clerk  of  the  attorney  general.  WThat  have  you 
done  to  protect  home  industry  from  the  effects  of  the  contracted 
policy  of  foreign  powers?  We  thought  it  best,  after  much  delibe- 
ration, to  leave  things  alone  at  home  and  to  continue  our  encourage- 
ment to  foreign  industry.  Well,  surely  you  have  passed  some  law 
to  reanimate  and  revive  the  hopes  of  the  numerous  bankrupts  that 
have  been  made  by  the  extraordinary  circumstances  of  the  world, 
and  the  ruinous  tendency  of  our  policy?  No;  the  senate  could 
not  agree  on  that  subject,  and  the  bankrupt  bill  failed  ?  Can  we 
plead,  sir,  ignorance  of  the  general  distress,  and  of  the  ardent 
wishes  of  the  community  for  that  protection  of  its  industry  which 
this  bill  proposes  ?  No,  sir,  almost  daily,  throughout  the  session, 
have  we  been  receiving  petitions,  with  which  our  table  is  now 
loaded,  humbly  imploring  us  to  extend  this  protection.  Unanimous 
resolutions  from  important  state  legislatures  have  called  upon  us 
to  give  it,  and  the  people  of  whole  states  in  mass  —  almost  in 
mass,  of  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  and  Ohio  — have 
transmitted  to  us  their  earnest  and  humble  petitions  to  encourage 
the  home  industry.  Let  us  not  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  them.  Let  us 
not  disappoint  their  just  expectations.  Let  us  manifest,  by  the 
passage  of  this  bill,  that  congress  does  not  deserve  the  reproaches 
which  have  been  cast  on  it,  of  insensibility  to  the  wants  and 
sufferings  of  the  people. 


MISSION  TO  SOUTH  AMERICA. 

HOUSE    OF    REPRESENTATIVES,    MAY    10,    1820. 


[At  this  period  of  the  session  of  the  sixteenth  congress,  only  five  days  before  its 
close,  after  which  he  temporarily  retired,  in  November  following,  by  resigning  as 
speaker,  Mr.  Clay  had  the  gratification  of  witnessing  the  triumphant  result  of  his  oft- 
repeated  efforts  in  the  cause  of  South  American  independence.  The  resolution  on 
the  subject  which  he  had  offered  on  the  third  of  April,  was  supported  on  this  occasion 
by  the  following  speech,  and  adopted  by  the  house  by  a  vote  of  eighty  to  seventy -five. 
It  was  understood  that  the  measure  was  carried  against  the  wishes  and  influence  of 
the  administration. 

The  wisdom  of  the  policy  proposed  and  advocated  by  Mr.  Clay,  from  1818,  or  even 
an  earlier  period,  until  finally  adopted  by  the  congress  of  the  United  States,  namely, 
in  recognising  the  independence  of  the  infant  republics  of  South  America,  was  proved 
by  the  course  of  the  British  government,  in  being  the  first  of  the  great  European 
powers  to  follow  the  example.  In  June,  1824,  the  cabinet  of  George  the  Fourth 
determined  on  the  recognition  of  Mexico,  Colombia,  and  Buenos  Ayres,  as  indepen- 
dent states;  and  in  1826,  that  great  s'atesm an,  Mr  Canning,  in  a  speech  in  the  house 
of  commons,  alluding  to  the  occupation  of  Spain  by  a  French  army,  about  that  time, 
used  the  following  memorable  words  ■  '  I  admit  that  the  entry  of  a  French  army  into 
Spain  was  a  disparagement  to  Great  Britain.  Do  you  think,  that  for  the  disparagement 
to  England  we  have  not  been  compensated  ?  I  looked,  sir,  at  Spain  by  another  name 
than  Spain.  1  looked  upon  that  power  as  '  Spain  and  the  Indies?  I  looked  at  the 
Indies,  and  there  I  have  called  a  new  world  into  existence,  and  thus  redressed  the  balance 
of  power.'  A  comparison  of  dates  will  show  how  much  the  American  statesman 
was  in  advance  of  the  British  minister,  in  '  calling  this  new  world  into  existence.'] 


The  house  being  in  committee  of  the  whole,  on  the  state  of  the 
union,  and  a  motion  being  made  to  that  effect,  the  committee 
resolved  to  proceed  to  the  consideration  of  the  following  resolu- 
tions : 

Resolved,  That  it  is  expedient  to  provide  by  law  a  suitable  outfit 
and  salary  for  such  minister  or  ministers  as  the  president,  by  and 
with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  senate,  may  send  to  any  of  the 
governments  of  South  America,  which  have  established,  and  are 
maintaining,  their  independence  on  Spain  : 

Resolved,  That  provision  ought  to  be  made  for  requesting  the 
president  of  the  United  States  to  cause  to  be  presented  to  the 
general,  the  most  worthy  and  distinguished,  in  his  opinion,  in  the 
service  of  any  of  the  independent  governments  of  South  America, 
the  sword  which  was  given  by  the  viceroy  of  Lima  to  captain 
Biddle  of  the  Ontario,  during  her  late  cruise  in  the  Pacific,  and 
vol.  i.  54 


426  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

which  is  now  in  the  office  of  the  department  of  state,  with  the 
expression  of  the  wish  of  the  congress  of  the  United  States,  that 
it  may  be  employed  in  the  support  and  preservation  of  the  liberties 
and  independence  of  his  country: 

When  Mr.  Clay  arose  and  said :  It  is  my  intention,  Mr.  Chair- 
man, to  withdraw  the  latter  resolution.  Since  I  offered  it,  this 
house  (by  the  passage  of  the  vbill  to  prevent,  under  suitable  penalties, 
in  future,  the  acceptance  of  presents,  forbidden  by  the  constitution, 
to  prohibit  the  carrying  of  foreigners  in  the  public  vessels,  and  to 
limit  to  the  case  of  our  own  citizens,  and  to  regulate,  in  that  case, 
the  transportation  of  money  in  them,)  has,  perhaps,  sufficiently 
animadverted  on  the  violation  of  the  constitution,  which  produced 
that  resolution.  I  confess,  that  when  I  heard  of  captain  Biddle 
receiving  from  the  deputy  of  a  king  the  sword  in  question,  I  felt 
greatly  mortified.  I  could  not  help  contrasting  his  conduct  with 
that  of  the  surgeon  on  board  an  American  man-of-war,  in  the  bay 
of  Naples,  (I  regret  that  I  do  not  recollect  his  name,  as  I  should  like 
to  record,  with  the  testimony  which  I  with  pleasure  bear  to  his  high- 
minded  conduct,)  who,  having  performed  an  operation  on  one  of 
the  suite  of  the  emperor  of  Austria,  and  being  offered  fifteen 
hundred  pistoles  or  dollars  for  his  skilful  service,  returned  the  purse, 
and  said,  that  what  he  had  done  was  in  the  cause  of  humanity,  and 
that  the  constitution  of  his  country  forbade  his  acceptance  of  the 
proffered  boon.  There  was  not  an  American  heart  that  did  not 
swell  with  pride  on  hearing  of  his  noble  disinterestedness.  It  did 
appear  to  me,  also,  that  the  time  of  captain  Biddle's  interposition 
was  unfortunate  to  produce  an  agreement  between  the  viceroy  of 
Lima  and  Chili,  to  exchange  their  respective  prisoners,  however 
desirable  the  accomplishment  of  such  a  humane  object  might  be. 
The  viceroy  had  constantly  refused  to  consent  to  any  such  exchange. 
And  it  is  an  incontestable  fact,  that  the  barbarities  which  have 
characterized  the  civil  war  in  Spanish  America  have  uniformly 
originated  with  the  royalists.  After  the  memorable  battle  of  Maipu, 
decisive  of  the  independence  of  Chili,  and  fatal  to  the  arms  of  the 
viceroy,  this  interposition,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  took  place.  The 
transportation  of  money,  upon  freight,  from  the  port  of  Callao  to 
that  of  Rio  Janeiro,  for  royalists,  appeared  to  me  also  highly 
improper.  If  we  wish  to  preserve,  unsullied,  the  illustrious 
character,  which  our  navy  justly  sustains,  we  should  repress  the 
very  first  instances  of  irregularity.  But  I  am  willing  to  believe  that 
captain  Biddle's  conduct  has  been  inadvertent.  He  is  a  gallant 
officer,  and  belongs  to  a  respectable  and  patriotic  family.  His 
errors,  I  am  persuaded,  will  not  be  repeated  by  him  or  imitated  by 
others.  And  I  trust  that  there  is  no  man  more  unwilling  than  I 
am,  unnecessarily  to  press  reprehension.  It  is  thought,  moreover,  by 
some,  that  the  president  might  feel  an  embarrassment  in  executing 
the  duty  required  of  him  by  the  resolution,  which  it  was  far  from 
my  purpose  to  cause  him.     I  withdraw  it 


MISSION     TO     SOUTH     AMERICA.  427 

There  is  no  connection  intended,  or  in  fact,  between  that 
resolution  and  the  one  I  now  propose  briefly  to  discuss.  The 
proposition,  to  recognise  the  independent  governments  of  South 
America,  offers  a  subject  of  as  great  importance  as  any  which  could 
claim  the  deliberate  consideration  of  this  house. 

Mr.  Clay  then  went  on  to  say,  that  it  appeared  to  him  the  object 
of  this  government,  heretofore,  had  been,  so  to  manage  its  affairs,  in 
regard  to  South  America,  as  to  produce  an  effect  on  its  existing 
negotiations  with  the  parent  country.  The  house  were  now 
apprized,  by  the  message  from  the  president,  that  this  policy  had 
totally  failed  ;  it  had  failed,  because  our  country  would  not  dishonor 
itself  by  surrendering  one  of  the  most  important  rights  incidental 
to  sovereignty.  Although  we  had  observed  a  course  toward  the 
patriots,  as  Mr.  Gallatin  said,  in  his  communication  read  yesterday, 
greatly  exceeding  in  rigor  the  course  pursued  towards  them  either 
by  France  or  England;  although,  also,  as  was  remarked  by  the 
secretary  of  state,  we  had  observed  a  neutrality  so  strict  that  blood 
had  been  spilt  in  enforcing  it;  still,  Spanish  honor  was  not 
satisfied,  and  fresh  sacrifices  were  demanded  of  us.  If  they  were 
resisted  in  form,  they  were  substantially  yielded  by  our  course  as 
to  South  America.  We  will  not  stipulate  with  Spain  not  to 
recognise  the  independence  of  the  south  ;  but  we  nevertheless  grant 
her  all  she  demands. 

Mr.  Clay  said,  it  had  been  his  intention  to  have  gone  into  a 
general  view  of  the  course  of  policy  which  has  characterized  the 
general  government ;  but  on  account  of  the  lateness  of  the  session, 
and  the  desire  for  an  early  adjournment,  he  should  waive,  for  that 
purpose,  and,  in  the  observations  he  had  to  make,  confine  himself 
pretty  much  to  events  subsequent  to  the  period  at  which  he  had 
submitted  to  the  house  a  proposition  having  nearly  the  same  object 
as  this. 

After  the  return  of  our  commissioners  from  Soulh  America; 
after  they  had  all  agreed  in  attesting  the  fact  of  independent 
sovereignty  being  exercised  by  the  government  of  Buenos  Ayres  ; 
the  whole  nation  looked  forward  to  the  recognition  of  the  indepen- 
dence of  that  country,  as  the  policy  which  the  government  ought 
to  pursue.  He  appealed  to  every  member  to  say,  whether  there 
was  not  a  general  opinion,  in  case  the  report  of  lhat  mission  should 
turn  out  as  it  did,  that  the  recognition  of  the  independence  of  that 
government  would  follow,  as  a  matter  of  course.  The  surprise  at 
a  different  course  being  pursued  by  the  executive  at  the  last  session, 
was  proportionably  great.  On  this  subject,  so  strong  was  the 
message  of  the  president  at  the  commencement  of  the  present 
session,  that  some  of  the  presses  took  it  for  granted,  lhat  the  recog- 
nition would  follow  of  course,  and  a  paper  in  this  neighborhood 
has  said  that  there  was,  in  regard  to  that  question,  a  race  of  popu- 
larity between  the  president  of  the  United  States  and  the  humble 


428  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

individual  who  now  addressed  the  house.  Yet,  faithless  Ferdinand 
refuses  to  ratify  his  own  treaty,  on  the  pretext  of  violations  of  our 
•  neutrality.;  but,  in  fact,  because  we  will  not  basely  surrender  an 
important  attribute  of  sovereignty.  Two  years  ago,  he  said,  would, 
in  his  opinion,  have  been  the  proper  lime  for  recognising  the 
independence  of  the  south.  Then  the  struggle  was  somewhat 
doubtful,  and  a  kind  office  on  the  part  of  this  government  would 
have  had  a  salutary  effect.  Since  that  period,  what  had  occurred  ? 
Any  thing  to  prevent  a  recognition  of  their  independence,  or  to 
make  it  less  expedient?  No;  every  occurrence  tended  to  prove 
the  capacity  of  that  country  to  maintain  its  independence.  He 
then  successively  adverted  to  the  battles  of  Maipu,  and  Bojaca, 
their  great  brilliancy,  and  their  important  consequences.  Adverting 
to  the  union  of  Venezuela  and  New  Grenada  in  one  republic,  he 
said  one  of  their  first  acts  was,  to  appoint  one  of  their  most  distin- 
guished citizens,  the  vice  president  Zea,  a  minister  to  this  country. 
There  was  a  time,  he  said,  when  impressions  are  made  on  individ- 
uals and  nations,  by  kindness  towards  them,  which  lasts  for  ever, 
when  they  are  surrounded  with  enemies,  and  embarrassments 
present  themselves.  Ages  and  ages  may  pass  away,  said  he, 
before  we  forget  the  help  we  received  in  our  day  of  peril,  from  the 
hands  of  France.  Her  injustice,  the  tyranny  of  her  despot,  may 
alienate  us  for  a  time ;  but,  the  moment  it  ceases,  we  relapse  into  a 
good  feeling  towards  her.  Do  you  mean  to  wait,  said  he,  until 
these  republics  are  recognised  by  the  whole  world,  and  then  step 
in  and  extend  your  hand  to  them,  when  it  can  no  longer  be  with- 
held? If  we  are  to  believe  general  Vives,  we  have  gone  about 
among  foreign  powers,  and  consulted  with  lord  Castlereagh  and 
count  Nesselrode,  to  seek  some  aid  in  recognising  the  indepen- 
dence of  these  powers.  What !  after  the  president  has  told  us  that 
the  recognition  of  the  independence  of  nations  is  an  incontestable 
right  of  sovereignty,  shall  we  lag  behind  till  the  European  powers 
think  proper  to  advance  ?  The  president  has  assigned,  as  a  reason 
for  abstaining  from  the  recognition,  that  the  congress  of  Aix-la- 
Chapelle  might  take  offence  at  it.  So  far  from  such  an  usurped 
interference  being  a  reason  for  stopping,  he  would  have  exerted  the 
right  the  sooner  for  it.  But,  ihe  congress  of  Aix-la-ChapcIle  had 
refused  to  interfere,  and  on  that  point  the  president  was  mistaken. 
Spain,  it  was  true,  had  gone  about  begging  the  nations  of  Europe 
not  to  interfere  in  behalf  of  the  South  Americans;  but  the  wishes 
of  the  whole  unbiassed  world  must  be  in  their  favor.  And  while 
we  had  gone  on,  passing  neutrality  bill  after  neutrality  bill,  and 
bills  to  punish  piracy  —  with  respect  to  unquestioned  piracy,  no 
one  was  more  in  favor  of  punishing  it  than  he;  but  he  had  no 
idea  of  imputing  piracy  to  men  fighting  under  the  flag  of  a  people 
at  war  for  independence  —  whilst  we  pursued  this  course,  even  in 
advance  of  the  legitimates  of  Europe,  what,  he  asked,  had  been 


MISSION     TO     SOUTH     AMERICA.  429 

the  course  of  England  herself  on  this  head  ?  Here  he  quoted  a 
few  passages  from  the  work  of  Abbe  de  Pradt,  recently  translated 
by  one  of  our  citizens,  which,  he  said,  though  the  author  was  not  • 
very  popular  among  crowned  heads,  no  man  could  read  without 
being  enlightened  and  instructed.  These  passages  dwelt  on  the 
importance  of  the  commerce  of  South  America,  when  freed  from 
its  present  restraints,  and  so  forth.  What  would  I  give,  exclaimed 
he,  could  we  appreciate  the  advantages  which  may  be  realized  by 
pursuing  the  course  which  I  propose !  It  is  in  our  power  to  create 
a  system  of  which  we  shall  be  the  centre,  and  in  which  all  South 
America  will  act  with  us.  In  respect  to  commerce',  we  shall  be 
most  benefited;  this  country  would  become  the  place  of  deposit  of  -N 
the  commerce  of  the  world.  Our  citizens  engaged  in  foreign 
trade  at  present  were  disheartened  by  the  condition  of  that  trade; 
they  must  take  new  channels  for  it,  and  none  so  advantageous 
could  be  found,  as  those  which  the  trade  with  South  America  '* 
would  afford.  Mr.  Clay  took  a  prospective  view  of  the  growth  of 
wealth,   and   increase  of  population  of  this  country  and   South    - 

America.     That  country  had  now  a  population  of  upwards  of 

eighteen  millions.  The  same  activity  in  the  principle  of  popula- 
tion would  exist  in  that  country  as  here.  Twenty-five  years  hence 
it  might  be  estimated  at  thirty-six  millions;  fifty  years  hence,  at 
seventy-two  millions.  We  now  have  a  population  often  millions. 
From  the  character  of  our  population,  we  must  always  take  the 
lead  in  the  prosecution  of  commerce  and  manufactures.  Imagine 
the  vast  power  of  the  two  countries,  and  the  value  of  the  inter- 
course between  them,  when  we  shall  have  a  population  of  forty 
millions,  and  they  of  seventy  millions !  In  relation  to  South  Amer- 
ica, the  people  of  the  United  States  will  occupy  the  same  position 
as  the  people  of  New  England  do  to  the  rest  of  the  United  States. 
Our  enterprise,  industry,  and  habits  of  economy,  will  give  us  the 
advantage  in  any  competition  which  South  America  may  sustain^/ 
with  us,  and  so  forth. 

But,  however  important  our  early  recognition  of  the  indepen-  , 
dence  of  the  south  might  be  to  us,  as  respects  our  commercial  and  ' 
manufacturing  interests,  was  there  not  another  view  of  the  subject,  / 
infinitely  more  gratifying?     We  should  become  the  centre  of  a 
system  which  would  constitute  the  rallying  point  of  human  Treedom 
against  all  the  despotism  of  the  old  world.     Did  any  man  doubt 
the  feelings  of  the   south   towards   us?     In  spite  of  our  coldness 
towards  them,  of  the  rigor  of  our  laws,   and  the   conduct  of  our 
officers,  their  hearts  still  turned  towards  us,  as  to  their  brethren ; 
and  he  had  no  earthly  doubt,  if  our  government  would  take  the 
lead  and  recognise  them,  they  would  become  yet  more  anxious  to 
imitate  our  institutions,  and  to  secure  to  themselves   and  to  their  . 
posterity  the  same  freedom  which  we  enjoy. 

On  a  subject  of  this  sort,  he  asked,  was  it  possible  we  could  be 


430  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

content  to  remain,  as  we  now  were,  looking  anxiously  to  Europe, 
watching  the  eyes  of  lord  Castlereagh,  and  getting  scraps  of  letters 
*  doubtfully  indicative  of  his  wishes ;  and  sending  to  the  czar  of 
Russia  and  getting  another  scrap  from  count  Nesselrode  ?  Why 
not  proceed  to  act  on  our  own  responsibility,  and  recognise  these 
governments  as  independent,  instead  of  taking  the  lead  of  the  holy 
alliance  in  a  course  which  jeopardizes  the  happiness  of  unborn 
millions.  He  deprecated  this  deference  for  foreign  powers.  If 
lord  Castlereagh  says  we  may  recognise,  we  do;  if  not,  we  do 
not  A  single  expression  of  the  British  minister  to  the  present 
secretary  of  state,  then  our  minister  abroad,  he  was  ashamed  to 
say,  had  moulded  the  policy  of  our  government  towards  South 
America.  Our  institutions  now  make  us  free ;  but  how  long  shall 
we  continue  so,  if  we  mould  our  opinions  on  those  of  Europe  ? 
Let  us  break  these  commercial  and  political  fetters;  let  us  no 
longer  watch  the  nod  of  any  European  politician  ;  let  us  become 
real  and  true  Americans,  and  place  ourselves  at  the  head  of  the 
American  system. 

Gentlemen  all  said,  they  were  all  anxious  to  see  the  indepen- 
dence of  the  South  established.  If  sympathy  for  them  was  enough, 
the  patriots  would  have  reason  to  be  satisfied  with  the  abundant 
expressions  of  it.  But  something  more  was  wanting.  Some 
gentlemen  had  intimated,  that  the  people  of  the  south  were  unfit 
/for  freedom.  Will  gentlemen  contend,  said  Mr.  Clay,  because 
those  people  are  not  like  us  in  all  particulars,  they  are  therefore 
_,--  unfit  for  freedom  ?  In  some  particulars,  he  ventured  to  say,  that 
the  people  of  South  America  were  in  advance  of  us.  On  the 
point  which  had  been  so  much  discussed  on  this  floor,  during  the 
present  session,  they  were  greatly  in  advance  of  us.  Grenada, 
Venezuela,  and  Buenos  Ayres,  had  all  emancipated  their  slaves. 
He  did  not  say  that  we  ought  to  do  so,  or  that  they  ought  to  have 
done  so,  under  different  circumstances  ;  but  he  rejoiced  that  the 
circumstances  were  such  as  to  permit  them  to  do  it. 

Two  questions  only,  he  argued,  were  necessarily  preliminary  to 
the  recognition  of  the  independence  of  the  people  of  the  south  ; 
first,  as  to  the  fact  of  their  independence ;  and,  secondly,  as  to  the 
capacity  for  self-government.  On  the  first  point,  not  a  doubt 
existed.  On  the  second,  there  was  every  evidence  in  their  favor. 
They  had  fostered  schools  with  great  care,  there  were  more  news- 
papers in  the  single  town  of  Buenos  Ayres  (at  the  time  he  was 
speaking)  than  in  the  whole  kingdom  of  Spain.  He  never  saw  a 
question  discussed  with  more  ability  than  that  in  a  newspaper  of 
Buenos  Ayres,  whether  a  federative  or  consolidated  form  of  gov- 
ernment was  best. 

But,  though  every  argument  in  favor  of  the  recognition  should 
be  admitted  to  be  just,  it  would  be  said,  that  another' revolution 
had  occurred  in  Spain,  and  we  ought,  therefore,  to  delay.     On  the 


MISSION     TO     SOUTH     AMERICA.  431 

contrary,  said  he,  every  consideration  recommended  us  to  act  now. 
If  Spain  succeeded  in  establishing  her  freedom,  the  colonies  must  f- 
also  be  free.  The  first  desire  of  a  government  itself  free,  must  be 
to  give  liberty  to  its  dependencies.  On  the  other  hand,  if  Spain 
should  not  succeed  in  gaining  her  freedom,  no  man  can  doubt 
that  Spain,  in  her  reduced  state,  would  no  longer  have  power  to 
carry  on  the  contest.  So  many  millions  of  men  could  not  be 
subjugated  by  the  enervated  arm  and  exhausted  means  of  aged 
Spain.  In  ten  years  of  war,  the  most  unimportant  province  of 
South  America  had  not  been  subdued  by  all  the  wealth  and  the  - 
resources  of  Spain.  The  certainty  of  the  successful  resistance  of 
the  attempts  of  Spain  to  reduce  them,  would  be  found  in  the  great 
extent  of  the  provinces  of  South  America  —  of  larger  extent  than 
all  the  empire  of  Russia.  The  relation  of  the  colonies  and  mother 
country  could  not  exist,  from  the  nature  of  things,  under  whatever 
aspect  the  government  of  Spain  might  assume.  The  condition 
of  Spain  was  no  reason  for  neglecting  now  to  do  what  we  ought 
to  have  done  long  ago.  Every  thing,  on  the  contrary,  tended  to 
prove  that  this,  this  was  the  accepted  time. 

With  regard  to  the  form  of  his  proposition,  all  he  wanted  was, 
to  obtain  an  expression  of  the  opinion  of  the  house  on  this  subject; 
and  whether  a  minister  should  be  authorized  to  one  or  the  other  of 
these  governments,  or  whether  he  should  be  of  one  grade  or  of 
another,  he  cared  not.  This  republic,  with  the  exception  of  the 
people  of  South  America,  constituted  the  sole  depository  of  politi- 
cal and  religious  freedom ;  and  can  it  be  possible,  said  he,  that  we. 
can  remain  passive  spectators  of  the  struggle  of  those  people  to-^ 
break  the  same  chains  which  once  bound  us?  The  opinions  of 
the  friends  of  freedom  in  Europe  is,  that  our  policy  has  been  cold, 
heartless,  and  indifferent,  towards  the  greatest  cause  which  could 
possibly  engage  our  affections  and  enlist  our  feelings  in  its  behalf. 

Mr.  Clay  concluded  by  saying  that,  whatever  might  be  the 
decision  of  this  house  on  this  question,  proposing  shortly  to  go 
into  retirement  from  public  life,  he  should  there  have  the  consola- 
tion of  knowing  that  he  had  used  his  best  exertions  in  favor  of  a 
people  inhabiting  a  territory  calculated  to  contain  as  many  souls 
as  the  whole  of  Christendom  besides,  whose  happiness  was  at 
stake,  and  which  it  was  in  the  power  of  this  government  to  do  so 
much  towards  securing. 


ON  THE  GREEK  REVOLUTION. 

IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  JANUARY  20,  1824. 


[The  house  being  in  committee  of  the  whole,  on  the  resolution  offered  by  Mr. 
Webster,  of  Massachusetts,  in  the  words  following: 

Resolved,  That  provision  ought  to  be  made  by  law,  for  defraying  the  expense 
incident  to  the  appointment  of  an  agent  or  commissioner  to  Greece,  whenever  the 
president  shall  deem  it  expedient  to  make  such  appointment : 

Mr.  Clay  addressed  the  committee  in  the  following  speech  in  support  of  the  reso- 
lution, in  which  it  will  be  seen  he  was  true  to  the  principles  which  he  had  so  often 
vindicated  when  the  independence  of  South  America  was  under  consideration.     Not- 
withstanding the  combined  efforts  of  Mr.  Clay  and  Mr  Webster,  the  resolution  was 
/"not  sustained  by  a  majority  of  the  house,  although  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  measure 
[   proposed  was  in  accordance  with  public  opinion,  in  the  sympathies  then  felt  for  the 
\  cause  of  the  Greeks.] 


In  rising,  let  me  state  distinctly  the  substance  of  the  original 
proposition  of  the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  (Mr.  "Webster), 
with  that  of  the  amendment  of  the  gentleman  from  South  Caro- 
lina (Mr.  Poinsett).  The  resolution  proposes  a  provision  of  the 
means  to  defray  the  expense  of  deputing  a  commissioner  or  agent 
to  Greece,  ivhenever  the  president,  who  knows,  or  ought  to  know, 
the  disposition  of  all  the  European  powers,  Turkish  or  Christian, 
shall  deem  it  proper.  The  amendment  goes  to  withhold  any  appro- 
priation to  that  object,  but  to  make  a  public  declaration  of  our 
sympathy  with  the  Greeks,  and  of  our  good  wishes  for  the  success 
of  their  cause.  And  how  has  this  simple,  unpretending,  unam- 
bitious, this  harmless  proposition,  been  treated  in  debate  ?  It  has 
been  argued  as  if  it  offered  aid  to  the  Greeks ;  as  if  it  proposed 
the  recognition  of  the  independence  of  their  government;  as  a 
measure  of  unjustifiable  interference  in  the  internal  affairs  of  a 
foreign  state,  and,  finally,  as  war.  And  they  who  thus  argue  the 
question,  whilst  they  absolutely  surrender  themselves  to  the  illu- 
sions of  their  own  fervid  imaginations,  and  depict,  in  glowing 
terms,  the  monstrous  and  alarming  consequences  which  are  to 
spring  out  of  a  proposition  so  simple,  impute  to  us,  who  are  its 
humble  advocates,  quixotism,  quixotism !  Whilst  they  are  taking 
the  most  extravagant  and  boundless  range,  and  arguing  any  thing 
and  every  thing  but  the  question  before  the  committee,  they  accuse 
us  of  enthusiasm,  of  giving  the  reins  to  excited  feeling,  of  being 


ON     THE     GREEK     REVOLUTION.  433 

transported  by  our  imaginations.  No,  sir,  the  resolution  is  no 
proposition  for  aid,  nor  for  recognition,  nor  for  interference,  nor  for 
war. 

I  know  that  there  are  some  who  object  to  the  resolution  on 
account  of  the  source  from  which  it  has  sprung — who  except  to 
its  mover,  as  if  its  value  or  importance  were  to  be  estimated  by 
personal  considerations.  I  have  long  had  the  pleasure  of  knowing 
the  honorable  gentleman  from  Massachusetts,  and  sometimes  that 
of  acting  with  him ;  and  I  have  much  satisfaction  in  expressing 
my  high  admiration  of  his  great  talents.  But  I  would  appeal  to 
my  republican  friends,  those  faithful  sentinels  of  civil  liberty  with 
whom  I  have  ever  acted,  shall  we  reject  a  proposition,  consonant 
to  our  principles,  favoring  the  good  and  great  cause,  on  account  of 
the  political  character  of  its  mover  ?  Shall  we  not  rather  look  to 
the  intrinsic  merits  of  the  measure,  and  seek  every  fit  occasion  to 
strengthen  and  perpetuate  liberal  principles  and  noble  sentiments  ? 
If  it  were  possible  for  republicans  to  cease  to  be  the  champions  of 
human  freedom,  and  if  federalists  become  its  only  supporters,  I 
would  cease  to  be  a  republican ;  I  would  become  a  federalist. 
The  preservation  of  the  public  confidence  can  only  be  secured,  or 
merited,  by  a  faithful  adherence  to  the  principles  by  which  it  has 
been  acquired. 

Mr.  Chairman,  is  it  not  extraordinary  that  for  these  two  successive 
years  the  president  of  the  United  States  should  have  been  freely 
indulged,  not  only  without  censure,  but  with  universal  applause,  to 
express  the  feelings  which  both  the  resolution  and  the  amendment 
proclaim,  and  yet,  if  this  house  venture  to  unite  with  him,  the 
most  awful  consequences  are  to  ensue  ?  From  Maine  to  Georgia, 
from  the  Atlantic  ocean  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  the  sentiment  of 
approbation  has  blazed  with  the  rapidity  of  electricity.  Every 
where  the  interest  in  the  Grecian  cause  is  felt  with  the  deepest 
intensity,  expressed  in  every  form,  and  increases  with  every  new 
day  and  passing  hour.  And  are  the  representatives  of  the  people 
alone  to  be  insulated  from  the  common  moral  atmosphere  of  the 
whole  land  ?  Shall  we  shut  ourselves  up  in  apathy,  and  separate 
ourselves  from  our  country,  from  our  constituents,  from  our  chief 
magistrate,  from  our  principles  ? 

The  measure  has  been  most  unreasonably  magnified.  Gentle- 
men speak  of  the  watchful  jealousy  of  the  Turk,  and  seem  to  think 
the  slightest  movement  of  this  body  will  be  matter  of  serious  spec- 
ulation at  Constantinople.  I  believe  that  neither  the  sublime  porte, 
nor  the  European  allies,  attach  any  such  exaggerated  importance 
to  the  acts  and  deliberations  of  this  body.  The  Turk  will,  in  all 
probability,  never  hear  of  the  names  of  the  gentlemen  who  either 
espouse  or  oppose  the  resolution.  It  certainly  is  not  without  a 
value ;  but  that  value  is  altogether  moral ;  it  throws  our  little  tribute 
into  the  vast  stream  of  public  opinion,  which  sooner  or  later  must 
vol.  i.  65 


434  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

regulate  the  physical  action  upon  the  great  interests  of  the  civilized 
world.  But,  rely  upon  it,  the  Ottoman  is  not  about  to  declare  war 
against  us  because  this  unoffending  proposition  has  been  offered 
by  my  honorable  friend  from  Massachusetts,  whose  name,  however 
distinguished  and  eminent  he  may  be  in  our  own  country,  has 
probably  never  reached  the  ears  of  the  sublime  porte.  The  allied 
powers  are  not  going  to  be  thrown  into  a  state  of  consternation, 
because  we  appropriate  some  two  or  three  thousand  dollars  to  send 
an  agent  to  Greece. 

The  question  has  been  argued  as  if  the  Greeks  would  be  exposed 
to  still  more  shocking  enormities  by  its  passage ;  as  if  the  Turkish 
cimeter  would  be  rendered  still  keener,  and  dyed  deeper  and  yet 
deeper  in  christian  blood.  Sir,  if  such  is  to  be  the  effect  of  the 
declaration  of  our  sympathy,  the  evil  has  been  already  produced. 
That  declaration  has  been  already  publicly  and  solemnly  made  by 
the  chief  magistrate  of  the  United  States,  in  two  distinct  messages. 
It  is  this  document  which  commands  at  home  and  abroad  the  most 
fixed  and  universal  attention  ;  which  is  translated  into  all  the  foreign 
journals;  read  by  sovereigns  and  their  ministers;  and,  possibly,  in 
the  divan  itself.  But  our  resolutions  are  domestic,  for  home  con- 
sumption, and  rarely,  if  ever,  meet  imperial  or  royal  eyes.  The 
president,  in  his  messages,  after  a  most  touching  representation  of 
the  feelings  excited  by  the  Greek  insurrection,  tells  you  that  the 
dominion  of  the  Turk  is  gone  for  ever ;  and  that  the  most  sanguine 
hope  is  entertained  that  Greece  will  achieve  her  independence. 
Well,  sir,  if  this  be  the  fact,  if  the  allied  powers  themselves  may, 
possibly,  before  we  again  assemble  in  this  hall,  acknowledge  that 
independence,  is  it  not  fit  and  becoming  in  this  house  to  make 
provision  that  our  president  shall  be  among  the  foremost,  or  at  least 
not  among  the  last,  in  that,  acknowledgment  ?  So  far  from  this 
resolution  being  likely  to  whet  the  vengeance  of  the  Turk  against 
his  Grecian  victims,  I  believe  its  tendency  will  be  directly  the 
reverse.  Sir,  with  all  his  unlimited  power,  and  in  all  the  elevation 
of  his  despotic  throne,  he  is  at  last  but  man,  made  as  we  are,  of 
flesh,  of  muscle,  of  bone  and  sinew.  He  is  susceptible  of  pain, 
and  can  feel,  and  has  felt  the  uncalculating  valor  of  American 
freemen  in  some  of  his  dominions.  And  when  he  is  made  to 
understand  that  the  executive  of  this  government  is  sustained  by 
the  representatives  of  the  people ;  that  our  entire  political  fabric, 
base,  column,  and  entablature,  rulers  and  people,  with  heart,  soul, 
mind,  and  strength,  are  all  on  the  side  of  the  gallant  people  whom 
he  would  crush,  he  will  be  more  likely  to  restrain  than  to  increase 
his  atrocities  upon  suffering  and  bleeding  Greece. 

The  gentleman  from  New  Hampshire  (Mr.  Bartlett)  has  made, 
on  this  occasion,  a  very  ingenious,  sensible,  and  ironical  speech  — 
an  admirable  debvt  for  a  new  member,  and  such  as  I  hope  we  shall 
often  have  repeated  on  this  floor.     But,  permit  me  to  advise  my 


ON     THE     GREEK     REVOLUTION.  435 

young  friend  to  remember  the  maxim,  <  that  sufficient  unto  the  day- 
is  the  evil  thereof; '  and  when  the  resolution*  on  another  subject, 
which  I  had  the  honor  to  submit,  shall  come  up  to  be  discussed,  I 
hope  he  will  not  content  himself  with  saying,  as  he  has  now  done, 
that  it  is  a  very  extraordinary  one  ;  but  that  he  will  then  favor  the 
house  with  an  argumentative  speech,  proving  that  it  is  our  duty 
quietly  to  see  laid  prostrate  every  fortress  of  human  hope,  and  to 
behold,  with  indifference,  the  last  outwork  of  liberty  taken  and 
destroyed. 

It  has  been  said,  that  the  proposed  measure  will  be  a  departure 
from  our  uniform  policy  with  respect  to  foreign  nations ;  that  it 
will  provoke  the  wrath  of  the  holy  alliance ;  and  that  it  will,  in 
effect,  be  a  repetition  of  their  own  offence,  by  an  unjustifiable  inter- 
position in  the  domestic  concerns  of  other  powers.  No,  sir,  not  even 
if  it  authorized,  which  it  does  not,  an  immediate  recognition  of 
Grecian  independence.  What  has  been  the  settled  and  steady 
policy  and  practice  of  this  government,  from  the  days  of  Wash- 
ington to  the  present  moment  ?  In  the  case  of  France,  the  father  of 
his  country  and  his  successors  received  Genet,  Fouchet,  and  all 
the  French  ministers  who  followed  them,  whether  sent  from  king, 
convention,  anarchy,  emperor,  or  king  again.  The  rule  we  have 
ever  followed  has  been  this ;  to  look  at  the  state  of  the  fact,  and 
to  recognise  that  government,  be  it  what  it  might,  which  was  in 
actual  possession  of  sovereign  power.  When  one  government  is 
overthrown,  and  another  is  established  on  its  ruins,  without  embar- 
rassing ourselves  with  any  of  the  principles  involved  in  the  contest, 
we  have  ever  acknowledged  the  new  and  actual  government  as 
soon  as  it  had  undisputed  existence.  Our  simple  inquiry  has  been, 
is  there  a  government  de  facto  ?  We  have  had  a  recent  and  memo- 
rable example.  When  the  allied  ministers  retired  from  Madrid, 
and  refused  to  accompany  Ferdinand  to  Cadiz,  ours  remained,  and 
we  sent  out  a  new  minister,  who  sought  at  that  port  to  present 
himself  to  the  constitutional  king.  Why  ?  Because  it  was  the 
government  of  Spain,  in  fact.  Did  the  allies  declare  war  against 
us  for  the  exercise  of  this  incontestable  attribute  of  sovereignty  ? 
Did  they  even  transmit  any  diplomatic  note,  complaining  of  our 
conduct  ?  The  line  of  our  European  policy  has  been  so  plainly 
described,  that  it  is  impossible  to  mistake  it.  We  are  to  abstain 
from  all  interference  in  their  disputes,  to  take  no  part  in  their 
contests,  to  make  no  entangling  alliances  with  any  of  them  ;  but  to 
assert  and  exercise  our  indisputable  right  of  opening  and  main- 
taining diplomatic  intercourse  with  any  actual  sovereignty. 

There  is  reason  to  apprehend,  that  a  tremendous  storm  is  ready 
to  burst  upon  our  happy  country ;  one  which  may  call  into  action 

•  The  resolution,  offered  by  Mr.  Clay,  declaring  that  the  United  States  would  not 
see  with  indifference  any  interference  of  the  holy  alliance  in  behalf  of  Spain  against 
the  new  American  republics. 


436  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

all  our  vigor,  courage,  and  resources.  Is  it  wise  or  prudent,  in 
preparing  to  breast  the  storm,  if  it  must  come,  to  talk  to  this  nation 
of  its  incompetency  to  repel  European  aggression ;  to  lower  its 
spirit,  to  weaken  its  moral  energy,  and  to  qualify  it  for  easy  con- 
quest and  base  submission  ?  If  there  be  any  reality  in  the  dangers 
which  are  supposed  to  encompass  us,  should  we  not  animate  the 
people,  and  adjure  them  to  believe,  as  I  do,  that  our  resources  are 
ample ;  and  that  we  can  bring  into  the  field  a  million  of  freemen, 
ready  to  exhaust  their  last  drop  of  blood,  and  to  spend  the  last 
cent  in  the  defence  of  the  country,  its  liberty,  and  its  institutions? 
Sir,  are  these,  if  united,  to  be  conquered  by  all  Europe  combined  ? 
All  the  perils  to  which  we  can  possibly  be  exposed,  are  much  less 
in  reality,  than  the  imagination  is  disposed  to  paint  them.  And 
they  are  best  averted  by  an  habitual  contemplation  of  them,  by 
reducing  them  to  their  true  dimensions.  If  combined  Europe  is 
to  precipitate  itself  upon  us,  we  cannot  too  soon  begin  to  invigo- 
rate our  strength,  to  teach  our  heads  to  think,  our  hearts  to  conceive, 
and  our  arms  to  execute,  the  high  and  noble  deeds  which  belong 
to  the  character  and  glory  of  our  country.  The  experience  of  the 
world  instructs  us,  that  conquests  are  already  achieved,  which  are 
boldly  and  firmly  resolved  on  ;  and  that  men  only  become  slaves 
who  have  ceased  to  resolve  to  be  free.  If  we  wish  to  cover 
ourselves  with  the  best  of  all  armor,  let  us  not  discourage  our 
people,  let  us  stimulate  their  ardor,  let  us  sustain  their  resolution, 
let  us  proclaim  to  them  that  we  feel  as  they  feel,  and  that,  with 
them,  we  are  determined  to  live  or  die  like  freemen. 

Surely,  sir,  we  need  no  long  or  learned  lectures  about  the  nature 
of  government,  and  the  influence  of  property  or  ranks  on  society. 
We  may  content  ourselves  with  studying  the  true  character  of  our 
own  people  ;  and  with  knowing  that  the  interests  are  confided  to 
us  of  a  nation  capable  of  doing  and  suffering  all  things  for  its 
liberty.  Such  a  nation,  if  its  rulers  be  faithful,  must  be  invincible. 
I  well  remember  an  observation  made  to  me  by  the  most  illustrious 
female*  of  the  age,  if  not  of  her  sex.  All  history  showed,  she 
said,  that  a  nation  was  never  conquered.  No,  sir,  no  united 
nation,  that  resolves  to  be  free,  can  be  conquered.  And  has  it  come 
to  this  ?  Are  we  so  humbled,  so  low,  so  debased,  that  we  dare  not 
express  our  sympathy  for  suffering  Greece  ;  that  we  dare  not  articu- 
late our  detestation  of  the  brutal  excesses  of  which  she  has  been 
the  bleeding  victim,  lest  we  might  offend  some  one  or  more  of 
their  imperial  and  royal  majesties?  If  gentlemen  are  afraid  to  act 
rashly  on  such  a  subject,  suppose,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  we  unite  in 
an  humble  petition,  addressed  to  their  majesties,  beseeching  them, 
that  of  their  gracious  condescension,  they  would  allow  us  to  express 
our  feelings  and  our   sympathies.     How  shall  it  run  ?     '  We,  the 

*  Madame  de  Stael. 


ON     THE     GREEK     REVOLUTION.  437 

representatives  of  the  free  people  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
humbly  approach  the  thrones  of  your  imperial  and  royal  majesties, 
and  supplicate  that,  of  your  imperial  and  royal  clemency  — '  I 
cannot  go  through  the  disgusting  recital ;  my  lips  have  not  yet 
learned  Ao  pronounce  the  sycophantic  language  of  a  degraded 
slave  !  IK^re  we  so  mean,  so  base,  so  despicable,  that  we  may  not 
attempt  to  express  our  horror,  utter  our  indignation,  at  the  most 
brutal  and  atrocious  war  that  ever  stained  earth  or  shocked  high 
heaven  ?  at  the  ferocious  deeds  of  a  savage  and  infuriated  soldiery, 
stimulated  and  urged  on  by  the  clergy  of  a  fanatical  and  inimical 
religion,  and  rioting  in  all  the  excesses  of  blood  and  butchery,  at 
the  mere  details  of  which  the  heart  sickens  and  recoils  ? 

If  the  great  body  of  Christendom  can  look  on  calmly  and  coolly, 
whilst  all  this  is  perpetrated  on  a  christian  people,  in  its  own 
immediate  vicinity,  in  its  very  presence,  let  us  at  least  evince,  that 
one  of  its  remote  extremities  is  susceptible  of  sensibility  tO/6hristian 
wrongs,  and  capable  of  sympathy  for  christian  suffering/;  that,  in 
thuL-X££»ote  quarter  of  the  world,  there  are  hearts  not  yet  closed 
against  compassion  for  human  woes,  that  can  pour  out  their 
indignant  feelings  at  the  oppression  of  a  people  endeared  to  us  by 
every  ancient  recollection,  and  every  modern  tie.  Sir,  attempts 
have  been  made  to  alarm  the  committee,  by  the  dangers  to  our 
commerce  in  the  Mediterranean ;  and  a  wretched  invoice  of  figs 
and  opium  has  been  spread  before  us  to  repress  our  sensibilities 
and  to  eradicate  our  humanity.  Ah!  sir, 'what  shall  it  profit  a 
man  if  he  gain  the  whole  world  and  lose  his  own  soul,'  or  what 
shall  it  avail  a  nation  to  save  the  whole  of  a  miserable  trade,  and 
lose  its  libertiej^^ 

On  the  subject  of  the  other  independent  American  states,  hitherto 
it  has  not  been  necessary  to  depart  from  the  rule  of  our  foreign 
relations,  observed  in  regard  to  Europe.  Whether  it  will  become 
us  to  do  so  or  not,  will  be  considered  when  we  take  up  another 
resolution,  lying  on  the  table.  But  we  may  not  only  adopt  this 
measure ;  we  may  go  further ;  we  may  recognise  the  government 
in  the  Morea,  if  actually  independent,  and  it  will  be  neither  war, 
nor  cause  of  war,  nor  any  violation  of  our  neutrality.  Besides, 
sir,  what  is  Greece  to  the  allies  ?  A  part  of  the  dominions  of  any 
of  them  ?  By  no  means.  Suppose  the  people  in  one  of  the 
Philippine  isles,  or  any  other  spot  still  more  insulated  and  remote, 
in  Asia  or  Africa,  were  to  resist  their  former  rulers,  and  set  up  and 
establish  a  new  government,  are  we  not  to  recognise  them,  in  dread 
of  the  holy  allies  ?  If  they  are  going  to  interfere,  from  the  danger  of 
the  contagion  of  the  example,  here  is  the  spot,  our  own  favored 
land,  where  they  must  strike.  This  government,  you,  Mr.  Chair- 
man, and  the  body  over  which  you  preside,  are  the  living  and 
cutting  reproach  to  allied  despotism.  If  we  are  to  offend  them,  it 
is  not  by  passing  this  resolution.     We  are  daily  and  hourly  giving 


438  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

them  cause  of  war.  It  is  here,  and  in  our  free  institutions,  that 
they  will  assail  us.  They  will  attack  us  because  you  sit  beneath 
that  canopy,  and  we  are  freely  debating  and  deliberating  upon  the 
great  interests  of  freemen,  and  dispensing  the  blessings  of  free 
government.  They  will  strike,  because  we  pass  one  of  those  bills 
on  your  table.  The  passage  of  the  least  of  them,  by  our  free 
authority,  is  more  galling  to  despotic  powers,  than  would  be  the 
adoption  of  this  so  much  dreaded  resolution.  Pass  it,  and  what 
do  you  do  ?  You  exercise  an  indisputable  attribute  of  sovereignty, 
for  which  you  are  responsible  to  none  of  them.  You  do  the  same 
when  you  perform  any  other  legislative  function ;  no  less.  If  the 
allies  object  to  this  measure,  let  them  forbid  us  to  take  a  vote  in  this 
house ;  let  them  strip  us  of  every  attribute  of  independent  govern- 
ment ;  let  them  disperse  us. 

Will  gentlemen  attempt  to  maintain  that,  on  the  principles  of 
the  law  of  nations,  those  allies  would  have  cause  of  war  ?  If 
there  be  any  principle  which  has  been  settled  for  ages,  any  which 
is  founded  in  the  very  nature  of  things,  it  is  that  every  independent 
state  has  the  clear  right  to  judge  of  the  fact  of  the  existence  of 
other  sovereign  powers.  I  admit  that  there  may  be  a  state  of 
inchoate  initiative  sovereignty,  in  which  a  new  government,  just 
struggling  into  being,  cannot  be  said  yet  perfectly  to  exist.  But  the 
premature  recognition  of  such  new  government  can  give  offence 
justly  to  no  other  than  its  ancient  sovereign.  The  right  of  recogni- 
tion comprehends  the  right  to  be  informed ;  and  the  means  of 
information  must,  of  necessity,  depend  upon  the  sound  discretion 
of  the  party  seeking  it.  You  may  send  out  a  commission  of 
inquiry,  and  charge  it  with  a  provident  attention  to  your  own  people 
and  your  own  interests.  Such  will  be  the  character  of  the  proposed 
agency.  It  will  not  necessarily  follow,  that  any  public  functionary 
will  be  appointed  by  the  president.  You  merely  grant  the  means  by 
which  the  executive  may  act  when  he  thinks  proper.  What  does 
he  tell  you  in  his  message  ?  That  Greece  is  contending  for  her 
independence;  that  all  sympathize  with  her;  and  that  no  power 
has  declared  against  her.  Pass  this  resolution,  and  what  is  the 
reply  which  it  conveys  to  him  ?  '  You  have  sent  us  grateful 
intelligence  ;  we  feel  warmly  for  Greece,  and  we  grant  you  money, 
that,  when  you  shall  think  it  proper,  when  the  interests  of  this 
nation  shall  not  be  jeoparded,  you  may  depute  a  commissioner  or 
public  agent  to  Greece.'  The  whole  responsibility  is  then  left 
where  the  constitution  puts  it.  A  member  in  his  place  may  make 
a  speech  or  proposition,  the  house  may  even  pass  a  vote,  in  respect 
to  our  foreign  affairs,  which  the  president,  with  the  whole  field  lying 
full  before  him,  would  not  deem  it  expedient  to  effectuate. 

But,  sir,  it  is  not  for  Greece  alone  that  I  desire  to  see  this  measure 
adopted.  It  will  give  to  her  but  little  support,  and  that  purely  of 
a  moral  kind.     It  is  principally  for  America,  for  the  credit  and 


ON     THE     GREEK     REVOLUTION.  439 

character  of  our  common  country,  for  our  own  unsullied  name,  that 
I  hope  to  see  it  pass.  Mr.  Chairman,  what  appearance  on  the 
page  of  history  would  a  record  like  this  exhibit  ?  '  In  the  month 
of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour,  1824,  while  all 
European  Christendom  beheld,  with  cold  and  unfeeling  indifference, 
the  unexampled  wrongs  and  inexpressible  misery  of  christian 
Greece,  a  proposition  was  made  in  the  congress  of  the  United 
States,  almost  the  sole,  the  last,  the  greatest  depository  of  human 
hope  and  human  freedom,  the  representatives  of  a  gallant  nation, 
containing  a  million  of  freemen  ready  to  fly  to  arms,  while  the 
people  of  that  nation  were  spontaneously  expressing  its  deep-toned 
feeling,  and  the  whole  continent,  by  one  simultaneous  emotion, 
was  rising,  and  solemnly  and  anxiously  supplicating  and  invoking 
high  heaven  to  spare  and  succor  Greece,  and  to  invigorate  her 
arms  in  her  glorious  cause,  whilst  temples  and  senate  houses  were 
alike  resounding  with  one  burst  of  generous  and  holy  sympathy ; 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour,  that  Saviour  of  Greece  and 
of  us ;  a  proposition  was  offered  in  the  American  congress  to  send  a 
messenger  to  Greece,  to  inquire  into  her  state  and  condition,  with 
a  kind  expression  of  our  good  wishes  and  our  sympathies  —  and 
it  was  rejected !'  Go  home,  if  you  can ;  go  home,  if  you  dare,  to 
your  constituents,  and  tell  them  that  you  voted  it  down ;  meet,  if 
you  can,  the  appalling  countenances  of  those  who  sent  you  here, 
and  tell  them  that  you  shrank  from  the  declaration  of  your  own 
sentiments;  that  you  cannot  tell  how,  but  that  some  unknown 
dread,  some  indescribable  apprehension,  some  indefinable  danger, 
drove  you  from  your  purpose ;  that  the  spectres  of  cimiters,  and 
crowns,  and  crescents,  gleamed  before  you  and  alarmed  you ;  and 
that  you  suppressed  all  the  noble  feelings  prompted  by  religion, 
by  liberty,  by  national  independence,  and  by  humanity.  I  cannot 
bring  myself  to  believe,  that  such  will  be  the  feeling  of  a  majority 
of  the  committee.  But,  for  myself,  though  every  friend  of  the 
cause  should  desert  it,  and  I  be  left  to  stand  alone  with  the  gentle- 
man from  Massachusetts,  I  will  give  to  his  resolution  the  poor 
sanction  of  my  unqualified  approbation. 


ON  AMERICAN  INDUSTRY. 

IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  MARCH  30  and  31,  1824. 


[The  tariff  of  1S24,  as  it  passed  both  houses  of  congress  and  became  a  law,  was 
avowedly  adopted  as  a  measure  to  protect  American  industry.  The  bill  was  reported 
by  the  committee  on  manufactures,  of  which  Mr  Tod  of  Pennsylvania  was  chair- 
man. While  under  discussion  in  committee  of  the  whole,  Mr.  Clay  (speaker)  made 
the  following  elaborate  argument  in  support  of  an  American  system  for  the  protec- 
tion of  American  industry.  On  this  occasion  he  met  and  replied  to  the  ablest 
opponents  of  the  system,  which  at  that  time  included  Mr.  Webster.  The  latter 
subsequently  changed  his  opinion  and  became  a  supporter  of  protection.] 


The  gentleman  from  Virginia  (Mr.  Barbour)  has  embraced  the 
occasion  produced  by  the  proposition  of  the  gentleman  from 
Tennessee  to  strike  out  the  minimum  price  in  the  bill  on  cotton 
fabrics,  to  express  his  sentiments  at  large  on  the  policy  of  the 
pending  measure ;  and  it  is  scarcely  necessary  for  me  to  say  that 
he  has  evinced  his  usual  good  temper,  ability,  and  decorum.  The 
parts  of  the  bill  are  so  intermingled  and  interwoven  together,  that 
there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  fitness  of  this  occasion  to  exhibit  its 
merits  or  its  defects.  It  is  my  intention,  with  the  permission  of  the 
committee,  to  avail  myself  also  of  this  opportunity,  to  present  to 
its  consideration  those  general  views,  as  they  appear  to  me,  of  the 
true  policy  of  this  country,  which  imperiously  demand  the  passage 
of  this  bill.  I  am  deeply  sensible,  Mr.  Chairman,  of  the  high 
responsibility  of  my  present  situation^  But  that  responsibility 
inspires  me  with  no  other  apprehension  than  that  I  shall  be  unable 
to  fulfil  my  duty ;  with  no  other  solicitude  than  that  I  may,  at  least, 
in  some  small  degree,  contribute  to  recall  my  country  from  the 
pursuit  of  a  fatal  policy,  which  appears  to  me  inevitably  to  lead  to 
its  impoverishment  and  ruin.  I  do  feel  most  awfully  this  responsi- 
bility. And,  if  it  were  allowable  for  us,  at  the  present  day,  to 
imitate  ancient  examples,  I  would  invoke  the  aid  of  the  Most 
High.  I  would  anxiously  and  fervently  implore  His  divine  assist- 
ance ;  that  He  would  be  graciously  pleased  to  shower  on  my 
country  His  richest  blessings ;  and  that  He  would  sustain,  on  this 
interesting  occasion,  the  humble  individual  who  stands  before  Him, 
and  lend  him  the  power,  moral  and  physical,  to  perform  the  solemn 
duties  which  now  belong  to  his  public  station. 


ON     AMERICAN     INDUSTRY.  441 

Two  classes  of  politicians  divide  the  people  of  the  United 
States.  According  to  the  system  of  one,  the  produce  of  foreign 
industry  should  be  subjected  to  no  other  impost  than  such  as  may 
be  necessary  to  provide  a  public  revenue ;  and  the  produce  of 
American  industry  should  be  left  to  sustain  itself,  if  it  can,  with  no 
other  than  that  incidental  protection,  in  its  competition,  at  home  as 
well  as  abroad,  with  rival  foreign  articles.  According  to  the  system 
of  the  other  class,  whilst  they  agree  that  the  imposts  should  be 
mainly,  and  may  under  any  modification  be  safely,  relied  on  as  a 
fit  and  convenient  source  of  public  revenue,  they  would  so  adjust 
and  arrange  the  duties  on  foreign  fabrics  as  to  afford  a  gradual  but 
adequate  protection  to  American  industry,  and  lessen  our  depend- 
ence on  foreign  nations,  by  securing  a  certain  and  ultimately  a 
cheaper  and  better  supply  of  our  own  wants  from  our  own 
abundant  resources.  Both  classes  are  equally  sincere  in  their 
respective  opinions,  equally  honest,  equally  patriotic,  and  desirous 
of  advancing  the  prosperity  of  the  country.  In  the  discussion  and 
consideration  of  these  opposite  opinions,  for  the  purpose  of 
ascertaining  which  has  the  support  of  truth  and  reason,  we  should, 
therefore,  exercise  every  indulgence,  and  the  greatest  spirit  of  mutual 
moderation  and  forbearance.  And,  in  our  deliberations  on  this 
great  question,  we  should  look  fearlessly  and  truly  at  the  actual 
condition  of  the  country,  retrace  the  causes  which  have  brought  us 
into  it,  and  snatch,  if  possible,  a  view  of  the  future.  We  should, 
above  all,  consult  experience  —  the  experience  of  other  nations,  as 
well  as  our  own  —  as  our  truest  and  most  unerring  guide. 

In  casting  our  eyes  around  us,  the  most  prominent  circumstance 
which  fixes  our  attention,  and  challenges  our  deepest  regret,  is  the 
general  distress  which  pervades  the  whole  country.  It  is  forced 
upon  us  by  numerous  facts  of  the  most  incontestable  character.  It 
is  indicated  by  the  diminished  exports  of  native  produce ;  by  the 
depressed  and  reduced  state  of  our  foreign  navigation ;  by  our 
diminished  commerce ;  by  successive  unthrashed  crops  of  grain, 
perishing  in  our  barns  and  barn-yards  for  the  want  of  a  market ; 
by  the  alarming  diminution  of  the  circulating  medium ;  by  the 
numerous  bankruptcies,  not  limited  to  the  trading  classes,  but 
extending  to  all  orders  of  society ;  by  a  universal  complaint  of  the 
want  of  employment,  and  a  consequent  reduction  of  the  wages  of 
labor ;  by  the  ravenous  pursuit  after  public  situations,  not  for  the 
sake  of  their  honors  and  the  performance  of  their  public  duties,  but 
as  a  means  of  private  subsistence ;  by  the  reluctant  resort  to  the 
perilous  use  of  paper  money ;  by  the  intervention  of  legislation  in 
the  delicate  relation  between  debtor  and  creditor ;  and,  above  all, 
by  the  low  and  depressed  state  of  the  value  of  almost  every 
description  of  the  whole  mass  of  the  property  of  the  nation,  which 
has,  on  an  average,  sunk  not  less  than  about  fifty  per  centum  within 
a  few  years.  This  distress  pervades  every  part  of  the  union,  every 
vol.  i  56 


442  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

class  of  society  ;  all  feel  it,  though  it  may  be  felt,  at  different  places, 
in  different  degrees.  It  is  like  the  atmosphere  which  surrounds 
us  —  all  must  inhale  it,  and  none  can  escape  it.  In  some  places  it 
has  burst  upon  our  people,  without  a  single  mitigating  circumstance 
to  temper  its  severity.  In  others,  more  fortunate,  slight  alleviations 
have  been  experienced  in  the  expenditure  of  the  public  revenue, 
and  in  other  favoring  causes.  A  few  years  ago,  the  planting 
interest  consoled  itself  with  its  happy  exemptions,  but  it  has  now 
reached  this  interest  also,  which  experiences,  though  with  less 
severity,  the  general  suffering.  It  is  most  painful  to  me  to  attempt 
to  sketch  or  to  dwell  on  the  gloom  of  this  picture.  But  I  have 
exaggerated  nothing.  Perfect  fidelity  to  the  original  would  have 
authorized  me  to  have  thrown  on  deeper  and  darker  hues.  And  it 
is  the  duty  of  the  statesman,  no  less  than  that  of  the  physician,  to 
survey,  with  a  penetrating,  steady,  and  undismayed  eye,  the  actual 
condition  of  the  subject  on  which  he  would  operate ;  to  probe  to 
the  bottom  the  diseases  of  the  body  politic,  if  he  would  apply 
efficacious  remedies.  We  have  not,  thank  God,  suffered  in  any 
great  degree  for  food.  But  distress,  resulting  from  the  absence  of  a 
supply  of  the  mere  physical  wants  of  our  nature,  is  not  the  only 
nor  perhaps  the  keenest  distress,  to  which  we  may  be  exposed. 
Moral  and  pecuniary  suffering  is,  if  possible,  more  poignant.  It 
plunges  its  victim  into  hopeless  despair.  It  poisons,  it  paralyses, 
the  spring  and  source  of  all  useful  exertion.  Its  unsparing  action 
is  collateral  as  well  as  direct.  It  falls  with  inexorable  force  at  the 
same  time  upon  the  wretched  family  of  embarrassment  and  insol- 
vency, and  upon  its  head.  They  are  a  faithful  mirror,  reflecting 
back  upon  him,  at  once,  his  own  frightful  image,  and  that,  no  less 
appalling,  of  the  dearest  objects  of  his  affection.  What  is  the 
cause  of  this  wide-spreading  distress,  of  this  deep  depression, 
which  we  behold  stamped  on  the  public  countenance  ?  We  are 
the  same  people.  We  have  the  same  country.  We  cannot  arraign 
the  bounty  of  Providence.  The  showers  still  fall  in  the  same 
grateful  abundance.  The  sun  still  casts  his  genial  and  vivifying 
influence  upon  the  land ;  and  the  land,  fertile  and  diversified  in  its 
soils  as  ever,  yields  to  the  industrious  cultivator,  in  boundless 
profusion,  its  accustomed  fruits,  its  richest  treasures.  Our  vigor  is 
unimpaired.  Our  industry  has  not  relaxed.  If  ever  the  accusa- 
tion of  wasteful  extravagance  could  be  made  against  our  people,  it 
cannot  now  be  justly  preferred.  They,  on  the  contrary,  for  the  few 
last  years,  at  least,  have  been  practicing  the  most  rigid  economy. 
The  causes,  then,  of  our  present  affliction,  whatever  they  may  be, 
are  human  causes,  and  human  causes  not  chargeable  upon  the 
people,  in  their  private  and  individual  relations. 

What,  again  I  would  ask,  is  the  cause  of  the  unhappy  condition 
of  our  country,  which  I  have  faintly  depicted?  It  is  to  be  found 
in  the  fact  that,  during  almost  the  whole  existence  of  this  govern- 


ON     AMERICAN     INDUSTRY.  443 

ment,  \ge  have  shaped  our  industry,  our  navigation,  and  our 
commerce,  in  reference  to  an  extraordinary  war  in  Europe,  and  to 
foreign  markets,  which  no  longer  exist;  in  the  fact,  that  we  have 
depended  too  much  upon  foreign  sources  of  supply,  and  excited 
too  little  the  native ;  in  the  fact  that,  whilst  we  have  cultivated, 
with  assiduous  care,  our  foreign  resources,  we  have  suffered  those 
at  home  to  wither,  in  a  state  of  neglect  and  abandonment.  The 
consequence  of  the  termination  of  the  war  of  Europe  has  been, 
the  resumption  of  European  commerce,  European  navigation,  and 
the  extension  of  European  agriculture  and  European  industry,  in 
all  its  branches.  Europe,  therefore,  has  no  longer  occasion,  to  any 
thing  like  the  same  extent  as  that  she  had  during  her  wars,  for 
American  commerce,  American  navigation,  the  produce  of  Amer- 
ican industry.  Europe,  in  commotion,  and  convulsed  throughout 
all  her  members,  is  to  America  no  longer  the  same  Europe  as  she 
is  now,  tranquil,  and  watching  with  the  most  vigilant  attention  all 
her  own  peculiar  interests,  without  regard  to  the  operation  of  her 
policy  upon  us.  The  effect  of  this  altered  state  of  Europe  upon 
us  has  been,  to  circumscribe  the  employment  of  our  marine,  and 
greatly  to  reduce  the  value  of  the  produce  of  our  territorial  labor. 
The  farther  effect  of  this  twofold  reduction  has  been,  to  decrease 
the  value  of  all  property,  whether  on  the  land  or  on  the  ocean,  and 
which  I  suppose  to  be  about  fifty  per  centum.  And  the  still 
further  effect  has  been,  to  diminish  the  amount  of  our  circulating 
medium,  in  a  proportion  not  less,  by  its  transmission  abroad,  or  its 
withdrawal  by  the  banking  institutions,  from  a  necessity  which 
they  could  not  control.  The  quantity  of  money,  in  whatever  form 
it  may  be,  which  a  nation  wants,  is  in  proportion  to  the  total  mass 
of  its  wealth,  and  to  the  activity  of  that  wealth.  A  nation  that  has 
but  little  wealth,  has  but  a  limited  want  of  money.  In  stating  the 
fact,  therefore,  that  the  total  wealth  of  the  country  has  diminished, 
within  a  few  years,  in  a  ratio  of  about  fifty  per  centum,  we  shall, 
at  once,  fully  comprehend  the  inevitable  reduction  which  must 
have  ensued,  in  the  total  quantity  of  the  circulating  medium  of  the 
country.  A  nation  is  most  prosperous  when  there  is  a  gradual 
and  untempting  addition  to  the  aggregate  of  its  circulating  medium. 
It  is  in  a  condition  the  most  adverse,  when  there  is  a  rapid  diminu- 
tion in  the  quantity  of  the  circulating  medium,  and  a  consequent 
depression  in  the  value  of  property.  In  the  former  case,  the  wealth 
of  individuals  insensibly  increases,  and  income  keeps  ahead  of 
expenditure.  But  in  the  latter  instance,  debts  have  been  contracted, 
engagements  made,  and  habits  of  expense  established,  in  reference 
to  the  existing  state  of  wealth  and  of  its  representative.  When 
these  come  to  be  greatly  reduced,  individuals  find  their  debts  still 
existing,  their  engagements  unexecuted,  and  their  habits  inveterate. 
They  see  themselves  in  the  possession  of  the  same  property,  on 
which,  in  good  faith,  they  had  bound  themselves.     But  that  prop- 


444  SPEECHES    OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

erty,  without  their  fault,  possesses  no  longer  the  same  value  ;  and 
hence  discontent,  impoverishment,  and  ruin,  arise.  Let  us  suppose, 
Mr.  Chairman,  that  Europe  was  again  the  theatre  of  such  a 
general  war  as  recently  raged  throughout  all  her  dominions  —  such 
a  state  of  the  war  as  existed  in  her  greatest  exertions  and  in  our 
greatest  prosperity ;  instantly  there  would  arise  a  greedy  demand 
for  the  surplus  produce  of  our  industry,  for  our  commerce,  for  our 
navigation.  The  languor  which  now  prevails  in  our  cities,  and  in 
our  sea-ports,  would  give  way  to  an  animated  activity.  Our  roads 
and  rivers  would  be  crowded  with  the  produce  of  the  interior. 
Every  where  we  should  witness  excited  industry.  The  precious 
metals  would  reflow  from  abroad  upon  us.  Banks,  which  have 
maintained  their  credit,  would  revive  their  business;  and  new 
banks  would  be  established  to  take  the  place  of  those  which  have 
sunk  beneath  the  general  pressure.  For  it  is  a  mistake  to  suppose 
that  they  have  produced  our  present  adversity ;  they  may  have 
somewhat  aggravated  it,  but  they  were  the  effect  and  the  evidence 
of  our  prosperity.  Prices  would  again  get  up ;  the  former  value 
of  property  would  be  restored.  And  those  embarrassed  persons 
who  have  not  been  already  overwhelmed  by  the  times,  would 
suddenly  find,  in  the  augmented  value  of  their  property,  and  the 
renewal  of  their  business,  ample  means  to  extricate  themselves 
from  all  their  difficulties.  The  greatest  want  of  civilized  society 
is,  a  market  for  the  sale  and  exchange  of  the  surplus  of  the  produce 
of  the  labor  of  its  members.  This  market  may  exist  at  home  or 
abroad,  or  both ;  but  it  must  exist  somewhere,  if  society  prospers ; 
and,  wherever  it  does  exist,  it  should  be  competent  to  the  absorption 
of  the  entire  surplus  of  production.  It  is  most  desirable  that  there 
should  be  both  a  home  and  a  foreign  market.  But,  with  respect 
to  their  relative  superiority,  I  cannot  entertain  a  doubfcX^ The  home 
market  is  first  in  order,  and  paramount  in  importance.X  The 
object  of  the  bill  under  consideration,  is,  to  create  this  home  market, 
and  to  lay  the  foundations  of  a  genuine  American  policy.  It  is 
opposed ;  and  it  is  incumbent  upon  the  partizans  of  the  foreign 
policy  (terms  which  I  shall  use  without  any  invidious  intent),  to 
demonstrate  that  the  foreign  market  is  an  adequate  vent  for  the 
surplus  produce  of  our  labor.  But  is  it  so  ?  First,  foreign  nations 
cannot,  if  they  would,  take  our  surplus  produce.  If  the  source  of 
supply,  no  matter  of  what,  increases  in  a  greater  ratio  than  the 
demand  for  that  supply,  a  glut  of  the  market  is  inevitable,  even  if 
we  suppose  both  to  remain  perfectly  unobstructed.  The  duplication 
of  our  population  takes  place  in  terms  of  about  twenty-five  years. 
The  term  will  be  more  and  more  extended  as  our  numbers  multi- 
ply. But  it  will  be  a  sufficient  approximation  to  assume  this  ratio 
for  the  present.  We  increase,  therefore,  in  population,  at  the  rate 
of  about  four  per  centum  per  annum.  Supposing  the  increase  of 
our  production  to  be  in  the  same  ratio,  we  should,  every  succeeding 


ON     AMERICAN     INDUSTRY.  445 

year,  have  of  surplus  produce,  four  per  centum  more  than  that  of 
the  preceding  year,  without  taking  into  the  account  the  differences 
of  seasons  which  neutralize  each  other.  If,  therefore,  we  are  to 
rely  upon  the  foreign  market  exclusively,  foreign  consumption 
ought  to  be  shown  to  be  increasing  in  the  same  ratio  of  four  per 
centum  per  annum,  if  it  be  an  adequate  vent  for  our  surplus 
produce.  But,  as  I  have  supposed  the  measure  of  our  increasing 
production  to  be  furnished  by  that  of  our  increasing  population, 
so  the  measure  of  their  power  of  consumption  must  be  determined 
by  that  of  the  increase  of  their  population.  Now,  the  total  foreign 
population,  who  consume  our  surplus  produce,  upon  an  average, 
do  not  double  their  aggregate  number  in  a  shorter  term  than  that 
of  about  one  hundred  years.  Our  powers  of  production  increase 
then,  in  a  ratio  four  times  greater  than  their  powers  of  consump- 
tion. And  hence  their  utter  inability  to  receive  from  us  our  surplus 
produce. 

But,  secondly,  if  they  could,  they  will  not.  The  policy  of  all 
Europe  is  adverse  to  the  reception  of  our  agricultural  produce,  so 
far  as  it  comes  into  collision  with  its  own  ;  and  under  that  limita- 
tion we  are  absolutely  forbid  to  enter  their  ports,  except  under 
circumstances  which  deprive  them  of  all  value  as  a  steady  market. 
The  policy  of  all  Europe  rejects  those  great  staples  of  our  country, 
which  consist  of  objects  of  human  subsistence.  The  policy  of  all 
Europe  refuses  to  receive  from  us  any  thing  but  those  raw  materials 
of  smaller  value,  essential  to  their  manufactures,  to  which  they  can 
give  a  higher  value,  with  the  exception  of  tobacco  and  rice,  which 
they  cannot  produce.  Even  Great  Britain,  to  which  we  are  its 
best  customer,  and  from  which  we  receive  nearly  one  half  in  value 
of  our  whole  imports,  will  not  take  from  us  articles  of  subsistence 
produced  in  our  country  cheaper  than  can  be  produced  in  Great 
Britain^s  In  adopting  this  exclusive  policy,  the  states  of  Europe 
do  not  inquire  what  is  best  for  us,  but  what  suits  themselves 
respectively  ;)they  do  not  take  jurisdiction  of  the  question  of  our 
interests,  but  limit  the  object  of  their  legislation  to  that  of  the 
conservation  of  their  own  peculiar  interests,  leaving  us  free  to 
prosecute  ours  as  we  please.  They  do  not  guide  themselves  by 
that  romantic  philanthropy,  which  we  see  displayed  here,  and 
which  invokes  us  to  continue  to  purchase  the  produce  of  foreign 
industry,  without  regard  to  the  state  or  prosperity  of  our  own,  that 
foreigners  may  be  pleased  to  purchase  the  few  remaining  articles 
of  ours,  which  their  restricted  policy  has  not  yet  absolutely  excluded 
from  their  consumption.  What  sort  of  a  figure  would  a  member 
of  the  British  parliament  have  made,  what  sort  of  a  reception 
would  his  opposition  have  obtained,  if  he  had  remonstrated  against 
the  passage  of  the  corn-law,  by  which  British  consumption  is 
limited  to  the  bread-stuffs  of  British  production,  to  the  entire 
exclusion  of  American,  and   stated,  that  America  could  not  and 


446  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

would   not  buy   British   manufactures,   if   Britain   did   not    buy 
American  flour  ? 

Both  the  inability  and  the  policy  of  foreign  powers,  then,  forbid 
us  to  rely  upon  the  foreign  market,  as  being  an  adequate  vent  for 
the  surplus  produce  of  American  labor.  Now  let  us  see  if  this 
general  reasoning  is  not  fortified  and  confirmed  by  the  actual 
experience  of  this  country.  If  the  foreign  market  may  be  safely 
relied  upon,  as  furnishing  an  adequate  demand  for  our  surplus 
produce,  then  the  official  documents  will  show  a  progressive 
increase,  from  year  to  year,  in  the  exports  of  our  native  produce,  in 
a  proportion  equal  to  that  which  I  have  suggested.  If,  on  the 
contrary,  we  shall  find  from  them  that,  for  a  long  term  of  past  years, 
some  of  our  most  valuable  staples  have  retrograded,  some  remained 
stationary,  and  others  advanced  but  little,  if  any,  in  amount,  with 
the  exception  of  cotton,  the  deductions  of  reason  and  the  lessons 
of  experience  will  alike  command  us  to  withdraw  our  confidence 
in  the  competency  of  the  foreign  market.  The  total  amount  of  all 
our  exports  of  domestic  produce  for  the  year,  beginning  in  1795,  and 
ending  on  the  thirtieth  September,  1796,  was  forty  millions  seven 
hundred  and  sixty-four  thousand  and  ninety-seven.  Estimating 
the  increase  according  to  the  ratio  of  the  increase  of  our  popula- 
tion, that  is,  at  four  per  centum  per  annum,  the  amount  of  the 
exports  of  the  same  produce,  in  the  year  ending  on  the  thirtieth 
of  September  last,  ought  to  have  been  eighty-five  millions  four 
hundred  and  twenty  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-one.  It 
was  in  fact,  only  forty-seven  millions  one  hundred  and  fifty-five 
thousand  four  hundred  and  eight.  Taking  the  average  of  five 
years,  from  1803  to  1807,  inclusive,  the  amount  of  native  produce 
exported,  was  forty-three  millions  two  hundred  and  two  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  fifty-one  for  each  of  those  years.  Estimating 
what  it  ought  to  have  been,  during  the  last  year,  applying  the 
principle  suggested  to  that  amount,  there  should  have  been  exported 
seventy-seven  millions  seven  hundred  and  sixty-six  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  fifty-one,  instead  of  forty-seven  millions  one  hundred 
and  fifty-five  thousand  four  hundred  and  eight.  If  these  compara- 
tive amounts  of  the  aggregate  actual  exports,  and  what  they  ought 
to  have  been,  be  discouraging,  we  shall  find,  on  descending  into 
particulars,  still  less  cause  of  satisfaction.  The  export  of  tobacco 
in  1791,  was  one  hundred  and  twelve  thousand  four  hundred  and 
twenty-eight  hogsheads.  That  was  the  year  of  the  largest  exporta- 
tion of  that  article ;  but  it  is  the  only  instance  in  which  I  have 
selected  the  maximum  of  exportation.  The  amount  of  what  we 
ought  to  have  exported  last  year,  estimated  according  to  the  scale 
of  increase  which  I  have  used,  is  two  hundred  and  sixty-six 
thousand  three  hundred  and  thirty-two  hogsheads.  The  actual 
export  was  ninety-nine  thousand  and  nine  hogsheads.  We 
exported,  in  1803,  the  quantity  of  one  million  three  hundred  and 


ON     AMERICAN     INDUSTRY.  447 

eleven  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty-three  barrels  of  flour; 
and  ought  to  have  exported  last  year,  two  millions  three  hundred 
and  sixty-one  thousand  three  hundred  and  thirty-three  barrels. 
We,  in  fact,  exported  only  seven  hundred  and  fifty-six  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  two  barrels.  Of  that  quantity,  we  sent  to  South 
America  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  barrels,  according  to  a 
statement  furnished  me  by  the  diligence  of  a  friend  near  me,  (Mr. 
Poinsett,)  to  whose  valuable  mass  of  accurate  information,  in 
regard  to  that  interesting  quarter  of  the  world,  I  have  had  occasion 
frequently  to  apply.  But  that  demand  is  temporary,  growing  out 
of  the  existing  state  of  war.  Whenever  peace  is  restored  to  it,  and 
I  now  hope,  that  the  day  is  not  distant  when  its  independence  will 
be  generally  acknowledged,  there  cannot  be  a  doubt  that  it  will 
supply  its  own  consumption.  In  all  parts  of  it,  the  soil,  either 
from  climate  or  from  elevation,  is  well  adapted  to  the  culture  of 
wheat ;  and  no  where  can  better  wheat  be  produced,  than  in  some 
portions  of  Mexico  and  Chili.  Still  the  market  of  South  America, 
is  one  which,  on  other  accounts,  deserves  the  greatest  consideration. 
And  I  congratulate  you,  the  committee,  and  the  country,  on  the 
recent  adoption  of  a  more  auspicious  policy  towards  it. 

We  exported,  in  1803,  Indian  corn  to  the  amount  of  two 
millions  seventy-four  thousand  six  hundred  and  eight  bushels. 
The  quantity  should  have  been,  in  1823,  three  millions  seven 
hundred  and  thirty-four  thousand  two  hundred  and  eighty-eight 
bushels.  The  actual  quantity  exported,  was  seven  hundred  and 
forty-nine  thousand  and  thirty-four  bushels,  or  about  one  fifth  of 
what  it  should  have  been,  and  a  little  more  than  one  third  of  what 
it  was  more  than  twenty  years  ago.  We  ought  not,  then,  to  be 
surprised  at  the  extreme  depression  of  the  price  of  that  article,  of 
which  I  have  heard  my  honorable  friend  (Mr.  Bassett)  complain, 
nor  of  the  distress  of  the  corn-growing  districts  adjacent  to  the 
Chesapeake  Bay.  We  exported  seventy-seven  thousand  nine 
hundred  and  thirty-four  barrels  of  beef  in  1803,  and  last  year  but 
sixty-one  thousand  four  hundred  and  eighteen,  instead  of  one 
hundred  and  forty  thousand  two  hundred  and  seventy-four  barrels. 
In  the  same  year  (1803)  we  exported  ninety-six  thousand  six 
hundred  and  two  barrels  of  pork,  and  last  year  fifty-five  thousand 
five  hundred  and  twenty-nine,  instead  of  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
three  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eighty-two  barrels.  Rice  has 
not  advanced,  by  any  means,  in  the  proportion  which  it  ought  to 
have  done.  All  the  small  articles,  such  as  cheese,  butter,  candles, 
and  so  forth,  too  minute  to  detail,  but  important  in  their  aggregate, 
have  also  materially  diminished.  Cotton  alone  has  advanced. 
But,  whilst  the  quantity  of  it  is  augmented,  its  actual  value  is 
considerably  diminished.  The  total  quantity  last  year,  exceeded 
that  of  the  preceding  year,  by  nearly  thirty  millions  of  pounds. 
And  yet  the  total  value  of  the  year  of  smaller  exportation,  exceeded 


448  SPEECHES      OF      HENRY      CLAY. 

that  of  the  last  year  by  upwards  of  three  and  a  half  millions 
of  dollars.  If  this  article,  the  capacity  of  our  country  to  produce 
which  was  scarcely  known  in  1790,  were  subtracted  from  the 
mass  of  our  exports,  the  value  of  the  residue  would  only  be  a  little 
upwards  of  twenty-seven  millions  during  the  last  year.  The 
distribution  of  the  articles  o£  our  exports  throughout  the  United 
States,  cannot  fail  to  fix  the  attention  of  the  committee.  Of  the 
forty-seven  millions  one  hundred  and  fifty-five  thousand  four 
hundred  and  eight,  to  which  they  amounted  last  year,  three  articles 
alone,  (cotton,  rice,  and  tobacco,)  composed  together  twenty-eight 
millions  five  hundred  and  forty-nine  thousand  one  hundred  and 
seventy-seven.  Now  these  articles  are  chiefly  produced  to  the 
south.  And  if  we  estimate  that  portion  of  our  population  who  are 
actually  engaged  in  their  culture,  it  would  probably  not  exceed  two 
millions.  Thus,  then,  less  than  one  fifth  of  the  whole  population 
of  the  United  States  produced  upwards  of  one  half,  nearly  two 
thirds,  of  the  entire  value  of  the  exports  of  the  last  year. 

Is  this  foreign  market,  so  incompetent  at  present,  and  which, 
limited  as  its  demands  are,  operates  so  unequally  upon  the  pro- 
ductive labor  of  our  country,  likely  to  improve  in  future?  If  I  am 
correct  in  the  views  which  I  have  presented  to  the  committee,  it 
must  become  worse  and  worse.  What  can  improve  it?  Europe 
will  not  abandon  her  own  agriculture  to  foster  ours.  We  may  even 
anticipate  that  she  will  more  and  more  enter  into  competition  with 
us  in  the  supply  of  the  West  India  market.  That  of  South  Amer- 
ica, for  articles  of  subsistence,  will  probably  soon  vanish.  The 
value  of  our  exports,  for  the  future,  may  remain  at  about  what  it 
was  last  year.  But,  if  we  do  not  create  some  new  market ;  if  we 
persevere  in  the  existing  pursuits  of  agriculture,  the  inevitable  con- 
sequence must  be,  to  augment  greatly  the  quantity  of  our  produce, 
and  to  lessen  its  value  in  the  foreign  market.  Can  there  be  a  doubt 
on  this  point  ?  Take  the  article  of  cotton,  for  example,  which  is 
almost  the  only  article  that  now  remunerates  labor  and  capital.  A 
certain  description  of  labor  is  powerfully  attracted  towards  the 
cotton -growing  country.  The  cultivation  will  be  greatly  extended, 
the  aggregate  amount  annually  produced,  will  be  vastly  augmented. 
The  price  will  fall.  The  more  unfavorable  soils  will  then  be  gradu- 
ally abandoned.  And  I  have  no  doubt  that,  in  a  few  years,  it  will 
cease  to  be  profitably  produced,  any  where  north  of  the  thirty-fourth 
degree  of  latitude.  But,  in  the  mean  time,  large  numbers  of  the 
cotton-growers  will  suffer  the  greatest  distress.  And  whilst  this 
distress  is  brought  upon  our  own  country,  foreign  industry  will  be 
stimulated  by  the  very  cause  which  occasions  our  distress.  For,  by 
surcharging  the  markets  abroad,  the  price  of  the  raw  material  being 
reduced,  the  manufacturer  will  be  able  to  supply  cotton  fabrics 
cheaper;  and  the  consumption,  in  his  own  country,  and  in  foreign 
nations,  other  than  ours,  (where  the  value  of  the  import  must  be 


ON     AMERICAN     INDUSTRY.  449 

limited  to  the  value  of  the  export,  which  I  have  supposed  to  remain 
the  same,)  being  proportionally  extended,  there  will  be,  conse- 
quently, an  increased  demand  for  the  produce  of  his  industry. 

Our  agricultural  is  our  greatest  interest.  It  ought  ever  to  be 
predominant;  All  others  should  bend  to  it.  And,  in  considering 
what  is  for  its  advantage,  we  should  contemplate  it  in  all  its 
varieties,  of  planting,  farming,  and  grazing.  Can  we  do  nothing 
to  invigorate  it;  nothing  to  correct  the  errors  of  the  past,  and  to 
brighten  the  still  more  unpromising  prospects  which  lie  before  us  ? 
We  have  seen,  I  think,  the  causes  of  the  distresses  of  the  country. 
We  have  seen,  that  an  exclusive  dependence  upon  the  foreign 
market  must  lead  to  still  severer  distress,  to  impoverishment,  to 
ruin.  We  must  then  change  somewhat  our  course.  We  must 
give  a  new  direction  to  some  portion  of  our  industry.  We  must 
speedily  adopt  a  genuine  American  policy.  Still  cherishing  the 
foreign  market,  let  us  create  also  a  home  market,  to  give  further 
scope  to  the  consumption  of  the  produce  of  American  industry. 
Let  us  counteract  the  policy  of  foreigners,  and  withdraw  the  sup- 
port which  we  now  give  to  their  industry,  and  stimulate  that  of  our 
own  country.  It  should  be  a  prominent  object  with  wise  legis- 
lators, to  multiply  the  vocations  and  extend  the  business  of  society, 
as  far  as  it  can  be  done,  by  the  protection  of  our  interests  at  home, 
against  the  injurious  effects  of  foreign  legislation.  Suppose  we 
were  a  nation  of  fishermen,  or  of  skippers,  to  the  exclusion  of  every 
other  occupation,  and  the  legislature  had  the  power  to  introduce 
the  pursuits  of  agriculture  and  manufactures,  would  not  our  happi- 
ness be  promoted  by  an  exertion  of  its  authority  ?  All  the  existing 
employments  of  society  —  the  learned  professions  —  commerce  — 
agriculture  —  are  now  overflowing.  We  stand  in  each  other's  way. 
Hence  the  want  of  employment.  Hence  the  eager  pursuit  after 
public  stations,  which  I  have  before  glanced  at.  I  have  been  again 
and  again  shocked,  during  this  session,  by  instances  of  solicitation 
for  places,  before  the  vacancies  existed.  The  pulse  of  incumbents, 
who  happen  to  be  taken  ill,  is  not  marked  with  more  anxiety  by 
the  attending  physicians,  than  by  those  who  desire  to  succeed  them, 
though  with  very  opposite  feelings.  Our  old  friend,  the  faithful 
sentinel,  who  has  stood  so  long  at  our  door,  and  the  gallantry  of 
whose  patriotism  deserves  to  be  noticed,  because  it  was  displayed 
when  that  virtue  was  most  rare  and  most  wanted,  on  a  memorable 
occasion  in  this  unfortunate  city,  became  indisposed  some  weeks 
ago.  The  first  intelligence  which  I  had  of  his  dangerous  illness, 
was  by  an  application  for  his  unvacated  place.  I  hastened  to  assure 
myself  of  the  extent  of  his  danger,  and  was  happy  to  find  that  the 
eagerness  of  succession  outstripped  the  progress  of  disease.  By 
creating  a  new  and  extensive  business,  then,  we  should  not  only 
give  employment  to  those  who  want  it,  and  augment  the  sum  of 
national  wealth,  by  all  that  this  new  business  would  create,  but  we 
vol.  i.  57 


450  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

should  meliorate  the  condition  of  those  who  are  now  engaged  in 
existing  employments.  In  Europe,  particularly  in  Great  Britain, 
their  large  standing  armies,  large  navies,  large  even  on  their  peace 
arrangement,  their  established  church,  afford  to  their  population 
employments,  which,  in  that  respect,  the  happier  constitution  of 
our  government  does  not  tolerate  but  in  a  very  limited  degree. 
The  peace  establishments  of  our  army  and  our  navy,  are  extremely" 
small,  and  I  hope  ever  will  be.  We  have  no  established  church, 
and  I  trust  never  shall  have.  In  proportion  as  the  enterprise  of  our 
citizens  in  public  employments  is  circumscribed,  should  we  excite 
and  invigorate  it  in  private  pursuits. 

The  creation  of  a  home  market  is  not  only  necessary  to  procure 
for  our  agriculture  a  just  reward  of  its  labors,  but  it  is  indispensable 
to  obtain  a  supply  of  our  necessary  wants.  If  we  cannot  sell,  we 
cannot  buy.  That  portion  of  our  population,  (and  we  have  seen 
that  it  is  not  less  than  four  fifths,)  which  makes  comparatively 
nothing  that  foreigners  will  buy,  has  nothing  to  make  purchases 
with  from  foreigners.  It  is  in  vain  that  we  are  told  of  the  amount 
of  our  exports  supplied  by  the  planting  interest.  They  may  enable 
the  planting  interest  to  supply  all  its  wants :  but  they  bring  no 
ability  to  the  interests  not  planting ;  unless,  which  cannot  be  pre- 
tended, the  planting  interest  was  an  adequate  vent  for  the  surplus 
produce  of  the  labor  of  all  other  interests.  It  is  in  vain  to  tantalize 
us  with  the  greater  cheapness  of  foreign  fabrics.  There  must  be  an 
ability  to  purchase,  if  an  article  be  obtained,  whatever  may  be  the 
price,  high  or  low,  at  which  it  is  sold.  And  a  cheap  article  is  as 
much  beyond  the  grasp  of  him  who  has  no  means  to  buy,  as  a  high 
one.  Even  if  it  were  true  that  the  American  manufacturer  would 
supply  consumption  at  dearer  rates,  it  is  better  to  have  his  fabrics 
than  the  unattainable  foreign  fabrics ;  because  it  is  better  to  be  ill 
supplied  than  not  supplied  at  all.  A  coarse  coat,  which  will  com- 
municate warmth  and  cover  nakedness,  is  better  than  no  coat.  The 
superiority  of  the  home  market  results,  first,  from  its  steadiness  and 
comparative  certainty  at  all  times ;  secondly,  from  the  creation  of  re- 
ciprocal interest ;  thirdly,  from  its  greater  security ;  and,  lastly,  from 
an  ultimate  and  not  distant  augmentation  of  consumption,  (and  con- 
sequently of  comfort,)  from  increased  quantity  and  reduced  prices. 
But  this  home  market,  highly  desirable  as  it  is,  can  only  be  created 
and  cherished  by  the  protection  of  our  own  legislation  against 
the  inevitable  prostration  of  our  industry,  which  must  ensue  from 
the  action  of  foreign  policy  and  legislation.  The  effect  and  the 
value  of  this  domestic  care  of  our  own  interests  will  be  obvious  from 
a  few  facts  and  considerations.  Let  us  suppose  that  half  a  million 
of  persons  are  now  employed  abroad  in  fabricating,  for  our  con- 
sumption, those  articles,  of  which,  by  the  operation  of  this  bill,  a 
supply  is  intended  to  be  provided  within  ourselves.  That  half  a 
million  of  persons  are,  in  effect,  subsisted  by  us ;  but  their  actual 


ON     AMERICAN     INDUSTRY.  451 

means  of  subsistence  are  drawn  from  foreign  agriculture.  If  we 
could  transport  them  to  this  country,  and  incorporate  them  in  the 
mass  of  our  own  population,  there  would  instantly  arise  a  demand 
for  an  amount  of  provisions  equal  to  that  which  would  be  requisite 
for  their  subsistence  throughout  the  whole  year.  That  demand, 
in  the  article  of  flour  alone,  would  not  be  less  than  the  quantity 
of  about  nine  hundred  thousand  barrels,  besides  a  proportionate 
quantity  of  beef,  and  pork,  and  other  articles  of  subsistence.  But 
nine  hundred  thousand  barrels  of  flour  exceeded  the  entire  quantity 
exported  last  year,  by  nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  barrels. 
What  activity  would  not  this  give,  what  cheerfulness  would  it  not 
communicate,  to  our  now  dispirited  farming  interest!  But  if,  instead 
of  these  five  hundred  thousand  artisans  emigrating  from  abroad, 
we  give  by  this  bill  employment  to  an  equal  number  of  our  own 
citizens,  now  engaged  in  unprofitable  agriculture,  or  idle,  from  the 
want  of  business,  the  beneficial  effect  upon  the  productions  of  our 
farming  labor  would  be  nearly  doubled.  The  quantity  would  be 
diminished  by  a  subtraction  of  the  produce  from  the  labor  of  all 
those  who  should  be  diverted  from  its  pursuits  to  manufacturing 
industry,  and  the  value  of  the  residue  would  be  enhanced,  both  by 
that  diminution  and  the  creation  of  the  home  market,  to  the  extent 
supposed.  And  the  honorable  gentleman  from  Virginia  may  repress 
any  apprehensions  which  he  entertains,  that  the  plough  will  be 
abandoned,  and  our  fields  remain  unsown.  For,  under  all  the 
modifications  of  social  industry,  if  you  will  secure  to  it  a  just 
reward,  the  greater  attractions  of  agriculture  will  give  to  it  that 
proud  superiority  which  it  has  always  maintained.  If  we  suppose 
no  actual  abandonment  of  farming,  but,  what  is  most  likely,  a 
gradual  and  imperceptible  employment  of  population  in  the 
business  of  manufacturing,  instead  of  being  compelled  to  resort  to 
agriculture,  the  salutary  effect  would  be  nearly  the  same.  Is  any 
part  of  our  common  country  likely  to  be  injured  by  a  transfer  of 
the  theatre  of  fabrication,  for  our  own  consumption,  from  Europe 
to  America  ?  All  that  those  parts,  if  any  there  be,  which  will  not, 
nor  cannot  engage  in  manufactures,  should  require,  is,  that  their 
consumption  should  be  well  supplied ;  and  if  the  objects  of  that 
consumption  are  produced  in  other  parts  of  the  union,  that  can 
manufacture,  far  from  having  on  that  account  any  just  cause  of 
complaint,  their  patriotism  will  and  ought  to  inculcate  a  cheerful 
acquiescence  in  what  essentially  contributes,  and  is  indispensably 
necessary,  to  the  prosperity  of  the  common  family. 

The  great  desideratum  in  political  economy  is  the  same  as  in 
private  pursuits ;  that  is,  what  is  the  best  application  of  the  aggre- 
gate industry  of  a  nation,  that  can  be  made  honestly  to  produce  the 
largest  sum  of  national  wealth  ?  Labor  is  the  source  of  all  wealth ; 
but  it  is  not  natural  labor  only.  And  the  fundamental  error  of  the 
gentleman  from  Virginia,  and  of  the  school  to  which  he  belongs, 


452  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

in  deducing,  from  our  sparse  population,  our  unfitness  for  the 
introduction  of  the  arts,  consists  in  their  not  sufficiently  weighing 
the  importance  of  the  power  of  machinery.  In  former  times,  when 
but  little  comparative  use  was  made  of  machinery,  manual  labor, 
and  the  price  of  wages,  were  circumstances  of  the  greatest  consid- 
eration. But  it  is  far  otherwise  in  these  latter  times.  Such  are  the 
improvements  and  the  perfection  of  machinery,  that,  in  analysing 
the  compound  value  of  many  fabrics,  the  element  of  natural  labor 
is  so  inconsiderable  as  almost  to  escape  detection.  This  truth  is 
demonstrated  by  many  facts.  Formerly,  Asia,  in  consequence  of 
the  density  of  her  population,  and  the  consequent  lowness  of 
wages,  laid  Europe  under  tribute  for  many  of  her  fabrics.  Now 
Europe  reacts  upon  Asia,  and  Great  Britain,  in  particular,  throws 
back  upon  her  countless  millions  of  people,  the  rich  treasures 
produced  by  artificial  labor,  to  a  vast  amount,  infinitely  cheaper 
than  they  can  be  manufactured  by  the  natural  exertions  of  that 
portion  of  the  globe.  But  Britain  is  herself  the  most  striking 
illustration  of  the  immense  power  of  machinery.  Upon  what 
other  principle  can  you  account  for  the  enormous  wealth  which  she 
has  accumulated,  and  which  she  annually  produces?  A  statistical 
writer  of  that  country,  several  years  ago,  estimated  the  total  amount 
of  the  artificial  or  machine  labor  of  the  nation,  to  be  equal  to  that 
of  one  hundred  millions  of  able-bodied  laborers.  Subsequent 
estimates  of  her  artificial  labor,  at  the  present  day,  carry  it  to  the 
enormous  height  of  two  hundred  millions.  But  the  population  of 
the  three  kingdoms  is  twenty-one  millions  five  hundred  thousand. 
Supposing  that,  to  furnish  able-bodied  labor  to  the  amount  of  four 
millions,  the  natural  labor  will  be  but  two  per  centum  of  the  artificial 
labor.  In  the  production  of  wealth  she  operates,  therefore,  by  a 
power  (including  the  whole  population)  of  two  hundred  and 
twenty-one  millions  five  hundred  thousand;  or,  in  other  words,  by 
a  power  eleven  times  greater  than  the  total  of  her  natural  power. 
If  we  suppose  the  machine  labor  of  the  United  States  to  be  equal 
to  that  of  ten  millions  of  able-bodied  men,  the  United  States  will 
operate,  in  the  creation  of  wealth,  by  a  power  (including  all  their 
population)  of  twenty  millions.  In  the  creation  of  wealth,  therefore, 
the  power  of  Great  Britain,  compared  to  that  of  the  United  States, 
is  as  eleven  to  one.  That  these  views  are  not  imaginary,  will  be,  I 
think,  evinced,  by  contrasting  the  wealth,  the  revenue,  the  power,  of 
the  two  countries.  Upon  what  other  hypothesis  can  we  explain 
those  almost  incredible  exertions  which  Britain  made  during  the 
late  wars  of  Europe  ?  Look  at  her  immense  subsidies !  Behold 
her  standing,  unaided  and  alone,  and  breasting  the  storm  of 
Napoleon's  colossal  power,  when  all  continental  Europe  owned 
and  yielded  to  its  irresistible  sway;  and  finally,  contemplate  her 
vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war,  with  and  without  allies,  to  its 
splendid  termination,  on  the  ever-memorable  field  of  Waterloo! 


ON     AMERICAN     INDUSTRY.  45$ 

The  British  works  which  the  gentleman  from  Virginia  has  quoted, 
portray  a  state  of  the  most  wonderful  prosperity,  in  regard  to  wealth 
and  resources,  that  ever  was  before  contemplated.  Let  us  look  a 
little  into  the  semi-official  pamphlet,  written  with  great  force, 
clearness,  and  ability,  and  the  valuable  work  of  Lowe,  to  both  of 
which  that  gentleman  has  referred.  The  revenue  of  the  united 
kingdom  amounted,  during  the  latter  years  of  the  war,  to  seventy 
millions  of  pounds  sterling;  and  one  year  it  rose  to  the  astonishing 
height  of  ninety  millions  sterling,  equal  to  four  hundred  millions 
of  dollars.  This  was  actual  revenue,  made  up  of  real  contribu- 
tions, from  the  purses  of  the  people.  After  the  close  of  the  war, 
ministers  slowly  and  reluctantly  reduced  the  military  and  naval 
establishments,  and  accommodated  them  to  a  state  of  peace.  The 
pride  of  power,  every  where  the  same,  always  unwillingly  surren- 
ders any  of  those  circumstances,  which  display  its  pomp  and 
exhibit  its  greatness.  Contemporaneous  with  this  reduction,  Britain 
was  enabled  to  lighten  some  of  the  heaviest  burdens  of  taxation, 
and  particularly  that  most  onerous  of  all,  the  income  tax.  In  this 
lowered  state,  the  revenue  of  peace,  gradually  rising  from  the 
momentary  depression  incident  to  a  transition  from  war,  attained, 
in  1822,  the  vast  amount  of  fifty-five  millions  sterling,  upwards  of 
two  hundred  and  forty  millions  of  dollars,  and  more  than  eleven 
times  that  of  the  United  States  for  the  same  year ;  thus  indicating 
the  difference,  which  I  have  suggested,  in  the  respective  productive 
powers  of  the  two  countries.  The  excise  alone  (collected  under 
twenty-five  different  heads)  amounted  to  twenty-eight  millions, 
more  than  one  half  of  the  total  revenue  of  the  kingdom.  This 
great  revenue  allows  Great  Britain  to  constitute  an  efficient  sinking 
fund  of  five  millions  sterling,  being  an  excess  of  actual  income 
beyond  expenditure,  and  amounting  to  more  than  the  entire  revenue 
of  the  United  States. 

If  we  look  at  the  commerce  of  England,  we  shall  perceive  that 
its  prosperous  condition  no  less  denotes  the  immensity  of  her  riches. 
The  average  of  three  years'  exports,  ending  in  1789,  was  between 
thirteen  and  fourteen  millions.  The  average  for  the  same  term, 
ending  in  1822,  was  forty  millions  sterling.  The  average  of  the 
imports  for  three  years,  ending  in  1789,  was  seventeen  millions. 
The  average  for  the  same  term,  ending  in  1822,  was  thirty-six 
millions,  showing  a  favorable  balance  of  four  millions.  Thus,  in 
a  period  not  longer  than  that  which  has  elapsed  since  the  establish- 
ment of  our  constitution,'  have  the  exports  of  that  kingdom  been 
trippled ;  and  this  has  mainly  been  the  effect  of  the  power  of 
machinery.  The  total  amount  of  the  commerce  of  Great  Britain 
is  greater  since  the  peace,  by  one  fourth,  than  it  was  during  the 
war.  The  average  of  her  tonnage,  during  the  most  flourishing 
period  of  the  war,  was  two  millions  four  hundred  thousand  tons. 
Its  average,  during  the  three  years,  1819,  1820,  and  1821,  was  two 


454  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

millions  six  hundred  thousand;  exhibiting  an  increase  of  two 
hundred  thousand  tons.  If  we  glance  at  some  of  the  more 
prominent  articles  of  her  manufactures,  we  shall  be  assisted  in 
comprehending  the  true  nature  of  the  sources  of  her  riches.  The 
amount  of  cotton  fabrics  exported,  in  the  most  prosperous  year  of 
the  war,  was  eighteen  millions  sterling.  In  the  year  1820,  it  was 
sixteen  millions  six  hundred  thousand ;  in  1821,  twenty  millions 
five  hundred  thousand;  in  1822,  twenty-one  millions  six  hundred 
and  thirty-nine  thousand  pounds  sterling;  presenting  the  aston- 
ishing increase  in  two  years  of  upwards  of  five  millions.  The 
total  amount  of  imports  in  Great  Britain,  from  all  foreign  parts,  of 
the  article  of  cotton  wool,  is  five  millions  sterling.  After  supplying 
most  abundantly  the  consumption  of  cotton  fabrics  within  the 
country,  (and  a  people  better  fed  and  clad  and  housed,  are  not  to 
be  found  under  the  sun  than  the  British  nation,)  by  means  of  her 
industry,  she  gives  to  this  cotton  wool  a  new  value,  which  enables 
her  to  sell  to  foreign  nations  to  the  amount  of  twenty-one  millions 
six  hundred  and  thirty-nine  thousand  pounds,  making  a  clear  profit 
of  upwards  of  sixteen  millions  five  hundred  thousand  pounds 
sterling!  In  1821,  the  value  of  the  export  of  woollen  manufac- 
tures was  four  millions  three  hundred  thousand  pounds.  In  1822, 
it  was  five  millions  five  hundred  thousand  pounds.  The  success 
of  her  restrictive  policy  is  strikingly  illustrated  in  the  article  of 
silk.  In  the  manufacture  of  that  article  she  labors  under  great 
disadvantages,  besides  that  of  not  producing  the  raw  material. 
She  has  subdued  them  all,  and  the  increase  of  the  manufacture  has 
been  most  rapid.  Although  she  is  still  unable  to  maintain,  in 
foreign  countries,  a  successful  competition  with  the  silks  of  France, 
of  India,  and  of  Italy,  and  therefore  exports  but  little,  she  gives  to 
the  two  millions  of  the  raw  material  which  she  imports,  in  various 
forms,  a  value  of  ten  millions,  which  chiefly  enter  into  British 
consumption.  Let  us  suppose  that  she  was  dependent  upon  foreign 
nations  for  these  ten  millions,  what  an  injurious  effect  would  it  not 
have  upon  her  commercial  relations  with  them  ?  The  average  of 
the  exports  of  British  manufactures,  during  the  peace,  exceeds  the 
average  of  the  most  productive  years  of  the  war.  The  amount  of 
her  wealth  annually  produced,  is  three  hundred  and  fifty  millions 
sterling;  bearing  a  large  proportion  to  all  of  her  preexisting  wealth. 
The  agricultural  portion  of  it  is  said,  by  the  gentleman  from 
Virginia,  to  be  greater  than  that  created  by  any  other  branch  of  her 
industry.  But  that  flows  mainly  from  a  policy  similar  to  that 
proposed  by  this  bill.  One  third  only  of  her  population  is  engaged 
in  agriculture ;  the  other  two  thirds  furnishing  a  market  for  the 
produce  of  that  third.  Withdraw  this  market,  and  what  becomes 
of  her  agriculture  ?  The  power  and  the  wealth  of  Great  Britain 
cannot  be  more  strikingly  illustrated  than  by  a  comparison  of  her 
population  and  revenue  with  those  of  other  countries  and  with  our 


ON     AMERICAN     INDUSTRY.  455 

own.     [Here   Mr.   Clay  exhibited  the  following  table,  made  out 
from  authentic  materials.! 


Population. 

Taxes  k  public 

Taxation. 

burdens. 

per  capita. 

Russia  in  Europe, 

37,000,000 

£18,000,000 

£0     9     9 

France,  including  Corsica, 

30,700,000 

37,000,000 

14     0 

Great  Britain,  exclusive  of  Ireland,! 

(the  taxes  computed  according  to  ! 
the  value  of  money  on  the  European  j 

14,500,000 

40,000,000 

2     15    0 

continent,)                                            J 

Great  Britain  and  Ireland  collectively, 

21,500,000 

44,000,000 

2     0     0 

England  alone, 

11,000  000 

36,000,000 

3     2     0 

Spain, 

11,000,000 

6,000,000 

0  11     0 

Ireland, 

7,000,000 

4,000,000 

0  11     0 

The  United  States  of  America, 

10,000,000 

4,500,000 

0     9    0 

From  this  exhibit  we  must  remark,  that  the  wealth  of  Great  Britain, 
and  consequently  her  power,  is  greater  than  that  of  any  of  the 
other  nations  with  which  it  is  compared.  The  amount  of  the 
contributions  which  she  draws  from  the  pockets  of  her  subjects,  is 
not  referred  to  for  imitation,  but  as  indicative  of  their  wealth.  The 
burden  of  taxation  is  always  relative  to  the  ability  of  the  subjects 
of  it.  A  poor  nation  can  pay  but  little.  And  the  heavier  taxes  of 
British  subjects,  for  example,  in  consequence  of  their  greater  wealth, 
may  be  more  easily  borne  than  the  much  lighter  taxes  of  Spanish 
subjects,  in  consequence  of  their  extreme  poverty.  The  object  of 
wise  governments  should  be,  by  sound  legislation,  so  to  protect  the 
industry  of  their  own  citizens  against  the  policy  of  foreign  powers, 
as  to  give  to  it  the  most  expansive  force  in  the  production  of  wealth. 
Great  Britain  has  ever  acted,  and  still  acts,  on  this  policy.  She  has 
pushed  her  protection  of  British  interest,  further  than  any  other 
nation  has  fostered  its  industry.  The  result  is,  greater  wealth 
among  her  subjects,  and  consequently  greater  ability  to  pay  their 
public  burdens.  If  their  taxation  is  estimated  by  their  natural 
labor  alone,  nominally  it  is  greater  than  the  taxation  of  the  subjects 
of  any  other  power.  But,  if  on  a  scale  of  their  national  and 
artificial  labor,  compounded,  it  is  less  than  the  taxation  of  any 
other  people.  Estimating  it  on  that  scale,  and  assuming  the  aggre- 
gate of  the  natural  and  artificial  labor  of  the  united  kingdom  to 
be  what  I  have  already  stated,  two  hundred  and  twenty-one 
millions  five  hundred  thousand,  the  actual  taxes  paid  by  a  British 
subject,  are  only  about  three  and  seven-pence  sterling.  Estima- 
ting our  own  taxes,  on  a  similar  scale  —  that  is,  supposing  both 
descriptions  of  labor  to  be  equal  to  that  of  twenty  millions  of 
able-bodied  persons  —  the  amount  of  tax  paid  by  each  soul  in  the 
United  States  is  four  shillings  and  six-pence  sterling.  ^^^ 

The  committee  will  observe,  from  that  table,  that  the  measure 
of  the  wealth  of  a  nation  is  indicated  by  the  measure  of  its  protec- 
tion of  its  industry ;  and  that  the  measure  of  the  poverty  of  a 
nation  is  marked  by  that  of  the  degree  in  which  it  neglects  and  « 


J 


456  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

/  abandons  the  care  of  its  own  industry,  leaving  it  exposed  to  the 
/  action  of  foreign  powers.  Great  Britain  protects  most  her  industry, 
V         and   the  wealth  of    Great   Britain,  is    consequently    the  greatest. 

France  is  next  in  the  degree  of  protection,  and  France  is  next  in 

the  order  of  wealth.  Spain  most  neglects  the  duty  of  protecting 
the  industry  of  her  subjects,  and  Spain  is  one  of  the  poorest  of 
European  nations.  Unfortunate  Ireland,  disinherited  or  rendered 
in  her  industry  subservient  to  England,  is  exactly  in  the  same  state 
of  poverty  with  Spain,  measured  by  the  rule  of  taxation.  And 
the  United  States  are  still  poorer  than  either. 

The  views  of  British  prosperity,  which  I  have  endeavored  to 
present,  show  that  her  protecting  policy  is  adapted  alike  to  a  state 
of  war  and  of  peace.  Self-poised,  resting  upon  her  own  internal 
resources,  possessing  a  home  market,  carefully  cherished  and 
guarded,  she  is  ever  prepared  for  any  emergency.  We  have  seen 
her  coming  out  of  a  war  of  incalculable  exertion,  and  of  great 
duration,  with  her  power  unbroken,  her  means  undiminished.  We 
have  seen,  that  almost  every  revolving  year  of  peace  has  brought 
along  with  it  an  increase  of  her  manufactures,  of  her  commerce, 
and,  consequently,  of  her  navigation.  We  have  seen,  that,  con- 
structing her  prosperity  upon  the  solid  foundation  of  her  own 
protecting  policy,  it  is  unaffected  by  the  vicissitudes  of  other  states. 
What  is  our  own  condition  ?  Depending  upon  the  state  of  foreign 
powers,  confiding  exclusively  in  a  foreign,  to  the  culpable  neglect 
of  a  domestic  policy,  our  interests  are  affected  by  all  their  move- 
ments. Their  wars,  their  misfortunes,  are  the  only  source  of  our 
prosperity.  In  their  peace,  and  our  peace,  we  behold  our  condition 
the  reverse  of  that  of  Great  Britain,  and  all  our  interests  stationary 
or  declining.  Peace  brings  to  us  none  of  the  blessings  of  peace. 
Our  system  is  anomalous ;  alike  unfitted  to  general  tranquillity,  and 
to  a  state  of  war  or  peace,  on  the  part  of  our  own  country.  It  can 
succeed  only  in  the  rare  occurrence  of  a  general  state  of  war 
throughout  Europe.  I  am  no  eulogist  of  England.  I  am  far  from 
recommending  her  systems  of  taxation.  I  have  adverted  to  them 
only  as  manifesting  her  extraordinary  ability.  The  political  and 
foreign  interests  of  that  nation  may  have  been,  as  1  believe  them 
to  have  been,  often  badly  managed.  Had  she  abstained  from  the 
wars  into  which  she  has  been  plunged  by  her  ambition,  or  the 
mistaken  policy  of  her  ministers,  the  prosperity  of  England  would, 
unquestionably,  have  been  much  greater.  But  it  may  happen  that 
the  public  liberty,  and  the  foreign  relations  of  a  nation,  have  been 
badly  provided  for,  and  yet  that  its  political  economy  has  been 
wisely  managed.  The  alacrity  or  sullenness  with  which  a  people 
pay  taxes,  depends  upon  their  wealth  or  poverty.  If  the  system  of 
their  rulers  leads  to  their  impoverishment,  they  can  contribute  but 
little  to  the  necessities  of  the  state ;  if  to  their  wealth,  they  cheer- 
fully and  promptly  pay  the  burdens  imposed  on  them.     Enormous 


ON     AMERICAN     INDUSTRY.  457 

as  British  taxation  appears  to  be,  in  comparison  with  that  of  other 
na  ions,  but  really  lighter,  as  it  in  fact  is,  when  we  consider  its  great 
wealth,  and  its  powers  of  production,  that  vast  amount  is  collected 
with  the  most  astonishing  regularity.  [Here  Mr.  Clay  read  certain 
passages  from  Holt,  showing  that,  in  1822,  there  was  not  a  solitary 
prosecution  arising  out  of  the  collection  of  the  assessed  taxes, 
which  are  there  considered  among  the  most  burdensome,  and  that 
the  prosecution  for  violations  of  the  excise  laws,  in  all  its  numerous 
branches,  were  sensibly  and  progressively  decreasing.] 

Having   called  the  attention  of  the  committee  to   the  present 
adverse  state  of  our  country,  and  endeavored  to  point  out  the 
causes  which  have  led  to  it ;  having  shown  that  similar  causes, 
wherever  they  exist  in  other  countries,  lead  to  the  same  adversity 
in   their   condition ;   and   having  shown  that,  wherever  we  find 
opposite  causes  prevailing,  a  high  and  animating  state  of  national 
prosperity  exists,  the  committee  will  agree  with  me  in  thinking 
that  it  is  the  solemn  duty  of  government  to  apply  a  remedy  to  the 
evils  which  afflict  our  country,  if  it  can  apply  one.  I  Is  there  no 
remedy  within  the  reach  of  the  government  ?     Are  we  doomed  to 
behold   our  industry  languish  and  decay,  yet  more   and  more  ? 
But  there  is  a  remedy,  and  that  remedy  consists  in  modifying  our 
foreign  policy,  and  in  adopting  a  genuine  American  system.    We\ 
must  naturalize  the  arts  in  our  country ;  and  we  must  naturalize, 
them  by  the  only  means  which  the  wisdom  of  nations  has  yeF 
discovered   to   be    effectual ;    by   adequate   protection   against  th< 
otherwise  overwhelming  influence  of  foreigners.     This  is  only  to, 
be  accomplished  by  the  establishment  of  a  tariff,  to  the  considera- 
tion of  which  I  am  now  brought^ 

And  what  is  this  tariff?  It  Ferris  to  have  been  regarded  as  a 
sort  of  monster,  huge  and  deformed  —  a  wild  beast,  endowed  with 
tremendous  powers  of  destruction,  about  to  be  let  loose  among 
our  people,  if  not  to  devour  them,  at  least  to  consume  their 
substance.  But  let  us  calm  our  passions,  and  deliberately  survey 
this  alarming,  this  terrific  being.  The  sole  object  of  the  tariff  is 
to  tax  the  produce  of  foreign  industry,  with  the  view  of  promoting 
American  industry.  The  tax  is  exclusively  levelled  at  foreign 
industry.  That  is  the  avowed  and  the  direct  purpose  of  the  tariff. 
If  it  subjects  any  part  of  American  industry  to  burdens,  that  is 
an  effect  not  intended,  but  is  altogether  incidental,  and  perfectly 
voluntary. 

It  has  been  treated  as  an  imposition  of  burdens  upon  one  part 
of  the  community  by  design,  for  the  benefit  of  another;  as  if,  in 
fact,  money  were  taken  from  the  pockels  of  one  portion  of  the 
people  and  put  into  the  pockets  of  another.  But  is  that  a  fair 
representation  of  it?  No  man  pays  the  duty  assessed  on  the 
foreign  article  by  compulsion,  but  voluntarily;  and  this  voluntary 
duty,  if  paid,  goes  into  the  common  exchequer,  for  the  common 
vol.  i.  58 


458  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

benefit  of  all.  Consumption  has  four  objects  of  choice.  First,  it 
may  abstain  from  the  use  of  the  foreign  article,  and  thus  avoid  the 
payment  of  the  tax.  Second,  it  may  employ  the  rival  American 
fabric.  Third,  it  may  engage  in  the  business  of  manufacturing, 
which  this  bill  is  designed  to  foster.  Fourth,  or  it  may  supply 
itself  from  the  household  manufactures.  But  it  is  said,  by  the 
honorable  gentleman  from  Virginia,  that  the  south,  owing  to  the 
character  of  a  certain  portion  of  its  population,  cannot  engage  in 
the  business  of  manufacturing.  Now,  I  do  not  agree  in  that 
opinion,  to  the  extent  in  which  it  is  asserted.  The  circumstance 
alluded  to  may  disqualify  the  south  from  engaging  in  every  branch 
of  manufacture,  as  largely  as  other  quarters  of  the  union,  but  to 
some  branches  of  it,  that  part  of  our  population  is  well  adapted. 
It  indisputably  affords  great  facility  in  the  household  or  domestic 
line.  But,  if  the  gentleman's  premises  were  true,  could  his  con- 
clusion be  admitted  ?  According  to  him,  a  certain  part  of  our 
population,  happily  much  the  smallest,  is  peculiarly  situated.  The 
circumstance  of  its  degradation  unfits  it  for  the  manufacturing 
arts.  The  well-being  of  the  other,  and  the  larger  part  of  our 
population,  requires  the  introduction  of  those  arts.  What  is  to  be 
done  in  this  conflict?  The  gentleman  would  have  us  abstain 
from  adopting  a  policy  called  for  by  the  interest  of  the  greater  and 
freer  part  of  our  population.  But  is  that  reasonable  ?  Can  it  be 
expected  that  the  interests  of  the  greater  part  should  be  made  to 
bend  to  the  condition  of  the  servile  part  of  our  population  ?  That, 
in  effect,  would  be  to  make  us  the  slaves  of  slaves.  I  went,  with 
great  pleasure,  along  with  my  southern  friends,  and  I  am  ready 
again  to  unite  with  them  in  protesting  against  the  exercise  of  any 
legislative  power,  on  the  part  of  congress,  over  that  delicate  subject, 
because  it  was  my  solemn  conviction,  that  congress  was  interdicted, 
or  at  least  not  authorized,  by  the  constitution,  to  exercise  any  &uch 
legislative  power.  And  I  am  sure  that  the  patriotism  of  the  south 
may  be  exclusively  relied  upon  to  reject  a  policy  which  should  be 
dictated  by  considerations  altogether  connected  with  that  degraded 
class,  to  the  prejudice  of  the  residue  of  our  population.  But  does 
not  a  perseverance  in  the  foreign  policy,  as  it  now  exists  in  fact, 
make  all  parts  of  the  union,  not  planting,  tributary  to  the  planting 
parts?  What  is  the  argument?  It  is,  that  we  must  continue 
freely  to  receive  the  produce  of  foreign  industry,  without  regard  to 
the  protection  of  American  industry,  that  a  market  may  be  retained 
for  the  sale  abroad  of  the  produce  of  the  planting  portion  of  the 
country;  and  that,  if  we  lessen  in  all  parts  of  America  —  those 
which  are  not  planting  as  well  as  the  planting  sections  —  the 
consumption  of  foreign  manufactures,  we  diminish  to  that  extent 
the  foreign  market  for  the  planting  produce.  The  existing  state  of 
things,  indeed,  presents  a  sort  of  tacit  compact  between  the  cotton- 
grower  and  the  British  manufacturer,  the  stipulations  of  which  are, 


ON     AMERICAN     INDUSTRY.  459 

on  the  part  of  the  cotton-grower,  that  the  whole  of  the  United 
States,  the  other  portions  as  well  as  the  cotton-growing,  shall 
remain  open  and  unrestricted  in  the  consumption  of  British  man- 
ufactures ;  and,  on  the  part  of  the  British  manufacturer,  that,  in 
consideration  thereof,  he  will  continue  to  purchase  the  cotton  of 
the  south.  Thus,  then,  we  perceive  that  the  proposed  measure, 
instead  of  sacrificing  the  south  to  the  other  parts  of  the  union, 
seeks  only  to  preserve  them  from  being  absolutely  sacrificed  under 
the  operation  of  the  tacit  compact  which  I  have  described.  Sup- 
posing the  south  to  be  actually  incompetent,  or  disinclined,  to 
embark  at  all  in  the  business  of  manufacturing,  is  not  its  interest, 
nevertheless,  likely  to  be  promoted  by  creating  a  new  and  an 
American  source  of  supply  for  its  consumption  ?  Now  foreign 
powers,  and  Great  Britain,  principally,  have  the  monopoly  of  the 
supply  of  southern  consumption.  If  this  bill  should  pass,  an 
American  competitor,  in  the  supply  of  the  south,  would  be  raised  up, 
and  ultimately,  I  cannot  doubt,  that  it  will  be  supplied  more  cheaply 
and  better.  I  have  before  had  occasion  to  state,  and  will  now 
again  mention,  the  beneficial  effects  of  American  competition  with 
Europe,  in  furnishing  a  supply  of  the  article  of  cotton  bagging. 
After  the  late  war,  the  influx  of  the  Scottish  manufacture  prostrated 
the  American  establishments.  The  consequence  was,  that  the 
Scotch  possessed  the  monopoly  of  the  supply ;  and  the  price  of  it 
rose,  and  attained,  the  year  before  the  last,  a  height  which  amounted 
to  more  than  an  equivalent  for  ten  years  protection  to  the  American 
manufacture.  This  circumstance  tempted  American  industry 
again  to  engage  in  the  business,  and  several  valuable  manufacto- 
ries have  been  established  in  Kentucky.  They  have  reduced  the 
price  of  the  fabric  very  considerably ;  but,  without  the  protection 
of  government,  they  may  again  be  prostrated,  and  then,  the  Scot- 
tish manufacturer  engrossing  the  supply  of  our  consumption,  the 
price  will  probably  again  rise.  It  has  been  tauntingly  asked,  if 
Kentucky  cannot  maintain  herself  in  a  competition  with  the  two 
Scottish  towns  of  Inverness  and  Dundee?  But  is  that  a  fair  state- 
ment of  the  case  ?  Those  two  towns  are  cherished  and  sustained 
by  the  whole  protecting  policy  of  the  British  empire,  whilst  Ken- 
tucky cannot,  and  the  general  government  will  not,  extend  alike 
protection  to  the  few  Kentucky  villages  in  which  the  article  is 
made. 

If  the  cotton-growing  consumption  could  be  constitutionally 
exempted  from  the  operation  of  this  bill,  it  might  be  fair  to  exempt 
it,  upon  the  condition  that  foreign  manufactures,  the  proceeds  of 
the  sale  of  cotton  abroad,  should  not  enter  at  all  into  the  consump- 
tion of  the  other  parts  of  the  United  States.  But  such  an  arrange- 
ment as  that,  if  it  could  be  made,  would  probably  be  objected  to 
by  the  cotton-growing  country  itself. 

Second.     The  second  objection  to  the  proposed  bill  is,  that  it 


460  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

will  diminish  the  amount  of  our  exports.  It  can  have  no  effect 
upon  our  exports,  except  those  which  are  sent  to  Europe.  Except 
tobacco  and  rice,  we  send  there  nothing  but  the  raw  materials. 
The  argument  is,  that  Europe  will  not  buy  of  us,  if  we  do  not 
buy  of  her.  The  first  objection  to  it  is,  that  it  calls  upon  us  to 
look  to  the  question,  and  to  take  care  of  European  ability  in  legis- 
lating for  American  interests.  Now  if,  in  legislating  for  their 
interests,  they  would  consider  and  provide  for  our  ability,  the 
principle  of  reciprocity  would  enjoin  us  so  to  regulate  our  inter- 
course with  them,  as  to  leave  their  ability  unimpaired.  But  I  have 
shown  that,  in  the  adoption  of  their  own  policy,  their  inquiry  is 
strictly  limited  to  a  consideration  of  their  peculiar  interests,  without 
any  regard  to  that  of  ours.  The  next  remark  I  would  make,  is, 
that  the  bill  only  operates  upon  certain  articles  of  European 
industry,  which  it  is  supposed  our  interest  requires  us  to  manufac- 
ture within  ourselves;  and  although  its  effect  will  be  to  diminish 
the  amount  of  our  imports  of  those  articles,  it  leaves  them  free  to 
supply  us  with  any  other  produce  of  their  industry.  And  since 
the  circle  of  human  comforts,  refinements,  and  luxuries,  is  of  great 
extent,  Europe  will  still  find  herself  able  to  purchase  from  us  what 
she  has  hitherto  done,  and  to  discharge  the  debt  in  some  of  those 
objects.  If  there  be  any  diminution  in  our  exports  to  Europe,  it 
will  probably  be  in  the  article  of  cotton  to  Great  Britain.  I  have 
stated  that  Britain  buys  cotton  wool  to  the  amount  of  about  five 
millions  sterling,  and  sells  to  foreign  states  to  the  amount  of 
upwards  of  twenty-one  millions  and  a  half.  Of  this  sum,  we  take 
a  little  upwards  of  a  million  and  a  half.  The  residue,  of  about 
twenty  millions,  she  must  sell  to  other  foreign  powers  than  to  the 
United  States.  Now  their  market  will  .continue  open  to  her,  as 
much  after  the  passage  of  this  bill,  as  before.  She  will  therefore 
require  from  us  the  raw  material  to  supply  their  consumption. 
But,  it  is  said,  she  may  refuse  to  purchase  it  of  us,  and  seek  a 
supply  elsewhere.  There  can  be  but  little  doubt  that  she  now  resorts 
to  us,  because  we  can  supply  her  more  cheaply  and  better  than 
any  other  country.  And  it  would  be  unreasonable  to  suppose  that 
she  would  cease,  from  any  pique  towards  us,  to  pursue  her  own 
interest.  Suppose  she  was  to  decline  purchasing  from  us.  The 
consequence  would  be,  that  she  would  lose  the  market  for  the 
twenty  millions  sterling,  which  she  now  sells  other  foreign  powers, 
or  enter  it  under  a  disadvantageous  competition  with  us,  or  with 
other  nations,  who  should  obtain  their  supplies  of  the  raw  material 
from  us.  If  there  should  be  any  diminution,  therefore,  in  the 
exportation  of  cotton,  it  would  only  be  in  the  proportion  of  about 
one  and  a  half  to  twenty;  that  is,  a  little  upwards  of  five  per 
centum ;  the  loss  of  a  market  for  which,  abroad,  would  be  fully 
compensated  by  the  market  for  the  article  created  at  home.  Lastly, 
I  would  observe,  that  the  new  application  of  our  industry,  produc- 


ON     AMERICAN     INDUSTRY.  461 

ing  new  objects  of  exportation,  and  they  possessing  much  greater 
value  than  in  the  raw  state,  we  should  be,  in  the  end,  amply 
indemnified  by  their  exportation.  Already  the  item  in  our  foreign 
exports  of  manufactures  is  considerable;  and  we  know  that  our 
cotton  fabrics  have  been  recently  exported  in  a  large  amount  to 
South  America,  where  they  maintain  a  successful  competition 
with  those  of  any  other  country. 

Third.  The  third  objection  to  the  tariff  is,  that  it  will  diminish 
our  navigation.  This  great  interest  deserves  every  encouragement, 
consistent  with  the  paramount  interest  of  agriculture.  In  the  order 
of  nature  it  is  secondary  to  both  agriculture  and  manufactures. 
Its  business  is  the  transportation  of  the  productions  of  those  two 
superior  branches  of  industry.  It  cannot  therefore  be  expected, 
that  they  shall  be  moulded  or  sacrificed  to  suit  its  purposes ;  but, 
on  the  contrary,  navigation  must  accommodate  itself  to  the  actual 
state  of  agriculture  and  manufactures.  If,  as  I  believe,  we  have 
nearly  reached  the  maximum  in  value  of  our  exports  of  raw 
produce  to  Europe,  the  effect  hereafter  will  be,  as  it  respects  that 
branch  of  our  trade,  if  we  persevere  in  the  foreign  system,  to  retain 
four  navigation  at  the  point  which  it  has  now  reached.  By  reducing, 
indeed,  as  will  probably  take  place,  the  price  of  our  raw  materials, 
a  further  quantity  of  them  could  be  exported,  and,  of  course, 
additional  employment  might,  in  that  way,  be  given  to  our  tonnage ; 
but  that  would  be  at  the  expense  of  the  agricultural  interest.  If  I 
am  right  in  supposing  that  no  effect  will  be  produced  by  this 
measure  upon  any  other  branch  of  our  export  trade,  but  that  to 
Europe;  that,  with  regard  to  that,  there  will  be  no  sensible  diminu- 
tion of  our  exports;  and  that  the  new  direction  given  to  a  portion 
of  our  industry  will  produce  other  objects  of  exportation  ;  the 
probability  is,  that  our  foreign  tonnage  will  be  even  increased 
under  the  operation  of  this  bill.  But,  if  I  am  mistaken  in  these 
views,  and  it  should  experience  any  reduction,  the  increase  in  our 
coasting  tonnage,  resulting  from  the  greater  activity  of  domestic 
exchanges,  will  more  than  compensate  the  injury.  Although  our 
navigation  partakes  in  the  general  distress  of  the  country,  it  is  less 
depressed  than  any  other  of  our  great  interests.  The  foreign 
tonnage  has  been  gradually,  though  slowly,  increasing,  since  1818. 
And  our  coasting  tonnage,  since  1816,  has  increased  upwards  of 
one  hundred  thousand  tons. 

Fourth.  It  is  next  contended  that  the  effect  of  the  measure  will  be 
to  diminish  our  foreign  commerce.  The  objection  assumes,  what  I 
have  endeavored  to  controvert,  that  there  will  be  a  reduction  in  the 
value  of  our  exports.  Commerce  is  an  exchange  of  commodities. 
Whatever  will  tend  to  augment  the  wealth  of  a  nation  must  in- 
crease its  capacity  to  make  these  exchanges.  By  new  productions, 
or  creating  new  values  in  the  fabricated  forms  which  shall  be  given 
to  old  objects  of  our  industry,  we  shall  give  to  commerce  a  fresh 


462  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

spring,  a  new  aliment.  The  foreign  commerce  of  the  country,  from 
causes,  some  of  which  I  have  endeavored  to  point  out,  has  been 
extended  as  far  as  it  can  be.  And  I  think  there  can  be  but  little 
doubt  that  the  balance  of  trade  is,  and  for  some  time  past  has  been, 
against  us.  I  was  surprised  to  hear  the  learned  gentleman  from 
Massachusetts  (Mr.  Webster)  rejecting,  as  a  detected  and  explo- 
ded fallacy,  the  idea  of  a  balance  of  trade.  I  have  not  time  nor 
inclination  now  to  discuss  that  topic.  But  I  will  observe,  that  all 
nations  act  upon  the  supposition  of  the  reality  of  its  existence,  and 
seek  to  avoid  a  trade,  the  balance  of  which  is  unfavorable,  and  to 
foster  that  which  presents  a  favorable  balance.  However  the 
account  be  made  up,  whatever  may  be  the  items  of  a  trade,  commod- 
ities, fishing  industry,  marine  labor,  the  carrying  trade,  all  of  which 
I  admit  should  be  comprehended,  there  can  be  no  doubt,  I  think, 
that  the  totality  of  the  exchanges  of  all  descriptions  made  by  one 
nation  with  another,  or  against  the  totality  of  the  exchanges  of  all 
other  nations  together,  may  be  such  as  to  present  the  state  of  an 
unfavorable  balance  with  the  one  or  with  all.  It  is  true  that,  in 
the  long  run,  the  measures  of  these  exchanges,  that  is,  the  totality 
in  value  of  what  is  given  and  of  what  is  received,  must  be  equal  to 
each  other.  But  great  distress  may  be  felt  long  before  the  coun- 
terpoise can  be  effected.  In  the  mean  time,  there  will  be  an  export 
of  the  precious  metals,  to  the  deep  injury  of  internal  trade,  an 
unfavorable  state  of  exchange,  an  export  of  public  securities,  a  resort 
to  credit,  debt,  mortgages.  Most  of,  if  not  all,  these  circumstances, 
are  believed  now  to  be  indicated  by  our  country,  in  its  foreign  com- 
mercial relations.  What  have  we  received,  for  example,  for  the 
public  stocks  sent  to  England?  Goods.  But  those  stocks  arc 
our  bond,  which  must  be  paid.  Although  the  solidity  of  the  credit 
of  the  English  public  securities  is  not  surpassed  by  that  of  our 
own,  strong  as  it  justly  is,  when  have  we  seen  English  stocks  sold 
in  our  market,  and  regularly  quoted  in  the  prices  current,  as  Amer- 
ican stocks  are  in  England?  An  unfavorable  balance  with  one 
nation,  may  be  made  up  by  a  favorable  balance  with  other  nations ; 
but  the  fact  of  the  existence  of  that  unfavorable  balance  is  strong 
presumptive  evidence  against  the  trade.  Commerce  will  regulate 
itself!  Yes,  and  the  extravagance  of  a  spendthrift  heir,  who  squan- 
ders the  rich  patrimony  which  has  descended  to  him,  will  regulate 
itself  ultimately.  But  it  ^will  be  a  regulation  which  will  exhibit 
him  in  the  end  safely  confined  within  the  walls  of  a  jail.  Com- 
merce will  regulate  itself!  But  is  it  not  the  duty  of  wise  govern- 
ments to  watch  its  course,  and,  beforehand,  to  provide  against  even 
distant  evils,  by  prudent  legislation  stimulating  the  industry  of 
their  own  people,  and  checking  the  policy  of  foreign  powers  as  it 
operates  on  them  ?  The  supply,  then,  of  the  subjects  of  foreign 
commerce,  no  less  than  the  supply  of  consumption  at  home,  re- 
quires of  us  to  give  a  portion  of  our  labor  such  a  direction  as  will 


ON     AMERICAN     INDUSTRY.  463 

enable  us  to  produce  them.  That  is  the  object  of  the  measure 
under  consideration,  and  I  cannot  doubt  that,  if  adopted,  it  will 
accomplish  its  object. 

Fifth.  The  fifth  objection  to  the  tariff  is,  that  it  will  diminish  the 
public  revenue,  disable  us  from  paying  the  public  debt,  and  finally 
compel  a  resort  to  a  system  of  excise  and  internal  taxation.  This 
objection  is  founded  upon  the  supposition  that  the  reduction  in  the 
importation  of  the  subjects,  on  which  the  increased  duties  are  to 
operate,  will  be  such  as  to  produce  the  alleged  effect.  All  this  is 
matter  of  mere  conjecture,  and  can  only  be  determined  by  experi- 
ment. I  have  very  little  doubt,  with  my  colleague,  (Mr.  Trimble,) 
that  the  revenue  will  be  increased  considerably,  for  some  years  at 
least,  under  the  operation  of  this  bill.  The  diminution  in  the  quan- 
tity imported  will  be  compensated  by  the  augmentation  of  the  duty. 
In  reference  to  the  article  of  molasses,  for  example,  if  the  import  of 
it  should  be  reduced  fifty  per  centum,  the  amount  of  duty  col- 
lected would  be  the  same  as  it  now  is.  But  it  will  not,  in  all 
probability,  be  reduced  by  any  thing  like  that  proportion.  And  then 
there  are  some  other  articles  which  will  continue  to  be  introduced 
in  as  large  quantities  as  ever,  notwithstanding  the  increase  of  duty, 
the  object  in  reference  to  them  being  revenue,  and  not  the  encour- 
agement of  domestic  manufactures.  Another  cause  will  render  the 
revenue  of  this  year,  in  particular,  much  more  productive  than  it 
otherwise  would  have  been  ;  and  that  is,  that  large  quantities  of 
goods  have  oeen  introduced  into  the  country,  in  anticipation  of  the 
adoption  of  this  measure.  The  eagle  does  not  dart  a  keener  gaze 
upon  his  intended  prey,  than  that  with  which  the  British  manufac- 
turer and  merchant  watches  the  foreign  market,  and  the  course 
even  of  our  elections  as  well  as  our  legislation.  The  passage  of 
this  bill  has  been  expected ;  and  all  our  information  is  that  the 
importations,  during  this  spring,  have  been  immense.  But,  further, 
the  measure  of  our  importations  is  that  of  our  exportations.  If  I 
am  right  in  supposing  that,  in  future,  the  amount  of  these,  in  the 
old  or  new  forms  of  the  produce  of  our  labor,  will  not  be  dimin- 
ished, but  probably  increased,  then  the  amount  of  our  importations, 
and  consequently  of  our  revenue,  will  not  be  reduced,  but  may  be 
extended.  If  these  ideas  be  correct,  there  will  be  no  inability 
on  the  part  of  government  to  extinguish  the  public  debt.  The 
payment  of  that  debt,  and  the  consequent  liberation  of  the  public 
resources  from  the  charge  of  it,  is  extremely  desirable.  No  one  is 
more  anxious  than  I  am  to  see  that  important  object  accomplished. 
But  I  entirely  concur  with  the  gentleman  from  Virginia,  (Mr. 
Barbour,)  in  thinking  that  no  material  sacrifice  of  any  of  the  great 
interests  of  the  nation  ought  to  be  made  to  effectuate  it.  Such  is  the 
elastic  and  accumulating  nature  of  our  public  resources,  from  the 
silent  augmentation  of  our  population,  that  if,  in  any  given  state  of 
the  public  revenue,  we  throw  ourselves  upon  a  couch  and  go  to 


464  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

sleep,  we  may,  after  a  short  time,  awake  with  an  ability  abundantly 
increased  to  redeem  any  reasonable  amount  of  public  debt  with 
which  we  may  happen  to  be  burdened.  The  public  debt  of  the 
United  States,  though  nominally  larger  now  than  it  was  in  the  year 
1791,  bears  really  no  sort  of  discouraging  comparison  to  its  amount 
at  that  time,  whatever  standard  we  may  choose  to  adopt  to  institute 
the  comparison.  It  was  in  1791  about  seventy-five  millions  of  dol- 
lars. It  is  now  about  ninety.  Then  we  had  a  population  of  about 
four  millions.  Now  we  have  upwards  of  ten  millions.  Then  we 
had  a  revenue  short  of  five  millions  of  dollars.  Now  our  revenue 
exceeds  twenty.  If  we  select  population  as  the  standard,  our  pres- 
ent population  is  one  hundred  and  fifty  per  centum  greater  than  it 
was  in  1791 ;  if  revenue,  that  is  four  times  more  now  than  at  the 
former  period ;  whilst  the  public  debt  has  increased  only  in  a  ratio 
of  twenty  per  centum.  A  public  debt  of  three  hundred  millions  of 
dollars,  at  the  present  day,  considering  our  actual  ability,  com- 
pounded both  of  the  increase  of  population  and  of  revenue,  would 
not  be  more  onerous  now  than  the  debt  of  seventy-five  millions  of 
dollars  was,  at  the  epoch  of  1791,  in  reference  to  the  same  circum- 
stances. If  I  am  right  in  supposing  that,  under  the  operation  of 
the  proposed  measure,  there  will  not  be  any  diminution,  but  a 
probable  increase  of  the  public  revenue,  there  will  be  no  difficulty 
in  defraying  the  current  expenses  of  government,  and  paying  the 
principal  as  well  as  the  interest  of  the  public  debt,  as  it  becomes  due. 
Let  us,  for  a  moment,  however,  indulge  the  improbable  supposition 
of  the  opponents  of  the  tariff,  that  there  will  be  a  reduction  of  the 
revenue  to  the  extent  of  the  most  extravagant  calculation  which  has 
been  made,  that  is  to  say,  to  the  extent  of  five  millions.  That  sum 
deducted,  we  shall  still  have  remaining  a  revenue  of  about  fifteen 
millions.  The  treasury  estimates  of  the  current  service  of  the  years 
1822,  1823,  and  1824,  exceeds,  each  year,  nine  millions.  The 
lapse  of  revolutionary  pensions,  and  judicious  retrenchments  which 
might  be  made,  without  detriment  to  any  of  the  essential  establish- 
ments of  the  country,  would  probably  reduce  them  below  nine  mil- 
lions. Let  us  assume  that  sum,  to  which  add  about  five  millions 
and  a  half  for  the  interest  of  the  public  debt,  and  the  wants  of  gov- 
ernment would  require  a  revenue  of  fourteen  and  a  half  millions, 
leaving  a  surplus  of  revenue  of  half  a  million  beyond  the  public 
expenditure.  Thus,  by  a  postponement  of  the  payment  of  the  prin- 
cipal of  the  public  debt,  in  which  the  public  creditors  would  gladly 
acquiesce,  and  confiding,  for  the  means  of  redeeming  it,  in  the 
necessary  increase  of  our  revenue  from  the  natural  augmentation 
of  our  population  and  consumption,  we  may  safely  adopt  the  pro- 
posed measure,  even  if  it  should  be  attended  (which  is  confidently 
denied)  with  the  supposed  diminution  of  revenue.  We  shall  not, 
then,  have  occasion  to  vary  the  existing  system  of  taxation  ;  we 
shall  be  under  no  necessity  to  resort  either  to  direct  taxes  or  to  an 


ON     AMERICAN     INDUSTRY.  465 

excise.  But,  suppose  the  alternative  were  really  forced  upon  us  of 
continuing  the  foreign  system,  with  its  inevitable  impoverishment 
of  the  country,  but  with  the  advantage  of  the  present  mode  of 
collecting  the  taxes,  or  of  adopting  the  American  system,  with  its 
increase  of  the  national  wealth,  but  with  the  disadvantage  of  an 
excise,  could  any  one  hesitate  between  them  ?  Customs  and  an 
excise  agree  in  the  essential  particulars,  that  they  are  both  taxes 
upon  consumption,  and  both  are  voluntary.  They  differ  only  in  the 
mode  of  collection.  The  office  for  the  collection  of  one  is  located 
on  the  frontier,  and  that  for  the  other  within  the  interior.  I  believe 
it  was  Mr.  Jefferson,  who,  in  reply  to  the  boast  of  a  citizen  of  New 
York  of  the  amount  of  the  public  revenue  paid  by  lhat  city,  asked 
who  would  pay  it,  if  the  collector's  office  were  removed  to  Paulus 
Hook,  on  the  New  Jersey  shore  ?  National  wealth  is  the  source  of  all 
taxation.  And,  my  word  for  it,  the  people  are  too  intelligent  to  be 
deceived  by  mere  names,  and  not  to  give  a  decided  preference  to 
that  system  which  is  based  upon  their  wealth  and  prosperity, 
rather  than  to  that  which  is  founded  upon  their  impoverishment 
and  ruin. 

Sixth.  But,  according  to  the  opponents  of  the  domestic  policy,  the 
proposed  system  will  force  capital  and  labor  into  new  and  reluc- 
tant employments ;  we  are  not  prepared,  in  consequence  of  the 
high  price  of  wages,  for  the  successful  establishment  of  manufac- 
tures, and  we  must  fail  in  the  experiment.  We  have  seen,  that  the 
existing  occupations  of  our  society,  those  of  agriculture,  commerce, 
navigation,  and  the  learned  professions,  are  overflowing  with 
competitors,  and  that  the  want  of  employment  is  severely  felt. 
Now  what  does  this  bill  propose  ?  To  open  a  new  and  extensive 
field  of  business,  in  which  all  that  choose  may  enter.  There  is  no 
compulsion  upon  any  one  to  engage  in  it.  An  option  only  is 
given  to  industry,  to  continue  in  the  present  unprofitable  pursuits, 
or  to  embark  in  a  new  and  promising  one.  The  effect  will  be,  to 
lessen  the  competition  in  the  old  branches  of  business,  and  to 
multiply  our  resources  for  increasing  our  comforts,  and  augment- 
ing the  national  wealth.  The  alleged  fact  of  the  high  price  of 
wages  is  not  admitted.  The  truth  is,  that  no  class  of  society 
suffers  more,  in  the  present  stagnation  of  business,  than  the  laboring 
class.  That  is  a  necessary  effect  of  the  depression  of  agricul- 
ture, the  principal  business  of  the  community.  The  wages  of 
able-bodied  men  vary  from  five  to  eight  dollars  per  month,  and 
such  has  been  the  want  of  employment,  in  some  parts  of  the  union, 
that  instances  have  not  been  unfrequent,  of  men  working  merely  for 
the  means  of  present  subsistence.  If  the  wages  for  labor  here  and  in 
England  are  compared,  they  will  be  found  not  to  be  essentially 
different.  I  agree  with  the  honorable  gentleman  from  Virginia, 
that  high  wages  are  a  proof  of  national  prosperity  ;  we  differ  only 
in  the  means  by  which  that  desirable  end  shall  be  attained.  But, 
vol.  i»  69 


466  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

if  the  fact  were  true,  that  the  wages  of  labor  are  high,  I  deny  the 
correctness  of  the  argument  founded  upon  it.  The  argument  as- 
sumes, that  natural  labor  is  the  principal  element  in  the  business 
of  manufacture.  That  was  the  ancient  theory.  But  the  valuable 
inventions  and  vast  improvements  in  machinery,  which  have  been 
made  within  a  few  past  years,  have  produced  a  new  era  in  the 
arts.  The  effect  of  this  change,  in  the  powers  of  production,  may 
be  estimated,  from  what  I  have  already  stated  in  relation  to  Eng- 
land, and  to  the  triumphs  of  European  artificial  labor  over  the 
natural  labor  of  Asia.  In  considering  the  fitness  of  a  nation  for  the 
establishment  of  manufactures,  we  must  no  longer  limit  our  views 
to  the  state  of  its  population,  and  the  price  of  wages.  All  cir- 
cumstances must  be  regarded,  of  which  that  is,  perhaps,  the  least 
important.  Capital,  ingenuity  in  the  construction  and  adroitness 
in  the  use  of  machinery,  and  the  possession  of  the  raw  materials, 
are  those  which  deserve  the  greatest  consideration.  All  these 
circumstances  (except  that  of  capital,  of  which  there  is  no 
deficiency,)  exist  in  our  country  in  an  eminent  degree,  and  more 
than  counterbalance  the  disadvantage,  if  it  really  existed,  of 
the  lower  wages  of  labor  in  Great  Britain.  The  dependence  upon 
foreign  nations  for  the  raw  material  of  any  great  manufacture,  has 
been  ever  considered  as  a  discouraging  fact.  The  state  of  our 
population  is  peculiarly  favorable  to  the  most  extensive  introduc- 
tion of  machinery.  We  have  no  prejudices  to  combat,  no  persons 
to  drive  out  of  employment.  The  pamphlet,  to  which  we  have 
had  occasion  so  often  to  refer,  in  enumerating  the  causes  which 
have  brought  in  England  their  manufactures  to  such  a  state  of 
perfection,  and  which  now  enable  them,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
writer,  to  defy  all  competition,  does  not  specify,  as  one  of  them, 
low  wages.  It  assigns  three  :  first,  capital ;  secondly,  extent  and 
costliness  of  machinery ;  and,  thirdly,  steady  and  persevering  in- 
dustry. Notwithstanding  the  concurrence  of  so  many  favorable 
causes,  in  our  country,  for  the  introduction  of  the  arts,  we  are 
earnestly  dissuaded  from  making  the  experiment,  and  our  ultimate 
failure  is  confidently  predicted.  Why  should  we  fail  ?  Nations, 
like  men,  fail  in  nothing  which  they  boldly  attempt,  when  sus- 
tained by  virtuous  purpose  and  firm  resolution.  I  am  not  willing 
to  admit  this  depreciation  of  American  skill  and  enterprise.  I  am 
not  willing  to  strike  before  an  effort  is  made.  All  our  past  history 
exhorts  us  to  proceed,  and  inspires  us  with  animating  hopes  of 
success.  Past  predictions  of  our  incapacity  have  failed,  and 
present  predictions  will  not  be  realized.  At  the  commencement 
of  this  government,  we  were  told  that  the  attempt  would  be  idle  to 
construct  a  marine  adequate  to  the  commerce  of  the  country,  or 
even  to  the  business  of  its  coasting  trade.  The  founders  of  our 
government  did  not  listen  to  these  discouraging  counsels;  and, 
behold  the  fruits  of  their  just  comprehension  of  our  resources.     Our 


ON     AMERICAN     INDUSTRY.  467 

restrictive  policy  was  denounced,  and  it  was  foretold  that  it  would 
utterly  disappoint  all  our  expectations.  But  our  restrictive  policy 
has  been  eminently  successful ;  and  the  share  which  our  naviga- 
tion now  enjoys  in  the  trade  with  France,  and  with  the  British 
West  India  islands,  attests  its  victory.  What  were  not  the  dis- 
heartening predictions  of  the  opponents  of  the  late  war  ?  Defeat, 
discomfiture,  and  disgrace,  were  to  be  the  certain,  but  not  the 
worst  effect  of  it.  Here,  again,  did  prophecy  prove  false ;  and  the 
energies  of  our  country,  and  the  valor  and  the  patriotism  of  our 
people,  carried  us  gloriously  through  the  war.  We  are  now,  and 
ever  will  be,  essentially  an  agricultural  people.  Without  a  ma- 
terial change  in  the  fixed  habits  of  the  country,  the  friends  of  this 
measure  desire  to  draw  to  it,  as  a  powerful  auxiliary  to  its  indus- 
try, the  manufacturing  arts.  The  difference  between  a  nation 
with  and  without  the  arts  may  be  conceived,  by  the  difference 
between  a  keel-boat  and  a  steam-boat,  combating  the  rapid  torrent 
of  the  Mississippi.  How  slow  does  the  former  ascend,  hugging 
the  sinuosities  of  the  shore,  pushed  on  by  her  hardy  and  exposed 
crew,  now  throwing  themselves  in  vigorous  concert  on  their  oars, 
and  then  seizing  the  pendant  boughs  of  overhanging  trees :  she 
seems  hardly  to  move  ;  and  her  scanty  cargo  is  scarcely  worth  the 
transportation  !  With  what  ease  is  she  not  passed  by  the  steam- 
boat, laden  with  the  riches  of  all  quarters  of  the  world,  with  a  crew 
of  gay,  cheerful,  and  protected  passengers,  now  dashing  into  the 
midst  of  the  current,  or  gliding  through  the  eddies  near  the  shore ! 
Nature  herself  seems  to  survey,  with  astonishment,  the  passing 
wonder,  and,  in  silent  submission,  reluctantly  to  own  the  magni- 
ficent triumphs,  in  her  own  vast  dominion,  of  Fulton's  immortal 
genius. 

Seventh.  But  it  is  said  that,  wherever  there  is  a  concurrence  of 
favorable  circumstances,  manufactures  will  arise  of  themselves, 
without  protection  ;  and  that  we  should  not  disturb  the  natural 
progress  of  industry,  but  leave  things  to  themselves.  If  all  nations 
would  modify  their  policy  on  this  axiom,  perhaps  it  would  be  better 
for  the  common  good  of  the  whole.  Even  then,  in  consequence 
of  natural  advantages  and  a  greater  advance  in  civilization  and 
in  the  arts,  some  nations  would  enjoy  a  state  of  much  higher  pros- 
perity than  others.  But  there  is  no  universal  legislation.  The 
globe  is  divided  into  different  communities,  each  seeking  to  appro- 
priate to  itself  all  the  advantages  it  can,  without  reference  to  the 
prosperity  of  others.  Whether  this  is  right  or  not,  it  has  always 
been,  and  ever  will  be  the  case.  Perhaps  the  care  of  the  interests 
of  one  people  is  sufficient  for  all  the  wisdom  of  one  legislature  ; 
and  that  it  is  among  nations  as  among  individuals,  that  the  happi- 
ness of  the  whole  is  best  secured  by  each  attending  to  its  own 
peculiar  interests.  The  proposition  to  be  maintained  by -our  ad- 
versaries is,  that  manufactures,  without  protection,  will  in  due  time 


468  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

spring  up  in  our  country,  and  sustain  themselves,  in  a  competition 
with  foreign  fabrics,  however  advanced  the  arts,  and  whatever  the 
degree  of  protection  may  be  in  foreign  countries.  Now  I  contend, 
that  this  proposition  is  refuted  by  all  experience,  ancient  and 
modern,  and  in  every  country.  If  I  am  asked,  why  unprotected 
industry  should  not  succeed  in  a  struggle  with  protected  industry, 
I  answer,  the  fact  has  ever  been  so, and  that  is  sufficient;  I  reply, 
that  uniform  experience  evinces  that  it  cannot  succeed  in  such  an 
unequal  contest,  and  that  is  sufficient.  If  we  speculate  on  the 
causes  of  this  universal  truth,  we  may  differ  about  them.  Still  the 
indisputable  fact  remains.  And  we  should  be  as  unwise  in  not 
availing  ourselves  of  the  guide  which  it  furnishes,  as  a  man  would 
be,  who  should  refuse  to  bask  in  the  rays  of  the  sun,  because  he 
could  not  agree  with  judge  Woodward  as  to  the  nature  of  the 
substance  of  that  planet,  to  which  we  are  indebted  for  heat  and 
light.  If  I  were  to  attempt  to  particularize  the  causes  which 
prevent  the  success  of  the  manufacturing  arts,  without  protection, 
I  should  say  that  they  are,  first,  the  obduracy  of  fixed  habits.  No 
nation,  no  individual,  will  easily  change  an  established  course  of 
business,  even  if  it  be  unprofitable  ;  and  least,  of  all  is  an  agricul- 
tural people  prone  to  innovation.  With  what  reluctance  do  they 
not  adopt  improvements  in  the  instruments  of  husbandry,  or  in 
modes  of  cultivation  !  If  the  farmer  makes  a  good  crop,  and  sells 
it  badly  ;  or  makes  a  short  crop ;  buoyed  up  by  hope  he  perse- 
veres, and  trusts  that  a  favorable  change  of  the  market,  or  of  the 
seasons,  will  enable  him,  in  the  succeeding  year,  to  repair  the  mis- 
fortunes of  the  past.  Secondly,  the  uncertainty,  fluctuation,  and 
unsteadiness  of  the  home  market,  when  liable  to  an  unrestricted 
influx  of  fabrics  from  all  foreign  nations;  and,  thirdly,  the  superior 
advance  of  skill,  and  amount  of  capital,  which  foreign  nations 
have  obtained,  by  the  protection  of  their  own  industry.  From  the 
latter,  or  from  other  causes,  the  unprotected  manufactures  of  a 
country  are  exposed  to  the  ganger  of  being  crushed  in  their  in- 
fancy, either  by  the  design  or  from  the  necessities  of  foreign  man- 
ufacturers. Gentlemen  are  incredulous  as  to  the  attempts  of 
foreign  merchants  and  manufacturers  to  accomplish  the  destruc- 
tion of  ours.  Why  should  they  not  make  such  attempts?  If  the 
Scottish  manufacturer,  by  surcharging  our  market,  in  one  year, 
with  the  article  of  cotton  bagging,  for  example,  should  so  reduce 
the  price  as  to  discourage  and  put  down  the  home  manufacture, 
he  would  secure  to  himself  the  monopoly  of  the  supply.  And  now, 
having  the  exclusive  possession  of  the  market,  perhaps  for  a  long 
term  of  years,  he  might  be  more  than  indemnified  for  his  first  loss, 
in  the  subsequent  rise  in  the  price  of  the  article.  W^hat  have  we 
not  seen  under  our  own  eyes!  The  competition  for  the  transporta- 
tion of  the  mail,  between  this  place  and  Baltimore,  so  excited,  that 
to  obtain  it  an  individual  offered,  at  great  loss,  to  carry  it  a  whole 


ON     AMERICAN     INDUSTRY.  469 

year  for  one  dollar!  His  calculation  no  doubt  was,  that,  by  driving 
his  competitor  off  the  road,  and  securing  to  himself  the  carriage  of 
the  mail,  he  would  be  afterwards  able  to  repair  his  original  loss  by 
new  contracts  with  the  department.  But  the  necessities  of  foreign 
manufacturers,  without  imputing  to  them  any  sinister  design,  may 
oblige  them  to  throw  into  our  markets  the  fabrics  which  have 
accumulated  on  their  hands,  in  consequence  of  obstruction  in  the 
ordinary  vents,  or  from  over-calculation ;  and  the  forced  sales,  at 
losing  prices,  may  prostrate  our  establishments.  From  this  view 
of  the  subject,  it  follows,  that,  if  we  would  place  the  industry  of  our 
country  upon  a  solid  and  unshakable  foundation,  we  must  adopt 
the  protecting  policy,  which  has  every  where  succeeded,  and  reject 
that  which  would  abandon  it,  which  has  every  where  failed. 

Eighth.  But  if  the  policy  of  protection  be  wise,  the  gentle- 
man from  Virginia  (Mr.  Barbour)  has  made  some  ingenious 
calculations,  to  prove  that  the  measure  of  protection,  already 
extended,  has  been  sufficiently  great.  With  some  few  exceptions, 
the  existing  duties,  of  which  he  has  made  an  estimate,  were  laid 
with  the  object  of  revenue,  and  without  reference  to  that  of 
encouragement  to  our  domestic  industry;  and  although  it  is 
admitted  that  the  incidental  effect  of  duties,  so  laid,  is  to  promote 
our  manufactures,  yet,  if  it  falls  short  of  competent  protection,  the 
duties  might  as  well  not  have  been  imposed,  with  reference  to  that 
purpose.  A  moderate  addition  may  accomplish  this  desirable 
end ;  and  the  proposed  tariff  is  believed  to  have  this  character. 

Ninth.  The  prohibitory  policy,  it  is  confidently  asserted,  is 
condemned  by  the  wisdom  of  Europe,  and  by  her  most  enlightened 
statesmen.  Is  this  the  fact  ?  We  call  upon  gentlemen  to  show 
in  wThat  instance  a  nation  that  has  enjoyed  its  benefits  has  surren- 
dered it.  [Here  Mr.  Barbour  rose  (Mr.  Clay  giving  way)  and 
said,  that  England  had  departed  from  it  in  the  China  trade,  in 
allowing  us  to  trade  with  her  East  India  possessions,  and  in  tolera- 
ting our  navigation  to  her  West  India  colonies.]  With  respect  to  the 
trade  to  China,  the  whole  amount  of  what  England  has  done,  is, 
to  modify  the  monopoly  of  the  East  India  company,  in  behalf  of 
one  and  a  small  part  of  her  subjects,  to  increase  the  commerce  of 
another  and  the  greater  portion  of  them.  The  abolition  of  the 
restriction,  therefore,  operates  altogether  among  the  subjects  of 
England ;  and  does  not  touch  at  all  the  interests  of  foreign  powers. 
The  toleration  of  our  commerce  to  British  India,  is  for  the  sake  of 
the  specie,  with  which  we  mainly  carry  on  that  commerce,  and 
which,  having  performed  its  circuit,  returns  to  Great  Britain  in 
exchange  for  British  manufactures.  The  relaxation  from  the 
colonial  policy,  in  the  instance  of  our  trade  and  navigation  with 
the  West  Indies,  is  a  most  unfortunate  example  for  the  honorable 
gentleman ;  for  in  it  is  an  illustrious  proof  of  the  success  of  our 
restrictive  policy,  when  resolutely  adhered  to.     Great  Britain  had 


470  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

prescribed  the  terms  on  which  we  were  to  be  graciously  allowed 
to  carry  on  that  trade.  The  effect  of  her  regulations  was,  to  exclude 
our  navigation  altogether,  and  a  complete  monopoly,  on  the  part 
of  the  British  navigation,  was  secured.  We  forbade  it,  unless  our 
vessels  should  be  allowed  a  perfect  reciprocity.  Great  Britain 
stood  out  a  long  time,  but  finally  yielded,  and  our  navigation  now 
fairly  shares  with  hers  in  the  trade.  Have  gentlemen  no  other  to 
exhibit  than  these  trivial  relaxations  from  the  prohibitory  policy, 
which  do  not  amount  to  a  drop  in  the  bucket,  to  prove  its  abandon- 
ment by  Great  Britain?  Let  them  show  us  that  her  laws  are 
repealed  which  prohibit  the  introduction  of  our  flour  and  provisions ; 
of  French  silks,  laces,  porcelain,  manufactures  of  bronze,  mirrors, 
woollens  ;  and  of  the  manufactures  of  all  other  nations ;  and  then, 
we  may  be  ready  to  allow  that  Great  Britain  has  really  abolished 
her  prohibitory  policy.  We  find  there,  on  the  contrary,  that 
system  of  policy  in  full  and  rigorous  operation,  and  a  most 
curiously  interwoven  system  it  is,  as  she  enforces  it.  She  begins 
by  protecting  all  parts  of  her  immense  dominions  against  foreign 
nations.  She  then  protects  the  parent  country  against  the  colonies ; 
and,  finally,  one  part  of  the  parent  country  against  another.  The 
sagacity  of  Scotch  industry  has  carried  the  process  of  distillation 
to  a  perfection,  which  would  place  the  art  in  England  on  a  footing 
of  disadvantageous  competition,  and  English  distillation  has  been 
protected  accordingly.  But  suppose  it  were  even  true  that  Great 
Britain  had  abolished  all  restrictions  upon  trade,  and  allowed  the 
freest  introduction  of  the  produce-  of  foreign  labor,  would  that 
prove  it  unwise  for  us  to  adopt  the  protecting  system?  The 
object  of  protection  is  the  establishment  and  perfection  of  the  arts. 
In  England  it  has  accomplished  its  purpose,  fulfilled  its  end.  If 
she  has  not  carried  every  branch  of  manufacture  to  the  same  high 
state  of  perfection  that  any  other  nation  has,  she  has  succeeded  in 
so  many,  that  she  may  safely  challenge  the  most  unshackled 
competition  in  exchanges.  It  is  upon  this  very  ground  that  many 
of  her  writers  recommend  an  abandonment  of  the  prohibitory 
system.  It  is  to  give  greater  scope  to  British  industry  and  enter- 
prise. It  is  upon  the  same  selfish  principle.  The  object  of  the 
most  perfect  freedom  of  trade,  with  such  a  nation  as  Britain,  and 
of  the  most  rigorous  system  of  prohibition,  with  a  nation  whose 
arts  are  in  their  infancy,  may  both  be  precisely  the  same.  In  both 
cases,  it  is  to  give  greater  expansion  to  native  industry.  They 
only  differ  in  the  theatres  of  their  operation.  The  abolition  of  the 
restrictive  system  by  Britain,  if  by  it  she  could  prevail  upon  other 
nations  to  imitate  her  example,  would  have  the  effect  of  extending 
the  consumption  of  British  produce  in  other  countries,  where  her 
writers  boldly  affirm  it  could  maintain  a  fearless  competition  with 
the  produce  of  native  labor.  The  adoption  of  the  restrictive  system, 
on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  by  excluding  the  produce  of  foreign 


ON     AMERICAN     INDUSTRY.  471 

labor,  would  extend  the  consumption  of  American  produce,  unable, 
in  the  infancy  and  unprotected  state  of  the  arts,  to  sustain  a  com- 
petition with  foreign  fabrics.  Let  our  arts  breathe  under  the 
shade  of  protection ;  let  them  be  perfected,  as  they  are  in  England, 
and  we  shall  then  be  ready,  as  England  now  is  said  to  be,  to  put 
aside  protection,  and  to  enter  upon  the  freest  exchanges.  To  what 
other  cause,  than  to  their  whole  prohibitory  policy,  can  you  ascribe 
British  prosperity  ?  It  will  not  do  to  assign  it  to  that  of  her 
antiquity ;  for  France  is  no  less  ancient ;  though  much  less  rich 
and  powerful,  in  proportion  to  the  population  and  natural  advanta- 
ges of  France.  Hallam,  a  sensible  and  highly  approved  writer  on 
the  middle  ages,  assigns  the  revival  of  the  prosperity  of  the  north 
of  Europe  to  the  success  of  the  woollen  manufactories  of  Flanders, 
and  the  commerce  of  which  their  fabrics  became  the  subject ;  and 
the  commencement  of  that  of  England  to  the  establishment  of 
similar  manufactures  there  under  the  Edwards,  and  to  the  prohibi- 
tions which  began  about  the  same  time.  As  to  the  poor-rates,  the 
theme  of  so  much  reproach  without  England,  and  of  so  much 
regret  within  it,  among  her  speculative  writers,  the  system  was  a 
strong  proof,  no  less  of  her  unbounded  wealth  than  of  her  pauper- 
ism. What  other  nation  can  dispense,  in  the  form  of  regulated 
charity,  the  enormous  sum,  I  believe,  of  ten  or  twelve  millions 
sterling?  [Mr.  Barbour  stated  it  was  reduced  to  six;  to  which  Mr. 
Clay  replied,  that  he  entertained  no  doubt,  but  that  the  benign 
operation  of  British  protection  of  home  industry,  had  greatly 
reduced  it  within  the  last  few  years,  by  the  full  employment  of  her 
subjects,  of  which  her  flourishing  trade  bore  evidence.]  The 
number  of  British  paupers  was  the  result  of  pressing  the  principle 
of  population  to  its  utmost  limits,  by  her  protecting  policy,  in  the 
creation  of  wealth,  and  in  placing  the  rest  of  the  world  under 
tribute  to  her  industry.  Doubtless  the  condition  of  England  would 
be  better,  without  paupers,  if  in  other  respects  it  remained  the  same. 
But  in  her  actual  circumstances,  the  poor  system  has  the  salutary 
effect  of  an  equalizing  corrective  of  the  tendency  to  the  concentra- 
tion of  riches,  produced  by  the  genius  of  her  political  institutions 
and  by  her  prohibitory  system. 

But  is  it  true,  that  England  is  convinced  of  the  impolicy  of  the 
prohibitory  system,  and  desirous  to  abandon  it  ?  What  proof  have 
we  to  that  effect  ?  We  are  asked  to  reject  the  evidence  deducible 
from  the  settled  and  steady  practice  of  England,  and  to  take  lessons 
in  a  school  of  philosophical  writers,  whose  visionary  theories  are 
no  where  adopted;  or,  if  adopted,  bring  with  them  inevitable 
distress,  impoverishment,  and  ruin.  Let  us  hear  the  testimony  of 
an  illustrious  personage,  entitled  to  the  greatest  attention,  because 
he  speaks  after  the  full  experiment  of  the  unrestrictive  system  made 
in  his  own  empire.  I  hope  I  shall  give  no  offence  in  quoting  from 
a  publication  issued  from  '  the  mint  of  Philadelphia;'  from  a  work 


472  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

of  Mr.  Carey,  of  whom  I  seize,  with  great  pleasure,  the  occasion 
to  say,  that  he  merits  the  public  gratitude,  for  the  disinterested 
diligence  with  which  he  has  collected  a  large  mass  of  highly  useful 
facts,  and  for  the  clear  and  convincing  reasoning  with  which  he 
generally  illustrates  them.  PJhe  emperor  of  Russia,  in  March,  1822, 
after  about  two  years  triaiof  the  free  system,  says,  through  count 
Nesselrode : 

*  To  produce  happy  effects,  the  principles  of  commercial  freedom 
must  be  generally  adopted.  The  state  which  adopts,  whilst  others 
reject  them,  must  condemn  its  own  industry  and  commerce,  to  pay 
a  ruinous  tribute  to  those  of  other  nations.' 

'  From  a  circulation  exempt  from  restraint,  and  the  facility 
afforded  by  reciprocal  exchanges,  almost  all  the  governments  at 
first  resolved  to  seek  the  means  of  repairing  the  evil  which  Europe 
had  been  doomed  to  suffer;  but  experience,  and  more  correct 
calculations,  because  they  were  made  from  certain  data,  and  upon 
the  results  already  known  of  the  peace  that  had  just  taken  place, 
forced  them  soon  to  adhere  to  the  prohibitory  system. 

'  England  preserved  hers.  Austria  remained  faithful  to  the  rule 
she  had  laid  down,  to  guard  herself  against  the  rivalship  of  foreign 
industry.  France,  with  the  same  views,  adopted  the  most  rigorous 
measures  of  precaution.  And  Prussia  published  a  new  tariff  in 
October  last,  which  proves  that  she  found  it  impossible  not  to 
follow  the  example  of  the  rest  of  Europe.' 

1  In  proportion  as  the  prohibitory  system  is  extended  and  rendered 
perfect  in  other  countries,  that  state  which  pursues  the  contrary 
system,  makes,  from  day  to  day,  sacrifices  more  extensive  and 
more  considerable.  *  *  *  It  offers  a  continual 

encouragement  to  the  manufactures  of  other  countries,  and  its  own 
manufactures  perish  in  the  struggle  which  they  are,  as  yet,  unable 
to  maintain. 

'  It  is  with  the  most  lively  feelings  of  regret  we  acknowledge  it 
is  our  own  proper  experience  which  enables  us  to  trace  this  picture. 
The  evils  which  it  details  have  been  realized  in  Russia  and 
Poland,  since  the  conclusion  of  the  act  of  the  seventh  and  nine- 
teenth of  December,  1818.  ^^Agriculture  without  a  market,  industry 
ivithout  protection,  languish  and  decline.  Specie  is  exported,  and 
the  most  solid  commercial  houses  are  shaken.  The  public 
prosperity  would  soon  feel  the  wound  inflicted  on  private  fortunes, 
if  new  regulations  did  not  promptly  change  the  actual  state  of 
affairs. 

*■  Events  have  proved,  that  our  agriculture  and  our  commerce,  as 
well  as  our  manufacturing,  industry,  are  not  only  paralysed,  but 
brought  to  the  brink  of  ruinTj 

The  example  of  Spain  has  been  properly  referred  to,  as 
affording  a  striking  proof  of  the  calamities  which  attend  a  state 
that  abandons  the  care  of  its  own  internal  industry.     Her  pros- 


ON     AMERICAN     INDUSTRY.  473 

perity  was  the  greatest  when  the  arts,  brought  there  by  the  Moors, 
flourished  most  in  that  kingdom.  Then  she  received  from  Eng- 
land her  wool,  and  returned  it  in  the  manufactured  state ;  and  then 
England  was  least  prosperous.  The  two  nations  have  reversed 
conditions.  Spain,  after  the  discovery  of  America,  yielding  to  an 
inordinate  passion  for  the  gold  of  the  Indies,  sought  in  their  mines 
that  wealth  which  might  have  been  better  created  at  home.  Can 
the  remarkable  difference  in  the  state  of  the  prosperity  of  the  two 
countries  be  otherwise  explained,  than  by  the  opposite  systems 
which  they  pursued?  England,  by  a  sedulous  attention  to  her 
home  industry,  supplied  the  means  of  an  advantageous  commerce 
with  her  colonies.  Spain,  by  an  utter  neglect  of  her  domestic 
resources,  confided  altogether  in  those  which  she  derived  from  her 
colonies,  and  presents  an  instance  of  the  greatest  adversity. 
Her  colonies  were  infinitely  more  valuable  than  those  of  England ; 
and,  if  she  had  adopted  a  similar  policy,  is  it  unreasonable  to 
suppose  that,  in  wealth  and  power,  she  would  have  surpassed  that 
of  England?  I  think  the  honorable  gentleman  from  Virginia 
does  great  injustice  to  the  catholic  religion,  in  specifying  that  as 
one  of  the  leading  causes  of  the  decline  of  Spain.  It  is  a  religion 
entitled  to  great  respect;  and  there  is  nothing  in  its  character 
incompatible  with  the  highest  degree  of  national  prosperity.  Is 
not  France,  the  most  polished,  in  many  other  respects  the  most 
distinguished  state,  of  Christendom,  catholic  ?  Is  not  Flanders,  the 
most  populous  part  of  Europe,  also  catholic?  Are  the  catholic 
parts  of  Switzerland  and  of  Germany  less  prosperous  than  those 
which  are  protestant? 

Tenth.  The  next  objection  of  the  honorable  gentleman  from 
Virginia,  which  I  shall  briefly  notice,  is,  that  the  manufacturing 
system  is  adverse  to  the  genius  of  our  government,  in  its  tendency 
to  the  accumulation  of  large  capitals  in  a  few  hands;  in  the 
corruption  of  the  public  morals,  which  is  alleged  to  be  incident  to 
it ;  and  in  the  consequent  danger  to  the  public  liberty.  The  first 
part  of  the  objection  would  apply  to  every  lucrative  business,  to 
commerce,  to  planting,  and  to  the  learned  professions.  Would  the 
gentleman  introduce  the  system  of  Lycurgus?  If  his  principle  be 
correct,  it  should  be  extended  to  any  and  every  vocation  which  had 
a  similar  tendency.  The  enormous  fortunes  in  our  country  —  the 
nabobs  of  the  land  —  have  been  chiefly  made  by  the  profitable 
pursuit  of  that  foreign  commerce,  in  more  propitious  times,  which 
the  honorable  gentleman  would  so  carefully  cherish.  Immense 
estates  have  also  been  made  in  the  south.  The  dependents  are, 
perhaps,  not  more  numerous  upon  that  wealth  which  is  accumu- 
lated in  manufactures,  than  they  are  upon  that  which  is  acquired 
by  commerce  and  by  agriculture.  We  may  safely  confide  in  the 
laws  of  distributions,  and  in  the  absence  of  the  rule  of  primogeni- 
ture, for  the  dissipation,  perhaps  too  rapid^  of  large  fortunes.    What 

VOL.  I; 


474  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

has  become  of  those  which  were  held  two  or  three  generations  back 
in  Virginia  ?  Many  of  the  descendants  of  the  ancient  aristocracy, 
as  it  was  called,  of  that  state,  are  now  in  the  most  indigent  condi- 
tion. The  best  security  against  the  demoralization  of  society,  is 
the  constant  and  profitable  employment  of  its  members.  The 
greatest  danger  to  public  liberty  is  from  idleness  and  vice.  If 
manufactures  form  cities,  so  does  commerce.  And  the  disorders 
and  violence  which  proceed  from  the  contagion  of  the  passions,  are 
as  frequent  in  one  description  of  those  communities  as  in  the  other. 
There  is  no  doubt  but  that  the  yeomanry  of  a  country  is  the  safest 
depository  of  public  liberty.  In  all  time  to  come,  and  under  any 
probable  direction  of  the  labor  of  our  population,  the  agricultural 
class  must  be  much  the  most  numerous  and  powerful,  and  will 
ever  retain,  as  it  ought  to  retain,  a  preponderating  influence  in  our 
councils.  The  extent  and  the  fertility  of  our  lands  constitute  an 
adequate  security  against  an  excess  in  manufactures,  and  also 
against  oppression,  on  the  part  of  capitalists,  towards  the  laboring 
portions  of  the  community. 

Eleventh.  The  last  objection,  with  a  notice  of  which  I  shall 
trouble  the  committee,  is,  that  the  constitution  does  not  authorize 
the  passage  of  the  bill.  The  gentleman  from  Virginia  does  not 
assert,  indeed,  that  it  is  inconsistent  with  the  express  provisions  of 
that  instrument,  but  he  thinks  it  incompatible  with  the  spirit  of  the 
constitution.  If  we  attempt  to  provide  for  the  internal  improve- 
ment of  the  country,  the  constitution,  according  to  some  gentlemen, 
stands  in  our  way.  If  we  attempt  to  protect  American  industry 
against  foreign  policy  and  the  rivalry  of  foreign  industry,  the 
constitution  presents  an  insuperable  obstacle.  This  constitution 
must  be  a  most  singular  instrument !  It  seems  to  be  made  for  any 
other  people  than  our  own.  Its  action  is  altogether  foreign. 
Congress  has  power  to  lay  duties  and  imposts,  under  no  other 
limitation  whatever  than  that  of  their  being  uniform  throughout  the 
United  States.  But  they  can  only  be  imposed,  according  to  the 
honorable  gentleman,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  revenue.  This  is  a 
restriction  which  we  do  not  find  in  the  constitution.  No  doubt 
revenue  was  a  principal  object  with  the  framers  of  the  constitution 
in  investing  congress  with  the  power.  But,  in  executing  it, 
may  not  the  daties  and  imposts  be  so  laid  as  to  secure  domestic 
interests  ?  Or  is  congress  denied  all  discretion  as  to  the  amount 
or  the  distribution  of  the  duties  and  imposts  ? 

The  gentleman  from  Virginia  has,  however,  entirely  mistaken 
the  clause  of  the  constitution  on  which  we  rely.  It  is  that  which 
gives  to  congress  the  power  to  regulate  commerce  with  foreign 
nations.  The  grant  is  plenary,  without  any  limitation  whatever, 
and  includes  the  whole  power  of  regulation,  of  which  the  subject 
to  be  regulated  is  susceptible.  It  is  as  full  and  complete  a  grant 
of  the  power,  as  that  is  to  declare  war.     What  is  a  regulation  of 


ON     AMERICAN     INDUSTRY.  475 

commerce  ?  It  implies  the  admission  or  exclusion  of  the  object 
of  it,  and  the  terms.  Under  this  power  some  articles,  by  the 
existing  laws,  are  admitted  freely ;  others  are  subjected  to  duties  so 
high  as  to  amount  to  their  prohibition,  and  various  rates  of  duties 
are  applied  to  others.  Under  this  power,  laws  of  total  non-inter- 
course with  some  nations,  embargoes,  producing  an  entire  cessation 
of  commerce  with  all  foreign  countries,  have  been,  from  time  to 
time,  passed.  These  laws,  I  have  no  doubt,  met  with  the  entire 
approbation  of  the  gentleman  from  Virginia.  [Mr.  Barbour  said 
that  he  was  not  in  congress.]  Wherever  the  gentleman  was, 
whether  on  his  farm  or  in  the  pursuit  of  that  profession  of  which 
he  is  an  ornament,  I  have  no  doubt  that  he  gave  his  zealous  support 
to  the  laws  referred  to. 

The  principle  of  the  system  under  consideration,  has  the  sanc- 
tion of  some  of  the  best  and  wisest  men,  in  all  ages,  in  foreign 
countries  as  well  as  in  our  own  —  of  the  Edwards,  of  Henry  the 
Great,  of  Elizabeth,  of  the  Colberts,  abroad;  of  our  Franklin, 
Jefferson,  Madison,  Hamilton,  at  home.  But  it  comes  recom- 
mended to  us  by  a  higher  authority  than  any  of  these,  illustrious  as 
they  unquestionably  are  —  by  the  master-spirit  of  the  age  —  that 
extraordinary  man,  who  has  thrown  the  Alexanders  and  the  Caesars 
infinitely  further  behind  him  than  they  stood  in  advance  df  the 
most  eminent  of  their  predecessors  —  that  singular  man,  who, 
whether  he  was  seated  on  his  imperial  throne,  deciding  the  fate  of 
nations  and  allotting  kingdoms  to  the  members  of  his  family,  with 
the  same  composure,  if  not  with  the  same  affection,  as  that  with  which 
a  Virginia  father  divides  his  plantations  among  his  children,  or  on 
the  miserable  rock  of  St.  Helena,  to  which  he  was  condemned  by 
the  cruelty  and  the  injustice  of  his  unworthy  victors,  is  equally  an 
object  of  the  most  intense  admiration.  He  appears  to  have 
comprehended,  with  the  rapidity  of  intuition,  the  true  interests  of  a 
state,  and  to  have  been  able,  by  the  turn  of  a  single  expression,  to 
develope  the  secret  springs  of  the  policy  of  cabinets.  We  find 
that  Las  Cases  reports  him  to  have  said : 

1  He  opposed  the  principles  of  economists,  which  he  said  were 
correct  in  theory  though  erroneous  in  their  application.  The 
political  constitution  of  different  states,  continued  he,  must  render 
these  principles  defective ;  local  circumstances  continually  call  for 
deviations  from  their  uniformity.  Duties,  he  said,  which  were  so 
severely  condemned  by  political  economists,  should  not,  it  is  true, 
be  an  object  to  the  treasury;  they  should  be  the  guaranty  and 
protection  of  a  nation,  and  should  correspond  with  the  nature  and 
the  objects  of  its  trade.  Holland,  which  is  destitute  of  productions 
and  manufactures,  and  which  was  a  trade  only  of  transit  and 
commission,  should  be  free  of  all  fetters  and  barriers.  France,  on 
the  contrary,  which  is  rich  in  every  sort  of  production  and  manu- 
factures, should  incessantly  guard  against  the  importations  of  a 


476  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

rival,  who  might  still  continue  superior  to  her,  and  also  against  the 
cupidity,  egotism,  and  indifference,  of  mere  brokers. 

1  I  have  not  fallen  into  the  error  of  modern  systematizers,'  said 
the  emperor,  '  who  imagine  that  all  the  wisdom  of  nations  is 
centred  in  themselves.  Experience  is  the  true  wisdom  of  nations. 
And  what  does  all  the  reasoning  of  economists  amount  to  ?  They 
incessantly  extol  ihe  prosperity  of  England,  and  hold  her  up  as  our 
model ;  but  the  custom-house  system  is  more  burdensome  and 
arbitrary  in  England  than  in  any  other  country.  They  also 
condemn  prohibitions;  yet  it  was  England  set  the  example  of 
prohibitions;  and  they  are  in  fact  necessary  with  regard  to  certain 
objects.  Duties  cannot  adequately  supply  the  place  of  prohibitions  ; 
there  will  always  be  found  means  to  defeat  the  object  of  the  legis- 
lator. In  France  we  are  still  very  far  behind  on  these  delicate 
points,  which  are  still  unperceived  or  ill  understood  by  the  mass  of 
society.  Yet,  what  advancement  have  we  not  made;  what 
correctness  of  ideas  has  been  introduced  by  my  gradual  classifica- 
tion of  agriculture,  industry,  and  trade;  objects  so  distinct  in 
themselves,  and  which  present  so  great  and  positive  a  graduation! 

'  First.     Agriculture ;  the  soul,  the  first  basis,  of  the  empire. 

'Second.  Industry;  the  comfort  and  happiness  of  the  popu- 
lation. 

'  Third.  Foreign  trade ;  the  superabundance,  the  proper  appli- 
cation, of  the  surplus  of  agriculture  and  industry. 

1  Agriculture  was  continually  improving  during  the  whole  course 
of  the  revolution.  Foreigners  thought  it  ruined  in  France.  In 
1814,  however,  the  English  were  compelled  to  admit  that  we  had 
little  or  nothing  to  learn  from  them. 

'  Industry  or  manufactures,  and  internal  trade,  made  immense 
progress  during  my  reign.  The  application  of  chemistry  to  the 
manufactures,  caused  them  to  advance  with  giant  strides.  I  gave 
an  impulse,  the  effects  of  which,  extended  throughout  Europe. 

1  Foreign  trade,  which,  in  its  results,  is  infinitely  inferior  to 
agriculture,  was  an  object  of  subordinate  importance  in  my  mind. 
Foreign  trade  is  made  for  agriculture  and  home  industry,  and  not 
the  two  latter  for  the  former.  The  interests  of  these  three  funda- 
mental cases  are  diverging  and  frequently  conflicting.  I  always 
promoted  them  in  their  natural  gradation,  but  I  could  not  and 
ought  not  to  have  ranked  them  all  on  an  equality.  Time  will 
unfold  what  I  have  done,  the  national  resources  which  I  created, 
and  the  emancipation  from  the  English  which  I  brought  about. 
We  have  now  the  secret  of  the  commercial  treaty  of  1783.  France 
still  exclaims  against  its  author;  but  the  English  demanded  it  on 
pain  of  resuming  the  war.  They  wished  to  do  ihe  same  after  the 
treaty  of  Amiens,  but  I  was  then  all-powerful ;  I  was  a  hundred 
cubits  high.  I  replied,  that  if  they  were  in  possession  of  the 
heights  of  Montmartre  I  would  still  refuse  to  sign  the  treaty. 
These  words  were  echoed  through  Europe. 


ON     AMERICAN     INDUSTRY.  477 

1  The  English  will  now  impose  some  such  treaty  on  France,  at 
least,  if  popular  clamor  and  the  opposition  of  the  mass  of  the 
nation,  do  not  force  them  to  draw  back.  This  thraldom  would  be 
an  additional  disgrace  in  the  eyes  of  that  nation,  which  is  now 
beginning  to  acquire  a  just  perception  of  her  own  interests. 

1  When  I  came  to  the  head  of  the  government,  the  American 
ships,  which  were  permitted  to  enter  our  ports  on  the  score  of  their 
neutrality,  brought  us  raw  materials,  and  had  the  impudence  to 
sail  from  France  without  freight,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  in 
cargoes  of  English  goods  in  London.  They,  moreover,  had  the 
insolence  to  make  their  payments,  when  they  had  any  to  make,  by 
giving  bills  on  persons  in  London.  Hence  the  vast  profits  reaped 
by  the  English  manufacturers  and  brokers,  entirely  to  our  prejudice. 
I  made  a  law  that  no  American  should  import  goods  to  any 
amount,  without  immediately  exporting  their  exact  equivalent.  A 
loud  outcry  was  raised  against  this:  it  was  said  that  I  had  ruined 
trade.  But  what  was  the  consequence?  Notwithstanding  the 
closing  of  my  ports,  and  in  spite  of  the  English,  who  ruled  the 
seas,  the  Americans  returned  and  submitted  to  my  regulations. 
What  might  I  not  have  done  under  more  favorable  circumstances? 

'  Thus  I  naturalized  in  France  the  manufacture  of  cotton,  which 
includes, 

1  First,  spun  cotton.  We  did  not  previously  spin  it  ourselves  ; 
the  English  supplied  us  with  it,  as  a  sort  of  favor. 

I  Secondly,  the  web.  We  did  not  yet  make  it ;  it  came  to  us 
from  abroad. 

*  Thirdly,  the  printing-.  This  was  the  only  part  of  the  manufac- 
ture that  we  performed  ourselves.  I  wished  to  naturalize  the  two 
first  branches ;  and  I  proposed  to  the  council  of  state,  that  their 
importation  should  be  prohibited.  This  excited  great  alarm.  I 
sent  for  Oberkamp,  and  I  conversed  with  him  a  long  time.  I 
learned  from  him,  that  this  prohibition  would  doubtless  produce  a 
shock,  but  that,  after  a  year  or  two  of  perseverance,  it  would  prove 
a  triumph,  whence  we  should  derive  immense  advantages.  Then 
I  issued  my  decree  in  spite  of  all ;  this  was  a  true  piece  of  states- 
manship. 

I I  at  first  confined  myself  merely  to  prohibiting  the  web ;  then 
I  extended  the  prohibition  to  spun  cotton ;  and  we  now  possess, 
within  ourselves,  the  three  branches  of  the  cotton  manufacture,  to 
the  great  benefit  of  our  population,  and  the  injury  and  regret  of 
the  English ;  which  proves  that,  in  civil  government,  as  well  as  in 
war,  decision  of  character  is  often  indispensable  to  success/ 

I  will  trouble  the  committee  with  only  one  other  quotation, 
which  I  shall  make  from  Lowe ;  and  from  hearing  which,  the 
committee  must  share  with  me  in  the  mortification  which  I  felt  on 
perusing  it.  That  author  says,  '  it  is  now  above  forty  years  since 
the  United  States  of  America  were  definitely  separated  from  us, 


478  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

and  since,  their  situation  has  afforded  a  proof  that  the  benefit  of 
mercantile  intercourse  may  be  retained,  in  all  its  extent,  without 
the  care  of  governing,  or  the  expense  of  defending,  these  once 
regretted  provinces.'  Is  there  not  too  much  truth  in  this  observa- 
tion? By  adhering  to  the  foreign  policy,  which  I  have  been 
discussing,  do  we  not  remain  essentially  British,  in  every  thing 
but  the  form  of  our  government?  Are  not  our  interests,  our 
industry,  our  commerce,  so  modified  as  to  swell  British  pride,  and 
to  increase  British  power  ? 

Mr.  Chairman,  our  confederacy  comprehends,  within  its  vast 
limits,  great  diversity  of  interests ;  agricultural,  planting,  farming, 
commercial,  navigating,  fishing,  manufacturing.  No  one  of  these 
interests  is  felt  in  the  same  degree,  and  cherished  with  the  same 
solicitude,  throughout  all  parts  of  the  union.  Some  of  them  are 
peculiar  to  particular  sections  of  our  common  country.  But  all 
these  great  interests  are  confided  to  the  protection  of  one  govern- 
ment —  to  the  fate  of  one  ship ;  and  a  most  gallant  ship  it  is,  with 
a  noble  crew.  If  we  prosper,  and  are  happy,  protection  must  be 
extended  to  all ;  it  is  due  to  all.  It  is  the  great  principle  on  which  obe- 
dience is  demanded  from  all.  If  our  essential  interests  cannot  find 
protection  from  our  own  government  against  the  policy  of  foreign 
powers,  where  are  they  to  get  it  ?  We  did  not  unite  for  sacrifice, 
but  for  preservation.  The  inquiry  should  be,  in  reference  to  the 
great  interests  of  every  section  of  the  union,  (I  speak  not  of  minute 
subdivisions,)  what  would  be  done  for  those  interests  if  that  section 
stood  alone  and  separated  from  the  residue  of  the  republic  ?  If 
the  promotion  of  those  interests  would  not  injuriously  affect  any 
other  section,  then  every  thing  should  be  done  for  them,  which 
would  be  done  if  it  formed  a  distinct  government.  If  they  come 
into  absolute  collision  with  the  interests  of  another  section,  a 
reconciliation,  if  possible,  should  be  attempted,  by  mutual  conces- 
sion, so  as  to  avoid  a  sacrifice  of  the  prosperity  of  either  to  that  of 
the  other.  In  such  a  case,  all  should  not  be  done  for  one  which 
would  be  done,  if  it  were  separated  and  independent,  but  some- 
thing ;  and,  in  devising  the  measure,  the  good  of  each  part  and  of 
the  whole,  should  be  carefully  consulted.  This  is  the  only  mode 
by  which  we  can  preserve,  in  full  vigor,  the  harmony  of  the  whole 
union.  The  south  entertains  one  opinion,  and  imagines  that  a 
modification  of  the  existing  policy  of  the  country,  for  the  protection 
of  American  industry,  involves  the  ruin  of  the  south.  The  north, 
the  east,  the  west,  hold  the  opposite  opinion,  and  feel  and  contem- 
plate, in  a  longer  adherence  to  the  foreign  policy,  as  it  now  exists, 
their  utter  destruction.  Is  it  true,  that  the  interests  of  these  great 
sections  of  our  country  are  irreconcilable  with  each  other?  Are 
we  reduced  to  the  sad  and  afflicting  dilemma  of  determining  which 
shall  fall  a  victim  to  the  prosperity  of  the  other?  Happily,  I  think, 
there  is  no  such   distressing  alternative.     If  the   north,  the  west. 


ON     AMERICAN     INDUSTRY.  479 

and  the  east,  formed  an  independent  state,  unassociated  with  the 
south,  can  there  be  a  doubt  that  the  restrictive  system  would  be 
carried  to  the  point  of  prohibition  of  every  foreign  fabric  of  which 
they  produce  the  raw  material,  and  which  they  could  manufacture  ? 
Such  would  be  their  policy,  if  they  stood  alone;  but  they  are 
fortunately  connected  with  the  south,  which  believes  its  interests  to 
require  a  free  admission  of  foreign  manufactures.  Here  then  is  a 
case  for  mutual  concession,  for  fair  compromise.  The  bill  under 
consideration  presents  this  compromise.  It  is  a  medium  between 
the  absolute  exclusion  and  the  unrestricted  admission  of  the 
produce  of  foreign  industry.  It  sacrifices  the  interest  of  neither 
section  to  that  of  the  other ;  neither,  it  is  true,  gets  all  that  it  wants, 
nor  is  subject  to  all  that  it  fears.  But  it  has  been  said  that  the 
south  obtains  nothing  in  this  compromise.  Does  it  lose  any  thing? 
is  the  first  question.  I  have  endeavored  to  prove  that  it  does  not, 
by  showing  that  a  mere  transfer  is  effected  in  the  source  of  the 
supply  of  its  consumption  from  Europe  to  America ;  and  that  the 
loss,  whatever  it  may  be,  of  the  sale  of  its  great  staple  in  Europe, 
is  compensated  by  the  new  market  created  in  America.  But  does 
the  south  really  gain  nothing  in  this  compromise  ?  The  consump- 
tion of  the  other  sections,  though  somewhat  restricted,  is  still  left 
open  by  this  bill,  to  foreign  fabrics  purchased  by  southern  staples. 
So  far  its  operation  is  beneficial  to  the  south,  and  prejudicial  to 
the  industry  of  the  other  sections,  and  that  is  the  point  of  mutual 
concession.  The  south  will  also  gain  by  the  extended  consump- 
tion of  its  great  staple,  produced  by  an  increased  capacity  to 
consume  it  in  consequence  of  the  establishment  of  the  home 
market.  But  the  south  cannot  exert  its  industry  and  enterprise  in 
the  business  of  manufactures!  Why  not?  The  difficulties,  if 
not  exaggerated,  are  artificial,  and  may,  therefore,  be  surmounted. 
But  can  the  other  sections  embark  in  the  planting  occupations  of 
the  south?  The  obstructions  which  forbid  them  are  natural, 
created  by  the  immutable  laws  of  God,  and,  therefore,  unconquer- 
able. 

Other  and  animating  considerations  invite  us  to  adopt  the  policy 
of  this  system.  Its  importance,  in  connection  with  the  general 
defence  in  time  of  war,  cannot  fail  to  be  duly  estimated.  Need  I 
recall  to  our  painful  recollection  the  sufferings,  for  the  want  of  an 
adequate  supply  of  absolute  necessaries,  to  which  the  defenders  of 
their  country's  rights  and  our  entire  population,  were  subjected 
during  the  late  war  ?  Or  to  remind  the  committee  of  the  great 
advantage  of  a  steady  and  unfailing  source  of  supply,  unaffected 
alike  in  war  and  in  peace?  Its  importance,  in  reference  to  the 
stability  of  our  union,  that  paramount  and  greatest  of  all  our 
interests,  cannot  fail  warmly  to  recommend  it,  or  at  least  to  concil- 
iate the  forbearance  of  every  patriot  bosom.  Now  our  people 
present  the  spectacle  of  a  vast  assemblage   of  jealous  rivals,  all 


480  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

eagerly  rushing  to  the  sea-board,  jostling  each  other  in  their  way, 
to  hurry  oft'  to  glutted  foreign  markets  the  perishable  produce  of 
their  labor.  The  tendency  of  that  policy,  in  conformity  to  which 
this  bill  is  prepared,  is  to  transform  these  competitors  into  friends 
and  mutual  customers ;  and,  by  the  reciprocal  exchanges  of  their 
respective  productions,  to  place  the  confederacy  upon  the  most 
solid  of  all  foundations,  the  basis  of  common  interest.  And  is 
not  government  called  upon,  by  every  stimulating  motive,  to  adapt 
its  policy  to  the  actual  condition  and  extended  growth  of  our  great 
republic.  At  the  commencement  of  our  constitution,  almost  the 
whole  population  of  the  United  States  was  confined  between  the 
Alleghany  mountains  and  the  Atlantic  ocean.  Since  that  epoch, 
the  western  part  of  New  York,  of  Pennsylvania,  of  Virginia,  all 
the  western  states  and  territories,  have  been  principally  peopled. 
Prior  to  that  period  we  had  scarcely  any  interior.  An  interior  has 
sprung  up,  as  it  were  by  enchantment,  and  along  with  it  new 
interests  and  new  relations,  requiring  the  parental  protection  of 
government.  Our  policy  should  be  modified  accordingly,  so  as  to 
comprehend  all,  and  sacrifice  none.  And  are  we  not  encouraged 
by  the  success  of  past  experience,  in  respect  to  the  only  article 
which  has  been  adequately  protected  ?  Already  have  the  predic- 
tions of  the  friends  of  the  American  system,  in  even  a  shorter 
time  than  iheir  most  sanguine  hopes  could  have  anticipated,  been 
completely  realized  in  regard  to  that  article  ;  and  consumption  is 
now  better  and  more  cheaply  supplied  with  coarse  cottons,  than  it 
was  under  the  prevalence  of  the  foreign  system. 

Even  if  the  benefits  of  the  policy  were  limited  to  certain  sections 
of  our  country,  would  it  not  be  satisfactory  to  behold  American 
industry,  wherever  situated,  active,  animated,  and  thrifty,  rather 
than  persevere  in  a  course  which  renders  us  subservient  to  foreign 
industry  ?  But  these  benefits  are  twofold,  direct  and  collateral,  and, 
in  the  one  shape  or  the  other,  they  will  diffuse  themselves  through- 
out the  union.  All  parts  of  the  union  will  participate,  more  or  less, 
in  both.  As  to  the  direct  benefit,  it  is  probable  that  the  north  and 
the  east  will  enjoy  the  largest  share.  But  the  west  and  the  south 
will  also  participate  in  them.  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  and  Rich- 
mond, will  divide  with  the  northern  capitals  the  business  of  manu- 
facturing. The  latter  city  unites  more  advantages  for  its  successful 
prosecution  than  any  other  place  I  know;  Zanesville,  in  Ohio,  only 
excepted.  And  where  the  direct  benefit  does  not  accrue,  that  wiil 
be  enjoyed  of  supplying  the  raw  material  and  provisions  for  the 
consumption  of  artisans.  Is  it  not  most  desirable  to  put  at  rest  and 
prevent  the  annual  recurrence  of  this  unpleasant  subject,  so  well 
fitted,  by  the  various  interests  to  which  it  appeals,  to  excite  irritation 
and  to  produce  discontent?  Can  that  be  effected  by  its  rejection  ? 
Behold  the  mass  of  petitions  which  lie  on  our  table,  earnestly  and 
anxiously  entreating  the  protecting  interposition  of  congress  against 


ON     AMERICAN     INDUSTRY.  481 

the  ruinous  policy  which  we  are  pursuing.  Will  these  petitioners, 
comprehending  all  orders  of  society,  entire  states  and  communities, 
public  companies  and  private  individuals,  spontaneously  assem- 
bling, cease  in  their  humble  prayers  by  your  lending  a  deaf  ear  ? 
Can  you  expect  that  these  petitioners  and  others,  in  countless  num- 
bers, that  will,  if  you  delay  the  passage  of  this  bill,  supplicate  your 
mercy,  should  contemplate  their  substance  gradually  withdrawn  to 
foreign  countries,  their  ruin  slow,  but  certain  and  as  inevitable  as 
death  itself,  without  one  expiring  effort  ?  You  think  the  measure 
injurious  to  you ;  we  believe  our  preservation  depends  upon  its 
adoption.  Our  convictions,  mutually  honest,  are  equally  strong. 
What  is  to  be  done  ?  I  invoke  that  saving  spirit  of  mutual  conces- 
sion under  which  our  blessed  constitution  was  formed,  and  under 
which  alone  it  can  be  happily  administered.  I  appeal  to  the  south 
—  to  the  high-minded,  generous,  and  patriotic  south  —  with  which 
I  have  so  often  cooperated,  in  attempting  to  sustain  the  honor  and 
to  vindicate  the  rights  of  our  country.  Should  it  not  offer,  upon 
the  altar  of  the  public  good,  some  sacrifice  of  its  peculiar  opinions? 
Of  what  does  it  complain  ?  A  possible  temporary  enhancement  in 
the  objects  of  consumption.  Of  what  do  we  complain?  A  total 
incapacity,  produced  by  the  foreign  policy,  to  purchase,  at  any 
price,  necessary  foreign  objects  of  consumption.  In  such  an  alter- 
native, inconvenient  only  to  it,  ruinous  to  us,  can  we  expect  too 
much  from  southern  magnanimity  ?  The  just  and  confident  expec- 
tation of  the  passage  of  this  bill  has  flooded  the  country  with  recent 
importations  of  foreign  fabrics.  If  it  should  not  pass,  they  will 
complete  the  work  of  destruction  of  our  domestic  industry.  If  it 
should  pass,  they  will  prevent  any  considerable  rise  in  the  price  of 
foreign  commodities,  until  our  own  industry  shall  be  able  to  supply 
competent  substitutes. 

To  the  friends  of  the  tariff  I  would  also  anxiously  appeal.  Every 
arrangement  of  its  provisions  does  not  suit  each  of  you ;  you  desire 
some  further  alterations ;  you  would  make  it  perfect.  You  want 
what  you  will  never  get.  Nothing  human  is  perfect.  And  I  have 
seen,  with  great  surprise,  a  piece  signed  by  a  member  of  congress, 
published  in  the  National  Intelligencer,  stating  that  this  bill  must 
be  rejected,  and  a  judicious  tariff  brought  in  as  its  substitute.  A 
judicious  tariff!  No  member  of  congress  could  have  signed  that 
piece ;  or,  if  he  did,  the  public  ought  not  to  be  deceived.  If  this 
bill  do  not  pass,  unquestionably  no  other  can  pass  at  this  session, 
or  probably  during  this  congress.  And  who  will  go  home  and  say 
that  he  rejected  all  the  benefits  of  this  bill,  because  molasses  has 
been  subjected  to  the  enormous  additional  duty  of  five  cents  per 
gallon  ?  I  call,  therefore,  upon  the  friends  of  the  American  policy, 
to  yield  somewhat  of  their  own  peculiar  wishes,  and  not  to  reject 
the  practicable  in  the  idle  pursuit  after  the  unattainable.  Let  us 
imitate  the  illustrious  example  of  the  framers  of  the  constitution, 
vol.  i.  61 


482  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

and,  always  remembering  that  whatever  springs  from  man  partakes 
of  his  imperfections,  depend  upon  experience  to  suggest,  in  future, 
Jhe  necessary  amendments. 

We  have  had  great  difficulties  to  encounter.  First,  the  splendid 
talents  which  are  arrayed  in  this  house  against  us.  Second,  we 
are  opposed  by  the  rich  and  powerful  in  the  land.  Third,  the 
executive  government,  if  any,  affords  us  but  a  cold  and  equivocal, 
support.  Fourth,  the  importing  and  navigating  interest,  I  verily 
believe  from  misconception,  are  adverse  to  us.  Fifth,  the  British 
factors  and  the  British  influence  are  inimical  to  our  success.  Sixth, 
long-established  habits  and  prejudices  oppose  us.  Seventh,  the 
reviewers  and  literary  speculators,  foreign  and  domestic.  And, 
lastly,  the  leading  presses  of  the  country,  including  the  influence  of 
that  which  is  established  in  this  city,  and  sustained  by  the  public 
purse. 

From  some  of  these,  or  other  causes,  the  bill  may  be  postponed, 
thwarted,  defeated.  But  the  cause  is  the  cause  of  the  country,  and 
it  must  and  will  prevail.  It  is  founded  in  the  interests  and  affec- 
tions of  the  people.  It  is  as  native  as  the  granite  deeply  imbosomed 
in  our  mountains.  And,  in  conclusion,  I  would  pray  God,  in  his 
infinite  mercy,  to  avert  from  our  country  the  evils  which  are 
impending  over  it,  and,  by  enlightening  our  councils,  to  conduct 
us  into  that  path  which  leads  to  riches,  to  greatness,  to  glory. 


REPLY  TO  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 


HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  1824. 


[During  the  session  of  1823-4,  attempts  were  made  to  run  at  Mr.  Clay,  on  account 
of  his  peculiar  situation  in  being  named  for  the  presidency,  while  speaker  of  the  house 
of  representatives,  and  for  his  zealous  support  of  the  American  system.  In  a  debate 
on  an  improvement  bill  he  encountered  Mr.  Randolph  of  Virginia,  who  had  endeavored 
to  provoke  him  to  reply,  and  the  following  remarks  were  made  by  Mr.  Clay  on  that 
occasion,  in  the  course  of  the  debate.] 


Sir,  I  am  growing  old.  I  have  had  some  little  measure  of  ex- 
perience in  public  life,  and  the  result  of  that  experience  has  brought 
me  to  this  conclusion,  that  when  business,  of  whatever  nature,  is 
to  be  transacted  in  a  deliberative  assembly,  or  in  private  life,  cour- 
tesy, forbearance,  and  moderation,  are  best  calculated  to  bring  it  to 
a  successful  conclusion.  Sir,  my  age  admonishes  me  to  abstain 
from  involving  myself  in  personal  difficulties ;  would  to  God  that 
I  could  say,  I  am  also  restrained  by  higher  motives.  I  certainly 
never  sought  any  collision  with  the  gentleman  from  Virginia.  My 
situation  at  this  time  is  peculiar,  if  it  be  nothing  else,  and  might, 
I  should  think,  dissuade,  at  least,  a  generous  heart  from  any  wish  to 
draw  me  into  circumstances  of  personal  altercation.  I  have  expe- 
rienced this  magnanimity  from  some  quarters  of  the  house.  But  I 
regret,  that  from  others  it  appears  to  have  no  such  consideration. 
The  gentleman  from  Virginia  was  pleased  to  say,  that  in  one  point  at 
least  he  coincided  with  me  —  in  an  humble  estimate  of  my  gram- 
matical and  philological  acquirements.  I  know  my  deficiencies. 
I  was  born  to  no  proud  patrimonial  estate ;  from  my  father  I  in- 
herited only  infancy,  ignorance,  and  indigence.  I  feel  my  defects  ; 
but,  so  far  as  my  situation  in  early  life  is  concerned,  I  may, 
without  presumption,  say  they  are  more  my  misfortune  than  my 
fault.  But,  however  I  regret  my  want  of  ability  to  furnish  to  the 
gentleman  a  better  specimen  of  powers  of  verbal  criticism,  I  will 
venture  to  say,  it  is  not  greater  than  the  disappointment  of  this 
committee  as  to  the  strength  of  his  argument. 


ADDRESS  TO  LA  FAYETTE. 

HOUSE   OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  DECEMBER  10,  1824. 


[In  the  year  1524,  general  La  Fayette  visited  the  United  States,  as  the  guest  of  the 
nation,  and  was  welcomed  with  the  most  gratifying  testimonies  of  affection  and 
respect  by  the  whole  American  people,  in  behalf  of  whose  rights  and  liberty  he  had 
so  gallantly  fought,  and  performed  other  important  services  during  the  revolutionary 
war.  The  general  landed  at  New  York  in  August  1824,  (having  embarked  at  the 
same  place  about  forty  years  before,  namely,  in  December,  1784,  on  his  return  to 
France.)  After  visiting  various  parts  of  the  United  States,  he  was  received  at  the 
city  of  Washington  with  distinguished  honors  by  the  people  and  the  public  authori- 
ties, and  on  the  tenth  of  December,  1824,  he  was  introduced  to  the  house  of  representa- 
tives by  a  committee  appointed  for  that  purpose.  The  general,  being  conducted  to 
the  sofa  placed  for  his  reception,  the  speaker  (Mr.  Clay)  addressed  him  in  the  follow- 
ing words.] 


General, 

The  house  of  representatives  of  the  United  States,  impelled 
alike  by  its  own  feelings,  and  by  those  of  the  whole  American 
people,  could  not  have  assigned  to  me  a  more  gratifying  duty  than 
that  of  presenting  to  you  cordial  congratulations  upon  the  occasion 
of  your  recent  arrival  in  the  United  States,  in  compliance  with  the 
wishes  of  Congress,  and  to  assure  you  of  the  very  high  satisfaction 
which  your  presence  affords  on  this  early  theatre  of  your  glory  and 
renown.  Although  but  few  of  the  members  who  compose  this 
body  shared  with  you  in  the  war  of  our  revolution,  all  have,  from 
impartial  history,  or  from  faithful  tradition,  a  knowledge  of  the 
perils,  the  sufferings,  and  the  sacrifices,  which  you  voluntarily 
encountered,  and  the  signal  services,  in  America  and  in  Europe, 
which  you  performed  for  an  infant,  a  distant,  and  an  alien  people ; 
and  all  feel  and  own  the  very  great  extent  of  the  obligations  under 
which  you  have  placed  our  country.  But  the  relations  in  which 
you  have  ever  stood  to  the  United  States,  interesting  and  important 
as  they  have  been,  do  not  constitute  the  only  motive  of  the  respect 
and  admiration  which  the  house  of  representatives  entertain  for  you. 
Your  consistency  of  character,  your  uniform  devotion  to  regulated 
liberty,  in  all  the  vicissitudes  of  a  long  and  arduous  life,  also 
commands  its  admiration.  During  all  the  recent  convulsions  of 
Europe,  amidst,  as  after  the  dispersion  of,  every  political  storm,  the 


ADDRESS     TO     LA     FAYETTE.  485 

people  of  the  United  States  have  beheld  you,  true  to  your  old 
principles,  firm  and  erect,  cheering  and  animating  with  your  well- 
known  voice,  the  votaries  of  liberty,  its  faithful  and  fearless  cham- 
pion, ready  to  shed  the  last  drop  of  that  blood  which  here  you  so 
freely  and  nobly  spilt,  in  the  same  holy  cause. 

The  vain  wish  has  been  sometimes  indulged,  that  Providence 
would  allow  the  patriot,  after  death,  to  return  to  his  country,  and  to 
contemplate  the  intermediate  changes  which  had  taken  place ;  to 
view  the  forests  felled,  the  cities  built,  the  mountains  levelled,  the 
canals  cut,  the  highways  constructed,  the  progress  of  the  arts,  the 
advancement  of  learning,  and  the  increase  of  population.  Gen- 
eral, your  present  visit  to  the  United  States  is  a  realization  of  the 
consoling  object  of  that  wish.  You  are  in  the  midst  of  posterity. 
Every  where,  you  must  have  been  struck  with  the  great  changes, 
physical  and  moral,  which  have  occurred  since  you  left  us.  Even 
this  very  city,  bearing  a  venerated  name,  alike  endeared  to  you 
and  to  us,  has  since  emerged  from  the  forest  which  then  covered 
its  site.  In  one  respect  you  behold  us  unaltered,  and  this  is  in  the 
sentiment  of  continued  devotion  to  liberty,  and  of  ardent  affection 
and  profound  gratitude  to  your  departed  friend,  the  father  of  his 
country,  and  to  you,  and  to  your  illustrious  associates  in  the  field 
and  in  the  cabinet,  for  the  multiplied  blessings  which  surround  us, 
and  for  the  very  privilege  of  addressing  you  which  I  now  exercise. 
This  sentiment,  now  fondly  cherished  by  more  than  ten  millions 
of  people,  will  be  transmitted,  with  unabated  vigor,  down  the  tide 
of  time,  through  the  countless  millions  who  are  destined  to  inhabit 
this  continent,  to  the  latest  posterity. 

[After  the  above  address,  La  Fayette  rose,  and  in  a  tone  influenced  by  powerful 
feeling,  made  an  eloquent  reply.] 


ADDRESS  TO  HIS  CONSTITUENTS. 

ON  THE  PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION  OF  1825.    MARCH  26,  1825. 


[In  the  year  1816,  as  the  term  of  president  Madison  was  about  to  expire  the  following 
year,  a  caucus  of  the  democratic  members  of  congress  was  held,  in  conformity  to 
previous  custom,  to  designate  a  candidate  to  succeed  Mr.  Madison,  as  president.  It 
being  the  general  impression  and  understanding  that  Mr.  Monroe  would  be  nominated, 
much  surprise  was  fell  when  it  whs  ascertained  that  he  had  received  only  a  small 
majority  in  the  caucus  —  the  votes  standing  thus;  for  James  Monroe  sixty-five,  for 
William  H.  Crawford  fifty-four.  In  consequence  of  this  circumstance  it  was  evident 
that  the  popular  will  with  regard  to  nominations  might  be  defeated  by  caucus  manage- 
ment, and  a  powerful  opposition  to  nominations  of  president  by  members  of  congress 
grew  up,  previous  to  the  election  of  a  successor  to  Mr.  Monroe.  It  was  ascertained 
that  Mr.  Crawford,  then  secretary  of  the  treasury,  would  be  the  caucus  candidate  in 
1824,  and  the  people  began  to  look  around  for  candidates  to  oppose  him.  John  Quincy 
Adams,  Andrew  Jackson,  H»*nry  Clay,  and  John  C.  Calhoun,  were  each  warmly  advo- 
cated by  their  friends  for  the  succession.  Mr.  Calhoun  was  withdrawn  and  supported 
for  vice-president,  to  which  office  he  was  elected.  Neither  of  the  other  four  candi- 
dates being  withdrawn,  and  Mr.  Crawford  having  been  nominated  by  a  minority  of 
only  sixty-six  members  of  congress,  in  caucus,  it  became  evident  that  no  election 
would  be  made  by  the  people.  The  result  was.  that  general  Jackson  received  ninety- 
nine  electoral  votes,  Mr.  Adams  eighty-four.  Mr.'  Crawford  forty-one,  and  Mr.  Clay 
thirty-seven.  The  constitution  requiring  that  the  house  of  representatives  should 
now  choose  the  president,  from  the  three  highest  names  on  the  list,  (Mr.  Clay  being 
excluded.)  the  greatest  interest  was  felt  by  the  friends  of  all  the  candidates,  as  to  the 
course  which  would  be  pursued  by  Mr  Clay  and  his  friends  in  the  house,  of  which 
he  was  then  speaker.  It  was  soon  known,  as  he  had  previously  declared,  that,  he 
would  vote  for  Mr.  Adams,  which  he  did,  and  that  gentleman  was  elected  president. 
A  cry  of  •  bargain  and  corruption  '  was  thereupon  set  up  by  the  disappointed  and 
zealous  partisans  of  general  Jackson,  in  which  they  were  joined  by  some  of  the 
friends  of  Mr.  Crawford.  This  charge  having  been  agitated  by  members  of  congress 
at  Washington, and  reiterated  in  other  quarters,  was  indignantly  repelled  by  Mr.  Clay, 
and  in  refutation  he  issued  the  following  address  to  his  constituents  in  Kentucky, 
composed  of  the  people  of  the  counties  of  Fayette,  Woodford,  and  Clarke.] 


The  relations  of  your  representative  and  of  your  neighbor,  in 
which  I  have  so  long  stood,  and  in  which  I  have  experienced  so 
many  strong  proofs  of  your  confidence,  attachment,  and  friendship, 
having  just  been,  the  one  terminated,  and  the  other  suspended,  I 
avail  myself  of  the  occasion  on  taking,  I  hope  a  temporary,  leave 
of  you,  to  express  my  unfeigned  gratitude  for  all  your  favors,  and 
to  assure  you,  that  I  shall  cherish  a  fond  and  unceasing  recollection 
of  them.  The  extraordinary  circumstances  in  which,  during  the 
late  session  of  congress,  I  have  been  placed,  and  the  unmerited 


ADDRESS  TO  HIS  CONSTITUENTS.        487 

animadversions  which  I  have  brought  upon  myself,  for  an  honest 
and  faithful  discharge  of  my  public  duty,  form  an  additional  motive 
for  this  appeal  to  your  candor  and  justice.  If,  in  the  office  which 
I  have  just  left,  I  have  abused  your  confidence  and  betrayed  your 
interests,  I  cannot  deserve  your  support  in  that  on  the  duties  of 
which  I  have  now  entered.  On  the  contrary,  should  it  appear  that 
I  have  been  assailed  without  just  cause,  and  that  misguided  zeal 
and  interested  passions  have  singled  me  out  as  a  victim,  I  cannot 
doubt  that  I  shall  continue  to  find,  in  the  enlightened  tribunal  of 
the  public,  that  cheering  countenance  and  impartial  judgment, 
without  which  a  public  servant  cannot  possibly  discharge  with 
advantage  the  trust  confided  to  him. 

It  is  known  to  you,  that  my  name  had  been  presented,  by  the 
respectable  states  of  Ohio,  Kentucky,  Louisiana,  and  Missouri,  for  the 
office  of  president,  to  the  consideration  of  the  American  public,  and 
that  it  had  attracted  some  attention  in  other  quarters  of  the  union. 
When,  early  in  November  last,  I  took  my  departure  from  the  district 
to  repair  to  this  city,  the  issue  of  the  presidential  election  before  the 
people  was  unknown.  Events,  however,  had  then  so  far  transpired 
as  to  render  it  highly  probable  that  there  would  be  no  election  by 
the  people,  and  that  I  should  be  excluded  from  the  house  of  repre- 
sentatives. It  became,  therefore,  my  duty  to  consider,  and  to  make 
up  an  opinion  on,  the  respective  pretensions  of  the  three  gentlemen 
who  might  be  returned,  and  at  that  early  period  I  stated  to  Dr. 
Drake,  one  of  the  professors  in  the  medical  school  of  Transylvania 
university,  and  to  John  J.  Crittenden,  esquire,  of  Frankfort,  my 
determination  to  support  Mr.  Adams  in  preference  to  general 
Jackson.  I  wrote  to  Charles  Hammond,  esquire,  of  Cincinnati, 
about  the  same  time,  and  mentioned  certain  objections  to  the 
election  of  Mr.  Crawford,  (among  which  was  that  of  his  continued 
ill  health,)  that  appeared  to  me  almost  insuperable.  During  my 
journey  hither,  and  up  to  near  christmas,  it  remained  uncertain 
whether  Mr.  Crawford  or  myself  would  be  returned  to  the  house 
of  representatives.  Up  to  near  christmas,  all  our  information  made 
it  highly  probable  that  the  vote  of  Louisiana  would  be  given  to 
me,  and  that  I  should  consequently  be  returned,  to  the  exclusion 
of  Mr.  Crawford.  And,  while  that  probability  was  strong,  I 
communicated  to  Mr.  senator  Johnston,  from  Louisiana,  my  resolu- 
tion not  to  allow  my  name,  in  consequence  of  the  small  number 
of  votes  by  which  it  would  be  carried  into  the  house,  if  I  were 
returned,  to  constitute  an  obstacle,  for  one  moment,  to  an  election 
in  the  house  of  representatives. 

During  the  month  of  December,  and  the  greater  part  of  January, 
strong  professions  of  high  consideration,  and  of  unbounded 
admiration  of  me,  were  made  to  my  friends,  in  the  greatest  profu- 
sion, by  some  of  the  active  friends  of  all  the  returned  candidates. 
Every  body  professed  td  regret^  after  I  was*  excluded  from  the 


488  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

house,  that  I  had  not  been  returned  to  it.  I  seemed  to  be  the 
favorite  of  every  body.  Describing  my  situation  to  a  distant  friend, 
I  said  to  him,  '  I  am  enjoying,  whilst  alive,  the  posthumous  honors 
which  are  usually  awarded  to  the  venerated  dead.'  A  person  not 
acquainted  with  human  nature  would  have  been  surprised,  in 
listening  to  these  praises,  that  the  object  of  them  had  not  been 
elected  by  general  acclamation.  None  made  more  or  warmer 
manifestations  of  these  sentiments  of  esteem  and  admiration  than 
some  of  the  friends  of  general  Jackson.  None  were  so  reserved  as 
those  of  Mr.  Adams;  under  an  opinion,  (as  I  have  learned  since 
the  election,)  which  they  early  imbibed,  that  the  western  vote  would 
be  only  influenced  by  its.  own  sense  of  public  duty;  and  that  if  its 
judgment  pointed  to  any  other  than  Mr.  Adams,  nothing  which 
they  could  do  would  secure  it  to  him.  These  professions  and 
manifestations  were  taken  by  me  for  what  they  were  worth.  I 
knew  that  the  sunbeams  would  quickly  disappear,  after  my  opinion 
should  be  ascertained,  and  that  they  would  be  succeeded  by  a 
storm ;  although  I  did  not  foresee  exactly  how  it  would  burst  upon 
my  poor  head.  I  found  myself  transformed  from  a  candidate 
before  the  people,  into  an  elector  for  the  people.  I  deliberately 
examined  the  duties  incident  to  this  new  attitude,  and  weighed  all 
the  facts  before  me,  upon  which  my  judgment  was  to  be  formed 
or  reviewed.  If  the  eagerness  of  any  of  the  heated  partisans  of 
the  respective  candidates  suggested  a  tardiness  in  the  declaration 
of  my  intention,  I  believed  that  the  new  relation  in  which  I  was 
placed  to  the  subject,  imposed  on  me  an  obligation  to  pay  some 
respect  to  delicacy  and  decorum. 

Meanwhile,  that  very  reserve  supplied  aliment  to  newspaper  criti- 
cism. The  critics  could  not  comprehend  how  a  man  standing  as 
I  had  stood  towards  the  other  gentlemen,  should  be  restrained,  by 
a  sense  of  propriety,  from  instantly  fighting  under  the  banners  of 
one  of  them,  against  the  others.  Letters  were  issued  from  the 
manufactory  at  Washington,  to  come  back,  after  performing  long 
journeys,  for  Washington  consumption.  These  letters  imputed  to 
'  Mr.  Clay  and  his  friends  a  mysterious  air,  a  portentous  silence,'  and 
so  forth.  From  dark  and  distant  hints  the  progress  was  easy  to  open 
and  bitter  denunciation.  Anonymous  letters,  full  of  menace  and 
abuse,  were  almost  daily  poured  in  on  me.  Personal  threats  were 
communicated  to  me,  through  friendly  organs,  and  I  was  kindly 
apprized  of  all  the  glories  of  village  effigies  which  awaited  me.  A 
systematic  attack  was  simultaneously  commenced  upon  me  from 
Boston  to  Charleston,  with  an  object,  present  and  future,  which  it 
was  impossible  to  mistake.  No  man  but  myself  could  know  the 
nature,  extent,  and  variety,  of  means  which  were  employed  to  awe 
and  influence  me.  I  bore  them,  I  trust,  as  your  representative 
ought  to  have  borne  them,  and  as  became  me.  Then  followed  the 
letter,   afterwards  adopted   as    his    own,   by  Mr.   Kremer,   to    the 


ADDRESS     TO     HIS     CONSTITUENTS.  489 

Columbian  Observer.  With  its  character  and  contents  you  are  well 
acquainted.  When  I  saw  that  letter,  alleged  to  be  written  by  a 
member  of  the  very  house  over  which  I  was  presiding,  who  was 
so  far  designated  as  to  be  described  as  belonging  to  a  particu- 
lar delegation  by  name,  a  member  with  whom  I  might  be  daily 
exchanging,  at  least  on  my  part,  friendly  salutations,  and  who  was 
possibly  receiving  from  me  constantly  acts  of  courtesy  and  kind- 
ness, I  felt  that  I  could  no  longer  remain  silent.  A  crisis  appeared 
to  me  to  have  arisen  in  my  public  life.  I  issued  my  card.  I  ought 
not  to  have  put  in  it  the  last  paragraph,  because,  although  it 
does  not  necessarily  imply  the  resort  to  a  personal  combat,  it 
admits  of  that  construction  ;  nor  will  I  conceal  that  such  a  possible 
issue  was  within  my  contemplation.  I  owe  it  to  the  community 
to  say,  that  whatever  heretofore  I  may  have  done,  or,  by  inevitable 
circumstances,  might  be  forced  to  do,  no  man  in  it  holds  in  deeper 
abhorrence  than  I  do,  that  pernicious  practice.  Condemned  as  it 
must  be  by  the  judgment  and  philosophy,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
religion,  of  every  thinking  man,  it  is  an  affair  of  feeling  about 
which  we  cannot,  although  we  should,  reason.  Its  true  corrective 
will  be  found  when  all  shall  unite,  as  all  ought  to  unite,  in  its 
unqualified  proscription. 

A  few  days  after  the  publication  of  my  card,  '  another  card,' 
under  Mr.  Kremer's  name,  was  published  in  the  Intelligencer.  The 
night  before,  as  I  was  voluntarily  informed,  Mr.  Eaton,  a  senator  from 
Tennessee,  and  the  biographer  of  general  Jackson,  (who  boarded 
in  the  end  of  this  city  opposite  to  that  in  which  Mr.  Kremer  took 
up  his  abode,  a  distance  of  about  two  miles  and  a  half,)  was  clos- 
eted for  some  time  with  him.  Mr.  Kremer  is  entitled  to  great  credit 
for  having  overcome  all  the  disadvantages,  incident  to  his  early 
life  and  want  of  education,  and  forced  his  way  to  the  honorable 
station  of  a  member  of  the  house  of  representatives.  Ardent  in  his 
attachment  to  the  cause  which  he  had  espoused,  general  Jackson 
is  his  idol,  and  of  his  blind  zeal  others  have  availed  themselves, 
and  have  made  him  their  dupe  and  their  instrument.  I  do  not 
pretend  to  know  the  object  of  Mr.  Eaton's  visit  to  him.  I  state  the 
fact,  as  it  was  communicated  to  me,  and  leave  you  to  judge.  Mr. 
Kremer's  card  is  composed  with  some  care  and  no  little  art,  and  he 
is  made  to  avow  in  it,  though  somewhat  equivocally,  that  he  is  the 
author  of  the  letter  to  the  Columbian  Observer.  To  Mr.  Crown- 
inshield,  a  member  from  Massachusetts,  formerly  secretary  of  the 
navy,  he  declared  that  he  was  not  the  author  of  that  letter.  In  his 
card  he  draws  a  clear  line  of  separation  between  my  friends  and 
me,  acquitting  them,  and  undertaking  to  make  good  his  charges  in 
that  letter,  only  so  far  as  I  was  concerned.  The  purpose  of  this 
discrimination  is  obvious.  At  that  time  the  election  was  undecided, 
and  it  was  therefore  as  important  to  abstain  from  imputations 
against  my  friends,  as  it  was  politic  to  fix  them  upon  me.  If  they 
vol.  i.  62 


490  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

could  be  made  to  believe  that  I  had  been  perfidious,  in  the  transport 
of  their  indignation,  they  might  have  been  carried  to  the  support  of 
general  Jackson.  I  received  the  National  Intelligencer,  containing 
Mr.  Kremer's  card,  at  breakfast,  (the  usual  time  of  its  distribution,) 
on  the  morning  of  its  publication.  As  soon  as  I  read  the  card,  I 
took  my  resolution.  The  terms  of  it  clearly  implied  that  it  had 
not  entered  into  his  conception  to  have  a  personal  affair  with  me ; 
and  I  should  have  justly  exposed  myself  to  universal  ridicule,  if  I 
had  sought  one  with  him.  I  determined  to  lay  the  matter  before 
the  house,  and  respectfully  to  invite  an  investigation  of  my  con- 
duct. I  accordingly  made  a  communication  to  the  house  on  the 
same  day,  the  motives  for  which  I  assigned.  Mr.  Kremer  was  in 
his  place,  and,  when  I  sat  down,  rose  and  stated  that  he  was  pre- 
pared and  willing  to  substantiate  his  charges  against  me.  This 
was  his  voluntary  declaration,  unprompted  by  his  aiders  and 
abettors,  who  had  no  opportunity  of  previous  consultation  with 
him  on  that  point.  Here  was  an  issue  publicly  and  solemnly 
joined,  in  which  the  accused  invoked  an  inquiry  into  serious 
charges  against  him,  and  the  accuser  professed  an  ability  and  a 
willingness  to  establish  them.  A  debate  ensued  on  the  next  day 
which  occupied  the  greater  part  of  it,  during  which  Mr.  Kremer 
declared  to  Mr.  Brent,  of  Louisiana,  a  friend  of  mine,  and  to  Mr. 
Little,  of  Maryland,  a  friend  of  general  Jackson,  as  they  have  certi- 
fied, c  that  he  never  intended  to  charge  Mr.  Clay  with  corruption 
or  dishonor,  in  his  intended  vote  for  Mr.  Adams,  as  president,  or 
that  he  had  transferred,  or  could  transfer,  the  votes  or  interests  of 
his  friends;  that  he  (Mr.  Kremer)  was  among  the  last  men  in  the 
nation  to  make  such  a  charge  against  Mr.  Clay;  and  that  his  letter 
was  never  intended  to  convey  the  idea  given  to  it'  Mr.  Digges,  a 
highly  respectable  inhabitant  of  this  city,  has  certified  to  the  same 
declarations  of  Mr.  Kremer. 

A  message  was  also  conveyed  to  me,  during  the  discussion, 
through  a  member  of  the  house,  to  ascertain  if  I  would  be  satis- 
fied with  an  explanation  which  was  put  on  paper  and  shown  me, 
and  which  it  was  stated  Mr.  Kremer  was  willing,  in  his  place,  to 
make.  I  replied  that  the  matter  was  in  the  possession  of  the 
house.  I  was  afterwards  told,  that  Mr.  Ingham,  of  Pennsylvania, 
got  hold  of  that  paper,  put  it  in  his  pocket,  and  that  he  advised  Mr. 
Kremer  to  take  no  step  without  the  approbation  of  his  friends.  Mr. 
Cook,  of  Illinois,  moved  an  adjournment  of  the  house,  on  infor- 
mation which  he  received  of  the  probability  of  Mr.  Kremer's  making 
a  satisfactory  atonement  on  the  next  day,  for  the  injury  which  he 
had  done  me,  which  I  have  no  doubt  he  would  have  made,  if  he 
had  been  left  to  the  impulses  of  his  native  honesty.  The  house 
decided  to  refer  my  communication  to  a  committee,  and  adjourned 
until  the  next  day  to  appoint  it  by  ballot.  In  the  mean  time  Mr. 
Kremer  had  taken,  I  presume,  or  rather  there  had  been  forced  upon 


ADDRESS     TO     HIS     CONSTITUENTS.  491 

him,  the  advice  of  Ids  friends,  and  I  heard  no  more  of  the  apology. 
A  committee  was  appointed  of  seven  gentlemen,  of  whom  not  one 
was  my  political  friend,  but  who  were  among  the  most  eminent 
members  of  the  body.  I  received  no  summons  or  notification  from 
the  committee  from  its  first  organization  to  its  final  dissolution,  but 
Mr.  Kremer  was  called  upon  by  it  to  bring  forward  his  proofs.  For 
one  moment  be  pleased  to  stop  here  and  contemplate  his  posture, 
his  relation  to  the  house  and  to  me,  and  the  high  obligations  under 
which  he  had  voluntarily  placed  himself.  He  was  a  member  of 
one  of  the  most  august  assemblies  upon  earth,  of  which  he  was 
bound  to  defend  the  purity  or  expose  the  corruption  by  every 
consideration  which  ought  to  influence  a  patriot  bosom.  A  most 
responsible  and  highly  important  constitutional  duty  was  to  be 
performed  by  that  assembly.  He  had  chosen,  in  an  anonymous 
letter,  to  bring  against  its  presiding  officer  charges,  in  respect  to  that 
duty,  of  the  most  flagitious  character.  These  charges  comprehend 
delegations  from  several  highly  respectable  states.  If  true,  that 
presiding  officer  merited  not  merely  to  be  dragged  from  the  chair, 
but  to  be  expelled  the  house.  He  challenges  an  investigation  into 
his  conduct,  and  Mr.  Kremer  boldly  accepts  the  challenge,  and 
promises  to  sustain  his  accusation.  The  committee  appointed  by 
the  house  itself,  with  the  common  consent  of  both  parties,  calls 
upon  Mr.  Kremer  to  execute  his  pledge  publicly  given,  in  his 
proper  place,  and  also  previously  given  in  the  public  prints.  Here 
is  the  theatre  of  the  alleged  arrangements ;  this  the  vicinage  in  which 
the  trial  ought  to  take  place.  Every  thing  was  here  fresh  in  the 
recollection  of  the  witnesses,  if  there  were  any.  Here  all  the  proofs 
were  concentrated.  Mr.  Kremer  was  stimulated  by  every  motive 
which  could  impel  to  action  ;  by  his  consistency  of  character;  by 
duty  to  his  constituents,  to  his  country ;  by  that  of  redeeming  his 
solemn  pledge ;  by  his  anxious  wish  for  the  success  of  his  favorite, 
whose  interests  could  not  fail  to  be  advanced  by  supporting  his 
atrocious  charges.  But  Mr.  Kremer  had  now  the  benefit  of  the 
advice  of  his  friends.  He  had  no  proofs,  for  the  plainest  of  all 
reasons,  because  there  was  no  truth  in  his  charges.  They  saw 
that  to  attempt  to  establish  them  and  to  fail,  as  he  must  fail  in  the 
attempt,  might  lead  to  an  exposure  of  the  conspiracy,  of  which  he 
was  the  organ.  They  advised,  therefore,  that  he  should  make  a 
retreat,  and  their  adroitness  suggested,  that  in  an  objection  to  that 
jurisdiction  of  the  house,  which  had  been  admitted,  and  in  the 
popular  topics  of  the  freedom  of  the  press,  his  duty  to  his  constit- 
uents, and  the  inequality  in  the  condition  of  the  speaker  of  the 
house,  and  a  member  on  the  floor,  plausible  means  might  be  found 
to  deceive  the  ignorant  and  conceal  his  disgrace.  A  labored  com- 
munication was  accordingly  prepared  by  them,  in  Mr.  Kremer's 
name,  and  transmitted  to  the  committee,  founded  upon  these  sug- 
gestions.    Thus  the  valiant   champion,  who    had    boldly  stepped 


492  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

forward,  and  promised,  as  a  representative  of  the  people,  to  ■  cry- 
aloud  and  spare  not,'  forgot  all  his  gratuitous  gallantry  and  boasted 
patriotism,  and  sank  at  once  into  profound  silence. 

With  these  remarks,  I  will  for  the  present  leave  him,  and  proceed 
to  assign  the  reasons  to  you,  to  whom  alone  I  admit  myself  to  be 
officially  responsible,  for  the  vote  which  I  gave  on  the  presidential 
election.  The  first  inquiry  which  it  behooved  me  to  make  was,  as 
to  the  influence  which  ought  to  be  exerted  on  my  judgment,  by 
the  relative  state  of  the  electoral  votes  which  the  three  returned 
candidates  brought  into  the  house  from  the  colleges.  General 
Jackson  obtained  ninety-nine,  Mr.  Adams  eighty-four,  and  Mr. 
Crawford  forty-one.  Ought  the  fact  of  a  plurality  being  given  to 
one  of  the  candidates  to  have  any,  and  what,  weight?  If  the 
constitution  had  intended  that  it  should  have  been  decisive,  the 
constitution  would  have  made  it  decisive,  and  interdicted  the 
exercise  of  any  discretion,  on  the  part  of  the  house  of  representa- 
tives. The  constitution  has  not  so  ordained,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
it  has  provided,  lhat  '  from  the  persons  having  the  highest  numbers, 
not  exceeding  three,  on  the  list,  of  those  voted  for  as  president,  the 
house  of  representatives  shall  choose,  immediately,  by  ballot,  a 
president.'  Thus  a  discretion  is  necessarily  invested  in  the  house; 
for  choice  implies  examination,  comparison,  judgment.  The 
fact,  therefore,  that  one  of  the  three  persons  was  the  highest 
returned,  not  being,  by  the  constitution  of  the  country,  conclusive 
upon  the  judgment  of  the  house,  it  still  remains  to  determine  what 
is  the  true  degree  of  weight  belonging  to  it  ?  It  has  been  contended 
that  it  should  operate,  if  not  as  an  instruction,  at  least  in  the  nature 
of  one,  and  that  in  this  form  it  should  control  the  judgment  of  the 
house.  But  this  is  the  same  argument  of  conclusiveness  which 
the  constitution  does  not  enjoin,  thrown  into  a  different  but  more 
imposing  shape.  Let  me  analyze  it.  There  are  certain  states,  the 
aggregate  of  whose  electoral  votes  conferred  upon  the  highest 
returned  candidate,  indicate  their  wish  that  he  should  be  the  presi- 
dent. Their  votes  amount  in  number  to  ninety-nine,  out  of  two 
hundred  and  sixty-one  electoral  votes  of  the  whole  union.  These 
ninety-nine  do  not,  and  cannot,  of  themselves,  make  the  president. 
If  the  fact  of  particular  states  giving  ninety-nine  votes,  can,  accord- 
ing to  any  received  notions  of  the  doctrine  of  instruction,  be 
regarded  in  that  light,  to  whom  are  those  instructions  to  be  consid- 
ered addressed?  According  to  that  doctrine,  the  people  who 
appoint,  have  the  right  to  direct,  by  their  instruction,  in  certain 
cases,  the  course  of  the  representative  whom  they  appoint.  The 
states,  therefore,  who  gave  those  ninety-nine  votes,  may  in  some 
sense  be  understood  thereby  to  have  instructed  their  representatives 
in  the  house  to  vote  for  the  person  on  whom  they  were  bestowed, 
in  the  choice  of  a  president.  But  most  clearly  the  representatives 
coming  from  other  states,  which  gave  no  part  of  those  ninety-nine 


ADDRESS     TO     HIS     CONSTITUENTS.  493 

votes,  cannot  be  considered  as  having  been  under  any  obligation 
to  surrender  their  judgments  to  those  of  the  states  which  gave  the 
ninety-nine  votes.  To  contend  that  they  are  under  such  an 
obligation,  would  be  to  maintain  that  the  people  of  one  state  have 
a  right  to  instruct  the  representatives  from  another  state.  It  would 
be  to  maintain  a  still  more  absurd  proposition ;  that  in  a  case 
where  the  representatives  from  a  state  did  not  hold  themselves 
instructed  and  bound  by  the  will  of  that  state,  as  indicated  in  its 
electoral  college,  the  representatives  from  another  state  were,  never- 
theless, instructed  and  bound  by  that  alien  will.  Thus  the  entire 
vote  of  North  Carolina,  and  a  large  majority  of  that  of  Maryland, 
in  their  respective  electoral  colleges,  were  given  to  one  of  the  three 
returned  candidates,  for  whom  the  delegation  from  neither  of  those 
states  voted.  And  yet  the  argument  combated  requires  that  the 
delegation  from  Kentucky,  who  do  not  represent  the  people  of 
North  Carolina  nor  Maryland,  should  be  instructed  by,  and  give 
an  effect  to,  the  indicated  will  of  the  people  of  those  two  states, 
when  their  own  delegation  paid  no  attention  to  it.  Doubtless, 
those  delegations  felt  themselves  authorized  to  look  into  the  actual 
composition  of,  and  all  other  circumstances  connected  with,  the 
majorities  which  gave  the  electoral  votes,  in  their  respective  states ; 
and  felt  themselves  justified,  from  a  view  of  the  whole  ground,  to 
act  upon  their  responsibility,  and  according  to  their  best  judgments, 
disregarding  the  electoral  votes  in  their  states.  And  are  represen- 
tatives from  a  different  state  not  only  bound  by  the  will  of  the 
people  of  a  different  commonwealth,  but  forbidden  to  examine 
into  the  manner  by  which  the  expression  of  that  will  was  brought 
about — an  examination  which  the  immediate  representatives  them- 
selves, feel  it  their  duty  to  make  ? 

Is  the  fact,  then,  of  a  plurality  to  have  no  weight?  Far  from  it. 
Here  are  twenty-four  communities  united  under  a  common  govern- 
ment. The  expression  of  the  will  of  any  one  of  them  is  entitled 
to  the  most  respectful  attention.  It  ought  to  be  patiently  heard  and 
kindly  regarded  by  the  others ;  but  it  cannot  be  admitted  to  be 
conclusive  upon  them.  The  expression  of  the  will  of  ninety-nine 
out  of  two  hundred  and  sixty-one  electors,  is  entitled  to  very 
great  attention,  but  that  will  cannot  be  considered  as  entitled  to 
control  the  will  of  the  one  hundred  and  sixty-two  electors  who 
have  manifested  a  different  will.  To  give  it  such  controlling 
influence,  would  be  a  subversion  of  the  fundamental  maxim  of  the 
republic  —  that  the  majority  should  govern.  The  will  of  the 
ninety-nine  can  neither  be  allowed  rightfully  to  control  the  remain- 
ing one  hundred  and  sixty-two,  nor  any  one  of  the  one  hundred 
and  sixtv-two  electoral  votes.  It  may  be  an  argument,  a  persuasion, 
addressed  to  all  and  to  each  of  them,  but  it  is  binding  and  obliga- 
tory upon  none.  It  follows,  then,  that  the  fact  of  a  plurality  was 
only  one  among  the  various  considerations  which  the  house  was 


494  SPEECHES      OF      HENRY      CLAY. 

called  upon  to  weigh,  in  making  up  its  judgment.  And  the  weight 
of  the  consideration  ought  to  have  been  regulated  by  the  extent  of 
the  plurality.  As  between  general  Jackson  and  Mr.  Adams,  the 
vote  standing  in  the  proportions  of  ninety-nine  to  eighty-four,  it 
was  entitled  to  less  weight ;  as  between  the  general  and  Mr.  Craw- 
ford, it  was  entitled  to  more,  the  vote  being  as  ninety-nine  to  forty- 
one.  The  concession  may  even  be  made  that,  upon  the  supposition 
of  an  equality  of  pretensions  between  competing  candidates,  the 
preponderance  ought  to  be  given  to  the  fact  of  a  plurality. 

With  these  views  of  the  relative  state  of  the  vote  with  which 
the  three  returned  candidates  entered  the  house,  I  proceeded  to 
examine  the  other  considerations  which  belonged  to  the  question. 
For  Mr.  Crawford,  who  barely  entered  the  house,  with  only  four 
votes  more  than  one  candidate  not  returned,  and  upon  whose  case, 
therefore,  the  argument  derived  from  the  fact  of  plurality  operated 
with  strong,  though  not  decisive  force,  I  have  ever  felt  much 
personal  regard.  But  I  was  called  upon  to  perform  a  solemn 
public  duty,  in  which  my  private  feelings,  whether  of  affection  or 
aversion,  were  not  to  be  indulged,  but  the  good  of  my  country 
only  consulted.  It  appeared  to  me  that  the  precarious  state  of  that 
gentleman's  health,  although  I  participated  with  his  best  friends  in 
all  their  regrets  and  sympathies  on  account  of  it,  was  conclusive 
against  him,  to  say  nothing  of  other  considerations  of  a  public 
nature,  which  would  have  deserved  examination  if,  happily,  in  that 
respect  he  had  been  differently  circumstanced.  He  had  been  ill 
near  eighteen  months ;  and,  although  I  am  aware  that  his  actual 
condition  was  a  fact  depending  upon  evidence,  and  that  the 
evidence  in  regard  to  it,  which  had  been  presented  to  the  public, 
wTas  not  perfectly  harmonious,  I  judged  for  myself  upon  what  I 
saw  and  heard.  He  may,  and  I  ardently  hope  will,  recover ;  but  I 
did  not  think  it  became  me  to  assist  in  committing  the  executive 
administration  of  this  great  republic,  on  the  doubtful  contingency 
of  the  restoration  to  health  of  a  gentleman  who  had  been  so  long 
and  so  seriously  afflicted.  Moreover,  if,  under  all  the  circumstan- 
ces of  his  situation,  his  election  had  been  desirable,  I  did  not  think 
it  practicable.  I  believed,  and  yet  believe,  that,  if  the  votes  of  the 
western  states,  given  to  Mr.  Adams,  had  been  conferred  on  Mr. 
Crawford,  the  effect  would  have  been  to  protract  in  the  house  the 
decision  of  the  contest,  to  the  great  agitation  and  distraction  of  the 
country,  and  possibly  to  defeat  an  election  altogether ;  the  very 
worst  result,  I  thought,  that  could  happen.  It  appeared  to  me, 
then,  that,  sooner  or  later,  we  must  arrive  at  the  only  practical  issue 
of  the  contest  before  us,  and  that  was  between  Mr.  Adams  and 
general  Jackson,  and  I  thought  that  the  earlier  we  got  there,  the 
better  for  the  country,  and  for  the  house. 

In  considering  this  only  alternative,  I  was  not  unaware  of  your 
strong  desire  to  have  a  western   president ;  but  I  thought  that  I 


ADDRESS     TO     HIS     CONSTIT 


knew  enough  of  your  patriotism  and  magnanimity,  displayed  on 
so  many  occasions,  to  believe  that  you  could  rise  above  the  mere 
gratification  of  sectional  pride,  if  the  common  good  of  the  whole 
required  you  to  make  the  sacrifice  of  local  partiality.  I  solemnly 
believed  it  did,  and  this  brings  me  to  the  most  important  consider- 
ation which  belonged  to  the  whole  subject  —  that  arising  out  of  the 
respective  fitness  of  the  only  two  real  competitors,  as  it  appeared 
to  my  best  judgment.  In  speaking  of  general  Jackson,  I  am  aware 
of  the  delicacy  and  respect  which  are  justly  due  to  that  distinguished 
citizen.  It  is  far  from  my  purpose  to  attempt  to  disparage  him.  I 
could  not  do  it  if  I  were  capable  of  making  the  attempt ;  but  I 
shall  nevertheless  speak  of  him,  as  becomes  me,  with  truth.  I  did 
not  believe  him  so  competent  to  discharge  the  various,  intricate, 
and  complex  duties  of  the  office  of  chief  magistrate,  as  his  com- 
petitor. He  has  displayed  great  skill  and  bravery,  as  a  military 
commander,  and  his  own  renown  will  endure  as  long  as  the  means 
exist  of  preserving  a  recollection  of  human  transactions.  But  to 
be  qualified  to  discharge  the  duties  of  president  of  the  United 
States,  the  incumbent  must  have  more  than  mere  military  attain- 
ments—  he  must  be  a  statesman.  An  individual  may  be  a 
gallant  and  successful  general,  an  eminent  lawyer,  an  eloquent 
divine,  a  learned  physician,  or  an  accomplished  artist ;  and  doubt- 
less the  union  of  all  these  characters  in  the  person  of  a  chief 
magistrate  would  be  desirable,  but  no  one  of  them,  nor  all  com- 
bined, will  qualify  him  to  be  president,  unless  he  superadds  that 
indispensable  requisite  of  being  a  statesman.  Far  from  meaning 
to  say  that  it  is  an  objection  to  the  elevation  to  the  chief  magistracy 
of  any  person,  that  he  is  a  military  commander,  if  he  unites  the 
other  qualifications,  I  only  intend  to  say  that,  whatever  may  be  the 
success  or  splendor  of  his  military  achievements,  if  his  qualifica- 
tions be  only  military,  that  is  an  objection,  and  I  think  a  decisive 
objection,  to  his  election.  If  general  Jackson  has  exhibited,  either 
in  the  councils  of  the  union,  or  in  those  of  his  own  state,  or  in 
those  of  any  other  state  or  territory,  the  qualities  of  a  statesman,  the 
evidence  of  the  fact  has  escaped  my  observation.  It  would  be  as 
painful  as  it  is  unnecessary,  to  recapitulate  some  of  the  incidents, 
which  must  be  fresh  in  your  recollection,  of  his  public  life.  But  I 
was  greatly  deceived  in  my  judgment  if  they  proved  him  to  be 
endowed  with  that  prudence,  temper,  and  discretion,  which  are 
necessary  for  civil  administration.  It  was  in  vain  to  remind  me 
of  the  illustrious  example  of  Washington.  There  was  in  that 
extraordinary  person,  united,  a  serenity  of  mind,  a  cool  and 
collected  wisdom,  a  cautious  and  deliberate  judgment,  a  perfect 
command  of  the  passions,  and,  throughout  his  whole  life,  a  famil- 
iarity and  acquaintance  with  business,  and  civil  transactions,  which 
rarely  characterize  any  human  being.  No  man  was  ever  more 
deeply  penetrated  than  he  was,  with  profound  respect  for  the  safe 


496  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

and  necessary  principle  of  the  entire  subordination  of  the  military 
to  the  civil  authority.  I  hope  I  do  no  injustice  to  general  Jackson 
when  I  say,  that  I  could  not  recognise,  in  his  public  conduct,  those 
attainments,  for  both  civil  government  and  military  command, 
which  contemporaries  and  posterity  have  alike  unanimously 
concurred  in  awarding  as  yet  only  to  the  father  of  his  country.  I 
was  sensible  of  the  gratitude  which  the  people  of  this  country 
justly  feel  towards  general  Jackson,  for  his  brilliant  military 
services.  But  the  impulses  of  public  gratitude  should  be  controlled, 
as  it  appeared  to  me,  by  reason  and  discretion,  and  I  was  not 
prepared  blindly  to  surrender  myself  to  the  hazardous  indulgence 
of  a  feeling,  however  amiable  and  excellent  that  feeling  may  be, 
when  properly  directed.  It  did  not  seem  to  me  to  be  wise  or 
prudent,  if,  as  I  solemnly  believe,  general  Jackson's  competency 
for  the  office  was  highly  questionable,  that  he  should  be  placed  in 
a  situation  where  neither  his  fame  nor  the  public  inteiests  would 
be  advanced.  General  Jackson  himself  would  be  the  last  man  to 
recommend  or  vote  for  any  one  for  a  place  for  which  he  thought 
him  unfit.  I  felt  myself  sustained  by  his  own  reasoning,  in  his 
letter  to  Mr.  Monroe,  in  which,  speaking  of  the  qualifications  of 
our  venerable  Shelby  for  the  department  of  war,  he  remarked :  '  I 
am  compelled  to  say  to  you,  that  the  acquirements  of  this  worthy 
man  arc  not  competent  to  the  discharge  of  the  multiplied  duties 
of  this  department.  I  therefore  hope  he  may  not  accept  the 
appointment.  I  am  fearful,  if  he  does,  he  will  not  add  much 
splendor  to  his  present  well-earned  standing  as  a  public  character.' 
Such  was  my  opinion  of  general  Jackson,  in  reference  to  the 
presidency.  His  conviction  of  governor  Shelby's  unfitness,  by  the 
habits  of  his  life,  for  the  appointment  of  secretary  of  war,  were 
not  more  honest  nor  stronger  than  mine  were  of  his  own  want  of 
experience,  and  the  necessary  civil  qualifications  to  discharge  the 
duties  of  a  president  of  the  United  States.  In  his  elevation  to  this 
office,  too,  I  thought  I  perceived  the  establishment  of  a  fearful 
precedent;  and  I  am  mistaken  in  all  the  warnings  of  instructive 
history,  if  I  erred  in  my  judgment.  Undoubtedly  there  are  other 
and  many  dangers  to  public  liberty,  besides  that  which  proceeds 
from  military  idolatry ;  but  I  have  yet  to  acquire  the  knowledge 
of  it,  if  there  be  one  more  perilous,  or  more  frequent. 

Whether  Mr.  Adams  would  or  would  not  have  been  my  choice 
of  a  president,  if  I  had  been  left  freely  to  select  from  the  whole 
mass  of  American  citizens,  was  not  the  question  submitted  to  my 
decision.  I  had  no  such  liberty ;  but  I  was  circumscribed,  in  the 
selection  I  had  to  make,  to  one  of  the  three  gentlemen  whom  the 
people  themselves  had  thought  proper  to  present  to  the  house  of 
representatives.  Whatever  objections  might  be  supposed  to  exist 
against  him,  still  greater  appeared  to  me  to  apply  to  his  competitor. 
Of  Mr.  Adams,  it  is  but  truth  and  justice  to  say,  that  he  is  highly 


ADDRESS  TO  HIS  CONSTITUENTS.        497 

gifted,  profoundly  learned,  and  long  and  greatly  experienced  in 
public  affairs,  at  home  and  abroad.  Intimately  conversant  with 
the  rise  and  progress  of  every  negotiation  with  foreign  powers, 
pending  or  concluded ;  personally  acquainted  with  the  capacity 
and  attainments  of  most  of  the  public  men  of  this  country,  whom 
it  might  be  proper  to  employ  in  the  public  service ;  extensively 
possessed  of  much  of  that  valuable  kind  of  information  which  is 
to  be  acquired  neither  from  books  nor  tradition,  but  which  is  the 
fruit  of  largely  participating  in  public  affairs ;  discreet  and  saga- 
cious ;  he  would  enter  upon  the  duties  of  the  office  with  great 
advantages.  I  saw  in  his  election  the  establishment  of  no  danger- 
ous example.  I  saw  in  it,  on  the  contrary,  only  conformity  to  the 
safe  precedents  which  had  been  established  in  the  instances  of  Mr. 
Jefferson,  Mr.  Madison,  and  Mr.  Monroe,  who  had  respectively 
filled  the  same  office  from  which  he  was  to  be  translated. 

A  collateral  consideration  of  much  weight,  was  derived  from  the 
wishes  of  the  Ohio  delegation.  A  majority  of  it,  during  the 
progress  of  the  session,  made  up  their  opinions  to  support  Mr. 
Adams,  and  they  were  communicated  to  me.  They  said,  '  Ohio 
supported  the  candidate  who  was  the  choice  of  Kentucky.  We 
failed  in  our  common  exertions  to  secure  his  election.  Now, 
among  those  returned,  we  have  a  decided  preference,  and  we  think 
you  ought  to  make  some  sacrifice  to  gratify  us.'  Was  not  much 
due  to  our  neighbor  and  friend  ? 

I  considered,  with  the  greatest  respect,  the  resolution  of  the 
general  assembly  of  Kentucky,  requesting  the  delegation  to  vote 
for  general  Jackson.  That  resolution,  it  is  true,  placed  us  in  a 
peculiar  situation.  Whilst  every  other  delegation,  from  every  other 
state  in  the  union,  was  left  by  its  legislature  entirely  free  to  examine 
the  pretensions  of  all  the  candidates,  and  to  form  its  unbiased 
judgment,  the  general  assembly  of  Kentucky  thought  proper  to 
interpose,  and  request  the  delegation  to  give  its  vote  to  one  of  the 
candidates,  whom  they  were  pleased  to  designate.  I  felt  a  sincere 
desire  to  comply  with  a  request  emanating  from  a  source  so 
respectable,  if  I  could  have  done  so  consistently  with  those  para- 
mount duties  which  I  owed  to  you  and  to  the  country.  But,  after 
full  and  anxious  consideration,  I  found  it  incompatible  with  my 
best  judgment  of  those  duties,  to  conform  to  the  request  of  the 
general  assembly.  The  resolution  asserts,  that  it  was  the  wish  of 
the  people  of  Kentucky,  that  their  delegation  should  vote  for  the 
general.  It  did  not  inform  me  by  what  means  that  body  had 
arrived  at  a  knowledge  of  the  wish  of  the  people.  I  knew  that 
its  members  had  repaired  to  Frankfort  before  I  departed  from  home 
to  come  to  Washington.  I  knew  that  their  attention  was  fixed  on 
important  local  concerns,  well  entitled,  by  their  magnitude,  exclu- 
sively to  engross  it.  No  election,  no  general  expression  of  the 
popular  sentiment*  had  occurred  since  that  in  November*  when 
vol.  i.  63 


498  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

electors  were  chosen,  and  at  that  the  people,  by  an  overwhelming 
majority,  had  decided  against  general  Jackson.  I  could  not  see 
how  such  an  expression  against  him,  could  be  interpreted  into  that 
of  a  desire  for  his  election.  If,  as  is  true,  the  candidate  whom 
they  preferred  was  not  returned  to  the  house,  it  is  equally  true  that 
the  state  of  the  contest,  as  it  presented  itself  here  to  me,  had  never 
been  considered,  discussed,  and  decided  by  the  people  of  Kentucky, 
in  their  collective  capacity.  What  would  have  been  their  decision 
on  this  new  state  of  the  question,  I  might  have  undertaken  to 
conjecture,  but  the  certainty  of  any  conclusion  of  fact,  as  to  their 
opinion,  at  which  I  could  arrive,  was  by  no  means  equal  to  that 
certainty  of  conviction  of  my  duty  to  which  I  was  carried  by  the 
exertion  of  my  best  and  most  deliberate  reflections.  The  letters 
from  home,  which  some  of  the  delegation  received,  expressed  the 
most  opposite  opinions,  and  there  were  not  wanting  instances  of 
letters  from  some  of  the  very  members  who  had  voted  for  that 
resolution,  advising  a  different  course.  I  received  from  a  highly 
respectable  portion  of  my  constituents  a  paper,  instructing  me  as 
follows : 

'  We,  the  undersigned  voters  in  the  congressional  district,  having  viewed  the 
instruction  or  request  of  the  legislature  of  Kentucky,  on  the  subject  of  choosing  a 
president  and  vice-president  of  the  United  States,  with  regret,  and  the  said  request  or 
instruction  to  our  representative  in  congress  from  this  district  being  without  our 
knowledge  or  consent,  we,  for  many  reasons  known  to  ourselves,  connected  with  so 
momentous  an  occasion,  hereby  instruct  our  representative  in  congress  to  vote  on  this 
occasion  agreeably  to  his  own  judgment,  and  the  best  lights  he  may  have  on  the 
subject,  with  or  without  the  consent  of  the  legislature  of  Kentucky.' 

This  instruction  came  both  unexpectedly  and  unsolicited  by  me, 
and  it  was  accompanied  by  letters  assuring  me  that  it  expressed  the 
opinion  of  a  majority  of  my  constituents.  I  could  not,  therefore, 
regard  the  resolution  as  conclusive  evidence  of  your  wishes. 

Viewed  as  a  mere  request,  as  it  purported  to  be,  the  general 
assembly  doubtless  had  the  power  to  make  it.  But,  then,  with 
deference,  I  think  it  was  worthy  of  serious  consideration,  whether 
the  dignity  of  the  general  assembly  ought  not  to  have  induced  it 
to  forbear  addressing  itself,  not  to  another  legislative  body,  but  to 
a  small  part  of  it,  and  requesting  the  members  who  composed  that 
part,  in  a  case  which  the  constitution  had  confided  to  them,  to  vote 
according  to  the  wishes  of  the  general  assembly,  whether  those 
wishes  did  or  did  not  conform  to  their  sense  of  duty.  I  could  not 
regard  the  resolution  as  an  instruction ;  for,  from  the  origin  of  our 
state,  its  legislature  has  never  assumed  or  exercised  the  right  to 
instruct  the  representatives  in  congress.  I  did  not  recognise  the 
right,  therefore,  of  the  legislature,  to  instruct  me.  I  recognised  that 
right  only  when  exerted  by  you.  That  the  portion  of  the  public 
servants  who  made  up  the  general  assembly,  have  no  right  to 
instruct  that  portion  of  them  who  constituted  the  Kentucky  delega- 


ADDRESS  TO  HIS   CONSTITUENTS.       499 

tion  in  the  house  of  representatives,  is  a  proposition  too  clear  to  be 
argued.  The  members  of  the  general  assembly  would  have  been 
the  first  to  behold  as  a  presumptuous  interposition,  any  instruction, 
if  the  Kentucky  delegation  could  have  committed  the  absurdity  to 
issue,  from  this  place,  any  instruction  to  them  to  vote  in  a  particular 
manner  on  any  of  the  interesting  subjects  which  lately  engaged 
their  attention  at  Frankfort.  And  although  nothing  is  further  from 
my  intention  than  to  impute  either  absurdity  or  presumption  to 
the  general  assembly,  in  the  adoption  of  the  resolution  referred 
to,  I  must  say,  that  the  difference  between  an  instruction  emanating 
from,  them  to  the  delegation,  and  from  the  delegation  to  them,  is 
not  in  principle,  but  is  to  be  found  only  in  the  degree  of  superior 
importance  which  belongs  to  the  general  assembly. 

Entertaining  these  views  of  the  election  on  which  it  was  made 
my  duty  to  vote,  I  felt  myself  bound,  in  the  exercise  of  my  best 
judgment,  to  prefer  Mr.  Adams;  and  I  accordingly  voted  for  him. 
I  should  have  been  highly  gratified  if  it  had  not  been  my  duty  to 
vote  on  the  occasion ;  but  that  was  not  my  situation,  and  I  did  not 
choose  to  shrink  from  any  responsibility  which  appertained  to  your 
representative.  Shortly  after  the  election,  it  was  rumored  that  Mr. 
Kremer  was  preparing  a  publication,  and  the  preparations  for  it 
which  were  making  excited  much  expectation.  Accordingly,  on 
the  twenty-sixth  of  February,  the  address,  under  his  name,  to  the 
*  electors  of  the  ninth  congressional  district  of  the  state  of  Pennsyl- 
vania,' made  its  appearance  in  the  Washington  City  Gazette.  No 
member  of  the  house,  I  am  persuaded,  believed  that  Mr.  Kremer 
ever  wrote  one  paragraph  of  that  address,  or  of  the  plea,  which 
was  presented  to  the  committee,  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  house. 
Those  who  counselled  him,  and  composed  both  papers,  and  their 
purposes,  were  just  as  well  known  as  the  author  of  any  report  from 
a  committee  to  the  house.  The  first  observation  which  is  called 
for  by  the  address  is  the  place  of  its  publication.  That  place  was 
in  this  city,  remote  from  the  centre  of  Pennsylvania,  near  which 
Mr.  Kremer's  district  is  situated,  and  in  a  paper  having  but  a  very 
limited,  if  any  circulation  in  it.  The  time  is  also  remarkable. 
The  fact  that  the  president  intended  to  nominate  me  to  the  senate 
for  the  office  which  I  now  hold,  in  the  course  of  a  few  days,  was 
then  well  known,  and  the  publication  of  the  address  was,  no  doubt, 
made  less  with  an  intention  to  communicate  information  to  the 
electors  of  the  ninth  congressional  district  of  Pennsylvania,  than  to 
affect  the  decision  of  the  senate  on  the  intended  nomination.  Of 
the  character  and  contents  of  that  address  of  Messrs.  George 
Kremer  &  Co.,  made  up,  as  it  is,  of  assertion  without  proof,  of 
inferences  without  premises,  and  of  careless,  jocose,  and  quizzing 
conversations  of  some  of  my  friends,  to  which  I  was  no  party,  and 
of  which  I  had  never  heard,  it  is  not  my  intention  to  say  much.  It 
carried  its  own  refutation,  and  the  parties  concerned  saw  its  abortive 


500  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

nature  the  next  day,  in  the  indignant  countenance  of  every 
unprejudiced  and  honorable  member.  In  his  card,  Mr.  Kremer 
had  been  made  to  say,  that  he  held  himself  ready  '  to  prove,  to  the 
satisfaction  of  unprejudiced  minds,  enough  to  satisfy  them  of  the 
accuracy  of  the  statements  which  are  contained  in  that  letter,  to  the 
extent  that  they  concerned  the  course  of  conduct  of  H.  Clay.1  The 
object  for  excluding  my  friends  from  this  pledge  has  been  noticed. 
But  now  the  election  was  decided,  and  there  no  longer  existed  a 
motive  for  discrimination  between  them  and  me.  Hence  the  only 
statements  that  are  made,  in  ihe  address,  having  the  semblance  of 
proof,  relate  rather  to  them  than  to  me ;  and  the  design  was,  by 
establishing  something  like  facts  upon  them,  to  make  those  facts 
react  upon  me. 

Of  the  few  topics  of  the  address  upon  which  I  shall  remark,  the 
first  is,  the  accusation  brought  forward  against  me,  of  violating 
instructions.  If  the  accusation  were  true,  who  was  the  party 
offended,  and  to  whom  I  was  amenable  ?  If  I  violated  any  instruc- 
tions, they  must  have  been  yours,  since  you  only  had  the  right  to 
give  them,  and  to  you  alone  was  I  responsible.  Without  allowing 
hardly  time  for  you  to  hear  of  my  vote,  without  waiting  to  know 
what  your  judgment  was  of  my  conduct,  George  Kremer  &  Co. 
chose  to  arraign  me  before  the  American  public  as  the  violater  of 
instructions  which  I  was  bound  to  obey.  If,  instead  of  being,  as 
you  are,  and  1  hope  always  will  be,  vigilant  observers  of  the 
conduct  of  your  public  agents,  jealous  of  your  rights,  and  compe- 
tent to  protect  and  defend  them,  you  had  been  ignorant  and  culpably 
confiding,  the  gratuitous  interposition,  as  your  advocate,  of  the 
honorable  George  Kremer,  of  the  ninth  congressional  district  in 
Pennsylvania,  would  have  merited  your  most  grateful  acknowledg- 
ments. Even  upon  that  supposition,  his  arraignment  of  me  would 
have  required  for  its  support  one  small  circumstance,  which  happens 
not  to  exist,  and  that  is,  the  fact  of  your  having  actually  instructed 
me  to  vote  according  to  his  pleasure. 

The  relations  in  which  I  stood  to  Mr.  Adams  constitute  the  next 
theme  of  the  address,  which  I  shall  notice.  I  am  described  as 
having  assumed  '  a  position  of  peculiar  and  decided  hostility  to  the 
election  of  Mr.  Adams,'  and  expressions  towards  him  are  attributed 
to  me,  which  I  never  used.  I  am  also  made  responsible  for 
'  pamphlets  and  essays  of  great  ability,'  published  by  my  friends  in 
Kentucky  in  ihe  course  of  the  canvass.  The  injustice  of  the 
principle  of  holding  me  thus  answerable,  may  be  tested  by  apply- 
ing it  to  the  case  of  general  Jackson,  in  reference  to  publications 
issued,  for  example,  from  the  Columbia  Observer.  That  I  was 
not  in  favor  of  the  election  of  Mr.  Adams,  when  the  contest  was 
before  the  people,  is  most  certain.  Neither  was  I  in  favor  of  that 
of  Mr.  Crawford  or  general  Jackson.  That  I  ever  did  any  thing 
against  Mr.  Adams,  or  either  of  the  other  gentlemen,  inconsistent 


ADDRESS  TO  HIS  CONSTITUENTS.         501 

with  a  fair  and  honorable  competition,  I  utterly  deny.  My  rela- 
tions to  Mr.  Adams  have  been  the  subject  of  much  misconception, 
if  not  misrepresentation.  I  have  been  stated  to  be  under  a  public 
pledge  to  expose  some  nefarious  conduct  of  that  gentleman,  during 
the  negotiation  at  Ghent,  which  would  prove  him  to  be  entirely 
unworthy  of  public  confidence ;  and  that,  with  the  knowledge  of 
his  perfidy,  I  nevertheless  voted  for  him.  If  these  imputations  are 
well  founded,  I  should,  indeed,  be  a  fit  object  of  public  censure ; 
but  if,  on  the  contrary,  it  shall  be  found  that  others,  inimical  both 
to  him  and  to  me,  have  substituted  their  own  interested  wishes  for 
my  public  promises,  I  trust  that  the  indignation,  which  they  would 
excite,  will  be  turned  from  me.  My  letter,  addressed  to  the  editors 
of  the  Intelligencer,  under  date  of  the  fifteenth  of  November,  1822, 
is  made  the  occasion  for  ascribing  to  me  the  promise  and  the 
pledge  to  make  those  treasonable  disclosures  on  Mr.  Adams.  Let 
that  letter  speak  for  itself,  and  it  will  be  seen  how  little  justice  there 
is  for  such  an  assertion.  It  adverts  to  the  controversy  which  had 
arisen  between  Messrs.  Adams  and  Russell,  and  then  proceeds  to 
state  that,  '  in  the  course  of  several  publications,  of  which  it  has 
been  the  occasion,  and  particularly  in  the  appendix  to  a  pamphlet, 
which  had  been  recently  published  by  the  honorable  John  Quincy 
Adams,  I  think  there  are  some  errors,  no  doubt  unintentional,  both 
as  to  matters  of  fact  and  matters  of  opinion,  in  regard  to  the  trans- 
actions at  Ghent,  relating  to  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
certain  liberties  claimed  by  the  United  States  in  the  fisheries,  and 
to  the  part  vihich  I  bore  in  those  transactions.  These  important 
interests  are  now  well  secured.'  '  An  account,  therefore,  of  what 
occurred  in  the  negotiation  at  Ghent,  on  those  two  subjects,  is  not, 
perhaps,  necessary  to  the  present  or  future  security  of  any  of  the 
rights  of  the  nation,  and  is  only  interesting  as  appertaining  to  its 
past  history.  With  these  dm  pressions,  and  being  extremely  un- 
willing to  present  myself,  at  any  time,  before  the  public,  I  had 
almost  resolved  to  remain  silent,  and  thus  expose  myself  to  the  in- 
ference of  an  acquiescence  in  the  correctness  of  all  the  statements 
made  by  both  my  colleagues  ;  but  I  have,  on  more  reflection, 
thought  it  may  be  expected  of  me,  and  be  considered  as  a  duty  on 
my  part,  to  contribute  all  in  my  power  towards  a  full  and  faithful 
understanding  of  the  transactions  referred  to.  Under  this  convic- 
tion, I  will,  at  some  future  period,  more  propitious  than  the  present 
to  calm  and  dispassionate  consideration,  and  when  there  can  be  no 
misinterpretation  of  motives,  lay  before  the  public  a  narrative  of 
those  transactions,  as  I  understood  them.' 

From  even  a  careless  perusal  of  that  letter,  it.  is  apparent,  that 
the  only  two  subjects  of  the  negotiations  at  Ghent,  to  which  it 
refers,  were  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi,  and  certain  fishing 
liberties  ;  that  the  errors  which  I  had  supposed  were  committed, 
applied  to  both  Mr.  Russell  and  Mr.  Adams,  though  more  particu- 


502  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

larly  to  the  appendix  of  the  latter ;  that  they  were  unintentional ; 
that  they  affected  myself  principally  ;  that  I  deemed  them  of  no 
public  importance,  as  connected  with  the  then,  or  future  security 
of  any  of  the  rights  of  the  nation,  but  only  interesting  to  its  past 
history ;  that  I  doubted  the  necessity  of  my  offering  to  the  public 
any  account  of  those  transactions  ;  and  that  the  narrative  which  I 
promised  was  to  be  presented  at  a  season  of  more  calm,  and  when 
there  could  be  no  misinterpretation  of  motives.  Although  Mr. 
Adams  believes  otherwise,  I  yet  think  there  are  some  unintentional 
errors  in  the  controversial  papers  between  him  and  Mr.  Russell 
But  I  have  reserved  to  myself  an  exclusive  right  of  judging  when 
I  shall  execute  the  promise  which  I  have  made,  and  I  shall  be 
neither  quickened  nor  retarded  in  its  performance  by  the  friendly 
anxieties  of  any  of  my  opponents. 

If  injury  accrue  to  any  one  by  the  delay  in  publishing  the  narra- 
tive, the  public  will  not  suffer  by  it.  It  is  already  known  by  the 
publication  of  the  British  and  American  projets,  the  protocols,  and 
the  correspondence  between  the  respective  plenipotentiaries,  that 
the  British  government  made  at  Ghent  a  demand  of  the  navigation 
of  the  Mississippi,  by  an  article  in  their  projet  nearly  in  the  same 
words  as  those  which  were  employed  in  the  treaty  of  1783  ;  that  a 
majority  of  the  American  commissioners  was  in  favor  of  acceding 
to  that  demand,  upon  the  condition  that  the  British  government 
would  concede  to  us  the  same  fishing  liberties  within  their  juris- 
diction, as  were  secured  to  us  by  the  same  treaty  of  1783 ;  and 
that  both  demands  were  finally  abandoned.  The  fact  of  these 
mutual  propositions  was  communicated  by  me  to  the  American 
public  in  a  speech  which  I  delivered  in  the  house  of  representa- 
tives, on  the  twenty-ninth  day  of  January,  1816.  Mr.  Hopkinson 
had  arraigned  the  terms  of  the  treaty  of  peace,  and  charged  upon 
the  war  and  the  administration  the  loss  of  the  fishing  liberties, 
within  the  British  jurisdiction,  which  we  enjoyed  prior  to  the  war. 
In  vindicating,  in  my  reply  to  him,  the  course  of  the  government, 
and  the  conditions  of  the  peace,  I  stated  : 

'  When  the  British  commissioners  demanded,  in  their  projet,  a  renewal  to  Great 
Britain  of  the  right  to  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi,  secured  by  the  treaty  of  1783, 
a  bare  majority  of  the  American  commissioners  offered  to  renew  it,  upon  the  condi- 
tion that  the  liberties  in  question  were  renewed  to  us.  I  was  not  one  of  that  majority. 
I  will  not  trouble  the  committee  with  my  reasons  for  being  opposed  to  the  offer.  A 
majority  of  my  colleagues,  actuated,  I  believe,  by  the  best  motives,  made,  however, 
the  offer,  and  it  was  refused  by  the  British  commissioners.' 

And  what  I  thought  of  my  colleagues  of  the  majority,  appears 
from  the  same  extract.  The  spring  after  the  termination  of  the 
negotiations  at  Ghent,  I  went  to  London,  and  enlered  upon  a  new 
and  highly  important  negotiation  with  two  of  them,  (Messrs. 
Adams  and  Gallatin,)  which  resulted,  on  the  third  day  of  July, 
1815,  in  the  commercial  convention,  which  has  been  since  made 


ADDRESS     TO     HIS     CONSTITUENTS.  503 

the  basis  of  most  of  our  commercial  arrangements  with  foreign 
powers.  Now,  if  I  had  discovered  at  Ghent,  as  has  been  asserted, 
that  either  of  them  was  false  and  faithless  to  his  country,  would  I 
have  voluntarily  commenced  with  them  another  negotiation  ? 
Further:  there  never  has  been  a  period,  during  our  whole  acquaint- 
ance, that  Mr.  Adams  and  I  have  not  exchanged,  when  we  have 
met,  friendly  salutations,  and  the  courtesies  and  hospitalities  of 
social  intercourse. 

The  address  proceeds  to  characterize  the  support  which  I  gave 
to  Mr.  Adams  as  unnatural.  The  authors  of  the  address  have  not 
stated  why  it  is  unnatural,  and  we  are  therefore  left  to  conjecture 
their  meaning.  Is  it  because  Mr.  Adams  is  from  New  England, 
and  I  am  a  citizen  of  the  west  ?  If  it  be  unnatural  in  the  western 
states  to  support  a  citizen  of  New  England,  it  must  be  equally 
unnatural  in  the  New  England  states  to  support  a  citizen  of  the 
west.  And,  on  the  same  principle,  the  New  England  states  ought 
to  be  restrained  from  concurring  in  the  election  of  a  citizen  of  the 
southern  states,  or  the  southern  states  from  cooperating  in  the 
election  of  a  citizen  of  New  England.  And,  consequently,  the 
support  which  the  last  three  presidents  have  derived  from  New 
England,  and  that  which  the  vice-president  recently  received,  has 
been  most  unnaturally  given.  The  tendency  of  such  reasoning 
would  be  to  denationalize  us,  and  to  contract  every  part  of  the 
union  within  the  narrow,  selfish  limits  of  its  own  section.  It  would 
be  still  worse  ;  it  would  lead  to  the  destruction  of  the  union  itself. 
For  if  it  be  unnatural  in  one  section  to  support  a  citizen  in  another, 
the  union  itself  must  be  unnatural ;  all  our  ties,  all  our  glories,  all 
that  is  animating  in  the  past,  all  that  is  bright  and  cheering  in  the 
future,  must  be  unnatural.  Happily,  such  is  the  admirable  texture 
of  our  union,  that  the  interests  of  all  its  parts  are  closely  inter- 
woven. If  there  are  strong  points  of  affinity  between  the  south 
and  the  west,  there  are  interests  of  not  less,  if  not  greater,  strength 
and  vigor,  binding  the  west,  and  the  north,  and  the  east. 

Before  I  close  this  address,  it  is  my  duty,  which  I  proceed  to 
perform  with  great  regret,  on  account  of  the  occasion  which  calls 
for  it,  to  invite  your  attention  to  a  letter,  addressed  by  general 
Jackson  to  Mr.  Swartwout,  on  the  twenty-third  day  of  February 
last.  The  names  of  both  the  general  and  myself  had  been  before 
the  American  public  for  its  highest  office.  We  had  both  been 
unsuccessful.  The  unfortunate  have  usually  some  sympathy  for 
each  other.  For  myself,  I  claim  no  merit  for  the  cheerful  acqui- 
escence which  I  have  given  in  a  result  by  which  I  was  excluded 
from  the  house.  I  have  believed  that  the  decision  by  the  consti- 
tuted authorities,  in  favor  of  others,  has  been  founded  upon  a 
conviction  of  the  superiority  of  their  pretensions.  It  has  been  my 
habit,  when  an  election  is  once  decided,  to  forget,  as  soon  as 
possible,  all  the  irritating  circumstances  which  attended  the  pre- 


504  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

ceding  canvass.  If  one  be  successful,  he  should  be  content  with 
his  success.  If  he  have  lost  it,  railing  will  do  no  good.  v  I  never 
gave  general  Jackson  nor  his  friends  any  reason  to  believe  that  I 
would,  in  .any  contingency,  support  him.  He  had,  as  I  thought, 
no  public  claim,  and,  I  will  now  add,  no  personal  claims,  if  these 
ought  to  be  ever  considered,  to  my  support.  No  one,  therefore, 
ought  to  have  been  disappointed  or  chagrined  that  I  did  not  vote 
for  him,  no  more  than  I  was  neither  surprised  nor  disappointed 
that  he  did  not,  on  a  more  recent  occasion,  feel  it  to  be  his  duty  to 
vote  for  me.  After  commenting  upon  a  particular  phrase  used  in 
my  letter  to  judge  Brooke,  a  calm  reconsideration  of  which  will, 
I  think,  satisfy  any  person  that  it  was  not  employed  in  an  offensive 
sense,  if  indeed  it  have  an  offensive  sense,  the  general,  in  his  letter 
to  Mr.  Swartwout,  proceeds  to  remark :  '  No  one  beheld  me 
seeking,  through  art  or  management,  to  entice  any  representative 
in  congress  from  a  conscientious  responsibility  of  his  own,  or  the 
wishes  of  his  constituents.  No  midnight  taper  burnt  by  me ;  no 
secret  conclaves  were  held,  nor  cabals  entered  into  to  persuade  any 
one  to  a  violation  of  pledges  given,  or  of  instructions  received 
By  me  no  plans  were  concerted  to  impair  the  pure  principles  ol 
our  republican  institutions,  nor  to  prostrate  that  fundamental 
maxim  which  maintains  the  supremacy  of  the  people's  will.  On 
the  contrary,  having  never  in  any  manner,  before  the  people  or 
congress,  interfered  in  the  slightest  degree  with  the  question,  my 
conscience  stands  void  of  offence,  and  will  go  quietly  with  me, 
regardless  of  the  insinuations  of  those  who,  through  management, 
may  seek  an  influence  not  sanctioned  by  integrity  and  merit.'  I  am 
not  aware  that  this  defence  of  himself  was  rendered  necessary  by 
any  charges  brought  forward  against  the  general.  Certainly  I 
never  made  any  such  charges  against  him.  I  will  not  suppose 
that,  in  the  passage  cited,  he  intended  to  impute  to  me  the  mis- 
conduct which  he  describes,  and  yet,  taking  the  whole  context  of 
his  letter  together,  and  coupling  it  with  Mr.  Kremer's  address,  it 
cannot  be  disguised  that  others  may  suppose  he  intended  to  refer 
to  me.  I  am  quite  sure  that,  if  he  did,  he  could  not  have  formed 
those  unfavorable  opinions  of  me  upon  any  personal  observation 
of  my  conduct  made  by  himself;  for  a  supposition  that  they  were 
founded  upon  his  own  knowledge,  would  imply  that  my  lodgings 
and  my  person  had  been  subjected  to  a  system  of  espionage 
wholly  incompatible  with  the  open,  manly,  and  honorable  conduct 
of  a  gallant  soldier.  If  he  designed  any  insinuations  against  me, 
I  must,  believe  that  he  made  them  upon  the  information  of  others, 
of  whom  I  can  only  say  that  they  have  deceived  his  credulity,  and 
are  entirely  unworthy  of  all  credit.  I  entered  into  no  cabals ;  I  held 
no  secret  conclaves ;  I  enticed  no  man  to  violate  pledges  given  or 
inductions  received.  The  members  from  Ohio,  and  from  the 
other  western  states,  with  whom  I  voted,  were  all  of  them  as  com- 
petent as  I  was  to  form  an  opinion  on  the  pending  election.     The 


ADDRESS     TO     HIS     CONSTITUENTS.  505 

McArthurs  and  the  Metcalfs,  and  the  other  gentlemen  from  the 
west,  (some  of  whom  have,  if  I  have  not,  bravely  '  made  an 
effort  to  repel  an  invading  foe,')  are  as  incapable  of  dishonor  as 
any  men  breathing ;  as  disinterested,  as  unambitious,  as  exclusively 
devoted  to  the  best  interests  of  their  country.  It  was  quite  as  likely 
that  I  should  be  influenced  by  them,  as  that  I  could  control  their 
votes.  Our  object  was  not  to  impair,  but  to  preserve  from  all 
danger,  the  purity  of  our  republican  institutions.  And  how  I  pros- 
trated the  maxim  which  maintains  the  supremacy  of  the  people's 
will,  I  am  entirely  at  a  loss  to  comprehend.  The  illusions  of  the 
general's  imagination  deceive  him.  The  people  of  the  United 
States  had  never  decided  the  election  in  his  favor.  If  the  people 
had  willed  his  election,  he  would  have  been  elected.  It  was 
because  they  had  not  willed  his  election,  nor  that  of  any  other 
candidate,  that  the  duty  of  making  a  choioe  devolved  on  the  house 
of  representatives.     The  general  remarks : 

!  Mr.  Clay  has  never  yet  risked  himself  for  his  country.  He  has  never  sacrificed 
his  repose,  nor  made  an  effort  to  repel  an  invading  foe  ;  of  course  his  conscience 
assured  him  it  was  altogether  wrong  in  any  other  man  to  lead  his  countrymen  to 
battle  and  victory.' 

The  logic  of  this  conclusion  is  not  very  striking.  General 
Jackson  fights  better  than  he  reasons.  When  have  I  failed  to 
concur  in  awarding  appropriate  honors  to  those  who,  on  the  sea  or 
on  the  land,  have  sustained  the  glory  of  our  arms,  if  I  could  not 
always  approve  of  the  acts  of  some  of  them  ?  It  is  true,  that  it 
has  been  my  misfortune  never  to  have  repelled  an  invading  foe, 
nor  to  have  led  my  countrymen  to  victory.  If  I  had,  I  should  have 
left  to  others  to  proclaim  and  appreciate  the  deed.  The  general's 
destiny  and  mine  have  led  us  in  different  directions.  In  the  civil 
employments  of  my  country,  to  which  I  have  been  confined,  I 
regret  that  the  little  service  which  I  have  been  able  to  render  it  falls 
far  short  of  my  wishes.  But  why  this  denunciation  of  those  who 
have  not  repelled  an  invading  foe,  or  led  our  armies  to  victory  ? 
At  the  very  moment  when  he  is  inveighing  against  an  objection  to 
his  election  to  the  presidency,  founded  upon  the  exclusive  military 
nature  of  his  merits,  does  he  not  perceive  that  he  is  establishing  its 
validity  by  proscribing  every  man  who  has  not  successfully  fought 
the  public  enemy ;  and  that,  by  such  a  general  proscription,  and 
the  requirement  of  successful  military  service  as  the  only  condition 
of  civil  preferment,  the  inevitable  effect  would  be  the  ultimate 
establishment  of  a  military  government  ? 

If  the  contents  of  the  letter  to  Mr.  Swartwout,  were  such  as 
justly  to  excite  surprise,  there  were  other  circumstances  not  calcu- 
lated to  diminish  it.  Of  all  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  that 
gentleman  is  one  of  the  last  to  whom  it  was  necessary  to  address 
any  vindication  of  general  Jackson.  He  had  given  abundant 
vol.  i.  64 


506  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

evidence  of  his  entire  devotion  to  the  cause  of  the  general.  He 
was  here  after  the  election,  and  was  one  of  a  committee  who 
invited  the  general  to  a  public  dinner,  proposed  to  be  given  to  him 
in  this  place.  My  letter  to  judge  Brooke  was  published  in  the 
papers  of  this  city  on  the  twelfth  of  February.  The  general's  note, 
declining  the  invitation  of  Messrs.  Swartwout  and  others,  was 
published  on  the  fourteenth,  in  the  National  Journal.  The  proba- 
bility, therefore,  is,  that  he  did  not  leave  this  city  until  after  he  had 
a  full  opportunity  to  receive,  in  a  personal  interview  with  the 
general,  any  verbal  observations  upon  it  which  he  might  have 
thought  proper  to  make.  The  letter  to  Mr.  Swartwout,  bears  date 
the  twenty-third  of  February.  If  received  by  him  in  New  York, 
it  must  have  reached  him,  in  the  ordinary  course  of  mail,  on  the 
twenty-fifth  or  twenty-sixth.  Whether  intended  or  not  as  a '  private 
communication,'  and  not  for  the  *  public  eye,'  as  alleged  by  him, 
there  is  much  probability  in  believing  that  its  publication  in  New 
York,  on  the  fourth  of  March,  was  then  made,  like  Mr.  Kremer's 
address,  with  the  view  to  its  arrival  in  this  city  in  time  to  affect  my 
nomination  to  the  senate.  In  point  of  fact,  it  reached  here  the 
day  before  the  senate  acted  on  that  nomination. 

Fellow-citizens,  I  am  sensible  that,  generally,  a  public  officer  had 
better  abstain  from  any  vindication  of  his  conduct,  and  leave  it  to 
the  candor  and  justice  of  his  countrymen,  under  all  its  attending 
circumstances.  Such  has  been  the  course  which  I  have  heretofore 
prescribed  to  myself.  This  is  the  first,  as  I  hope  it  may  be  the  last, 
occasion  of  my  thus  appearing  before  you.  The  separation  which 
has  just  taken  place  between  us,  and  the  venom,  if  not  the  vigor 
of  the  late  onsets  upon  my  public  conduct,  will,  I  hope,  be  allowed 
in  this  instance  to  form  an  adequate  apology.  It  has  been 
upwards  of  twenty  years  since  I  first  entered  the  public  service. 
Nearly  three  fourths  of  that  time,  with  some  intermissions,  I  have 
represented  the  same  district  in  congress,  with  but  little  variation 
in  its  form.  During  that  long  period,  you  have  beheld  our  country 
passing  through  scenes  of  peace  and  war,  of  prosperity  and 
adversity,  and  of  party  divisions,  local  and  general,  often  greatly 
exasperated  against  each  other.  I  have  been  an  actor  in  most  of 
those  scenes.  Throughout  the  whole  of  them,  you  have  clung  to 
me  with  an  affectionate  confidence  which  has  never  been  surpassed. 
I  have  found  in  your  attachment,  in  every  embarrassment  in  my 
public  career,  the  greatest  consolation,  and  the  most  encouraging 
support.  I  should  regard  the  loss  of  it  as  one  of  the  most  afflict- 
ing public  misfortunes  which  could  befall  me.  That  I  have  often 
misconceived  your  true  interests,  is  highly  probable.  That  I  have 
ever  sacrificed  them  to  the  object  of  personal  aggrandizement,  I 
utterly  deny.  And,  for  the  purity  of  my  motives,  however  in 
other  respects  I  may  be  unworthy  to  approach  the  throne  of  grace 
and  mercy,  I  appeal  to  the  justice  of  my  God,  with  all  the  confi- 
dence which  can  flow  from  a  consciousness  of  perfect  rectitude. 


ON  THE   ELECTION   OE  PRESIDENT  BY 
CONGRESS,   IN   1825, 

SPEECH  AT  LEWISBURG,  VIRGINIA,  AUGUST  30,  1826. 


[In  the  following  remarks  at  a  public  dinner  given  him  by  citizens  of  Lewisburg, 
and  its  vicinity,  while  he  was  secretary  of  state,  under  president  Adams,  Mr.  Clay 
explains  the  motives  which  influenced  him  in  voting  for  that  gentleman  for  the  office 
of  president,  and  afterwards  accepting  a  seat  in  his  cabinet.  He  also  alludes  to  some 
of  the  measures  of  the  administration,  of  which  he  was  then  a  member,  in  a  manner 
which  will  be  found  to  possess  great  interest] 


Lewisburg,  August  23rf,  1826. 
The  honorable  Henry   Clay : 

Sir,  at  a  meeting  of  a  respectable  number  of  the  inhabitants  of  Lewisburg 
and  its  vicinity,  convened  in  the  court  house  on  the  twenty-second  instant,  it  was 
unanimously  determined  to  greet  your  arrival  amongst  them  by  some  public  demon- 
stration of  the  respect  which  they  in  common  with  a  great  portion  of  the  community, 
feel  towards  one  of  their  most  distinguished  fellow-citizens.  It  was  therefore  unani- 
mously resolved,  as  the  most  eligible  means  of  manifesting  their  feelings,  to  request 
the  honor  of  your  presence  at  a  public  dinner  to  be  given  at  the  tavern  of  Mr.  Frazer, 
in  the  town  of  Lewisburg,  on  Wednesday  the  thirtieth  instant. 

In  pursuance  of  the  above  measures,  we,  as  a  committee,  have  been  appointed  to 
communicate  their  resolutions  and  solicit  a  compliance  with  their  invitation.  In 
performing  this  agreeable  duty,  we  cannot  but  express  our  admiration  of  the  uniform 
course  which,  during  a  long  political  career,  you  have  pursued  with  so  much  honor  to 
yourself  and  country.  Although  the  detractions  of  envy,  and  the  violence  of  party 
feeling  have  endeavored  to  blast  your  fair  reputation,  and  destroy  the  confidence 
reposed  in  you  by  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  we  rejoice  to  inform  you,  that  the 
people  of  the  western  part  of  that  state  which  claims  you  as  one  of  her  most  gifted 
sons,  still  retain  the  same  high  feeling  of  respect,  which  they  have  always  manifested 
in  spite  of  the  maledictions  and  bickerings  of  disappointed  editors  and  interested  politi- 
cians. We  cannot  close  our  communication  without  hailing  you  as  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  advocates  of  that  system  of  internal  improvement  which  has  already 
proved  so  beneficial  to  our  country,  and  which  at  no  distant  period  will  make  even 
these  desert  mountains  to  blossom  as  the  rose. 

We  have  the  honor  to  subscribe  ourselves,  yours  with  esteem, 

J.  G.  M'Clenachen.  John  Beirne, 

James  M'Laughlin,  J.  A.  North, 

J  F.  Caldwell,  Henry  Erskine. 

White  Sulphur  Springs,  24th  Jugust,  1826. 

Gentlemen,  I  have  received  the  note  which  you  did  me  the  honor  on  yesterday 

to  address  to  me,  inviting  me  in  behalf  of  a  respectable  number  of  the  citizens  of  Lewis' 

burg  and  its  vicinity,  to  a  public  dinner  at  Mr.  Frazer's  tavern,  on  Wednesday  next, 

which  they  have  the  goodness  to  propose,  in  consequence  of  my  arrival  amongst 


508  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

them,  as  a  manifestation  of  their  Respect.  Such  a  compliment  was  most  unexpected 
by  me  on  a  journey  to  Washington,  by  this  route,  recommended  to  my  choice  by  the 
pure  air  of  a  mountain  region,  and  justly  famed  mineral  waters,  a  short  use  of  which 
I  hoped  might  contribute  to  the  perfect  re>"stablishment  of  my  health.  The  gratifi- 
cation which  I  derive  from  this  demonstration  of  kindness  and  confidence,  springs,  in 
no  small  degree,  from  the  consideration  that  it  is  the  spontaneous  testimony  of  those 
with  whom  I  share  a  common  origin,  in  a  venerated  state,  endeared  to  me  by  an  early 
tie  of  respect  and  affection,  which  no  circumstance  can  ever  dissolve.  In  communi- 
cating to  that  portion  of  the  citizens  of  Lewisburg  and  its  vicinity,  who  have  been 
pleased  thus  to  favor  me.  by  their  distinguished  notice,  my  acceptance  of  their  hospi- 
table invitation,  I  pray  you  to  add  my  profound  acknowledgments.  And  of  the  friendly 
and  flattering  manner  in  which  you  have  conveyed  it,  and  for  the  generous  sympathy, 
characteristic  of  Virginia,  which  you  are  so  obliging  as  to  express,  on  account  of  the 
detractions  of  which  I  have  been  the  selected  object,  and  the  meditated  victim,  be 
assured  that  I  shall  always  retain  a  lively  and  grateful  remembrance. 

I  am,  gentlemen,  with  great  esteem  and  regard,  faithfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

Henry  Clay. 

Messrs.  M'Clenachen,  North,  M'Laughlin,  Caldwell,  Beirne,  and  Erskine,  &c,  &c 

TOAST. 

Seventh.  Our  distinguished  guest,  Henry  Clay — the  statesman,  orator,  patriot,  and 
philanthropist;  his  splendid  talents  shed  lustre  on  his  native  state,  his  eloquence  is 
an  ornament  to  his  country. 

When  this  toast  was  drunk,  Mr.  Clay  rose,  and  addressed  the 
company  in  a  speech,  which  occupied  nearly  an  hour  in  the  delivery, 
of  which  we  can  only  attempt  an  imperfect  sketch. 

He  said,  that  he  had  never  before  felt  so  intensely  the  want  of 
those  powers  of  eloquence  which  had  been  just  erroneously  ascribed 
to  him.  He  hoped,  however,  that  in  his  plain  and  unaffected 
language,  he  might  be  allowed,  without  violating  any  established 
usage  which  prevails  here,  to  express  his  grateful  sensibility,  excited 
by  the  sentiment  with  which  he  had  been  honored,  and  for  the  kind 
and  respectful  consideration  of  him  manifested  on  the  occasion 
which  had  brought  them  together.  In  passing  through  my  native 
state,  said  he,  towards  which  I  have  ever  borne,  and  shall  continue, 
in  all  vicissitudes,  to  cherish,  the  greatest  respect  and  affection,  I 
expected  to  be  treated  with  its  accustomed  courtesy  and  private 
hospitality.  But  I  did  not  anticipate  that  I  should  be  the  object  of 
such  public,  distinguished,  and  cordial  manifestations  of  regard. 
In  offering  you  the  poor  and  inadequate  return  of  my  warm  and 
respectful  thanks,  I  pray  you  to  believe  that  I  shall  treasure  up  these 
testimonies  among  the  most  gratifying  reminiscences  of  my  life. 
The  public  service  which  I  have  rendered  my  country,  your  too 
favorable  opinion  of  which  has  prompted  you  to  exhibit  these 
demonstrations  of  your  esteem,  has  fallen  far  below  the  measure  of 
usefulness,  which  I  should  have  been  happy  to  have  filled.  I  claim 
for  it  only  the  humble  merit  of  pure  and  patriotic  intention.  Such 
as  it  has  been,  I  have  not  always  been  fortunate  enough  to  give 
satisfaction  to  every  section  and  to  all  the  great  interests  of  our 
country. 

When  an  attempt  was  made  to  impose  upon  a  new  state,  about 


ELECTION     OF     PRESIDENT     BY     CONGRESS.         509 

to  be  admitted  into  the  union,  restrictions  incompatible  as  I  thought 
with  her  coequal  sovereign  power,  I  was  charged  in  the  north  with 
being  too  partial  to  the  south,  and  as  being  friendly  to  that  unfor- 
tunate condition  of  slavery,  of  the  evils  of  which  none  are  more 
sensible  than  I  am. 

At  another  period,  when  I  believed  that  the  industry  of  this 
country  required  some  protection  against  the  selfish  and  contracted 
legislation  of  foreign  powers,  and  to  constitute  it  a  certain  and  safe 
source  of  supply,  in  all  exigencies ;  the  charge  against  me  was 
transposed,  and  I  was  converted  into  a  foe  of  southern,  and  an 
infatuated  friend  of  northern  and  western  interests. 

There  were  not  wanting  persons,  in  every  section  of  the  union, 
in  another  stage  of  our  history,  to  accuse  me  with  rashly  contributing 
to  the  support  of  a  war,  the  only  alternative  left  to  our  honor  by 
the  persevering  injustice  of  a  foreign  nation.  These  contradictory 
charges  and  perverted  views  gave  me  no  concern,  because  I  was 
confident  that  time  and  truth  would  prevail  over  all  misconcep- 
tions ;  and  because  they  did  not  impeach  my  public  integrity.  But 
I  confess  I  was  not  prepared  to  expect  the  aspersions  which  I  have 
experienced  on  account  of  a  more  recent  discharge  of  public  duty. 
My  situation  on  the  occasion  to  which  I  refer,  was  most  peculiar 
and  extraordinary,  unlike  that  of  any  other  American  citizen.  One 
of  the  three  candidates  for  the  presidency,  presented  to  the  choice 
of  the  house  of  representatives,  was  out  of  the  question  for  noto- 
rious reasons  now  admitted  by  all.  Limited  as  the  competition 
was  to  the  other  two,  I  had  to  choose  between  a  statesman  long 
experienced  at  home  and  abroad  in  numerous  civil  situations,  and 
a  soldier,  brave,  gallant,  and  successful,  but  a  mere  soldier,  who, 
although  he  had  also  filled  several  civil  offices,  had  quickly  resigned 
them  all,  frankly  acknowledging,  in  some  instances,  his  incompe- 
tency to  discharge  their  duties. 

It  has  been  said  that  I  had  some  differences  with  the  present 
chief  magistrate,  at  Ghent.  It  is  true  that  we  did  not  agree  on  one 
of  the  many  important  questions  which  arose  during  the  negotia- 
tions in  that  city,  but  the  difference  equally  applied  to  our  present 
minister  at  London  and  to  the  lamented  Bayard,  between  whom 
and  myself,  although  we  belonged  to  opposite  political  parties, 
there  existed  a  warm  friendship  to  the  hour  of  his  death.  It  was 
not  of  a  nature  to  prevent  our  cooperation  together  in  the  public 
service,  as  is  demonstrated  by  the  convention  at  London  subse- 
quently negotiated  by  Messrs.  Adams,  Gallatin,  and  myself.  It  was 
a  difference  of  opinion  on  a  point  of  expediency,  and  did  not  relate 
to  any  constitutional  or  fundamental  principle.  But  with  respect 
to  the  conduct  of  the  distinguished  citizen  of  Tennessee,  I  had 
solemnly  expressed,  under  the  highest  obligations,  opinions,  which, 
whether  right  or  wrong,  were  sincerely  and  honestly  entertained, 
and  are  still  held.     These  opinions  related  to  a  military  exercise  of 


510  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

power  believed  to  be  arbitrary  and  unconstitutional.  I  should  have 
justly  subjected  myself  to  the  grossest  inconsistency,  if  I  had  given 
him  my  suffrage.  I  thought  if  he  were  elected,  the  sword  and  the 
constitution,  bad  companions,  would  be  brought  too  near  together. 
I  could  not  have  foreseen  that,  fully  justified  as  I  have  been  by 
those  very  constituents,  in  virtue  of  whose  authority  I  exerted  the 
right  of  free  suffrage,  I  should  nevertheless  be  charged  with  a 
breach  of  duty  and  corruption  by  strangers  to  them,  standing  in  no 
relation  to  them  but  that  of  being  citizens  of  other  states,  members 
of  the  confederacy.  It  is  in  vain  that  these  revilers  have  been 
called  upon  for  their  proofs;  have  been  defied,  and  are  again 
invited,  to  enter  upon  any  mode  of  fair  investigation  and  trial ; 
shrinking  from  every  impartial  examination,  they  persevere,  with 
increased  zeal,  in  the  propagation  of  calumny,  under  the  hope  of 
supplying  by  the  frequency  and  boldness  of  asseveration,  the  want 
of  truth  and  "the  deficiency  of  evidence ;  until  we  have  seen  the 
spectacle  exhibited  of  converting  the  hall  of  the  first  legislative 
assembly  upon  earth,  on  the  occasion  of  discussions  which  above 
all  others  should  have  been  characterized  by  dignity,  calmness,  and 
temperance,  into  a  theatre  for  spreading  suspicions  and  groundless 
imputations  against  an  absent  and  innocent  individual. 

Driven  from  every  other  hold,  they  have  seized  on  the  only  plank 
left  within  their  grasp,  that  of  my  acceptance  of  the  office  of  secre- 
tary of  state,  which  has  been  asserted  to  be  the  consummation  of  a 
previous  corrupt  arrangement.  What  can  I  oppose  to  such  an 
assertion,  but  positive,  peremptory,  and  unqualified  denial,  and  a 
repetition  of  the  demand  for  proof  and  trial  ?  The  office  to  which 
I  have  been  appointed  is  that  of  the  country,  created  by  it,  and 
administered  for  its  benefit.  In  deciding  whether  I  should  accept 
it  or  not,  I  did  not  take  counsel  from  those  who,  foreseeing  the 
probability  of  my  designation  for  it,  sought  to  deter  me  from  its 
acceptance  by  fabricating  anticipated  charges,  which  would  have 
been  preferred  with  the  same  zeal  and  alacrity,  however  I  might 
have  decided.  I  took  counsel  from  my  friends,  from  my  duty, 
from  my  conscious  innocence  of  unworthy  and  false  imputations. 
I  was  not  left  at  liberty  by  either  my  enemies  or  my  friends  to 
decline  the  office.  I  would  willingly  have  declined  it  from  an 
unaffected  distrust  of  my  ability  to  perform  its  high  duties,  if  I  could 
have  honorably  declined  it.  I  hope  the  uniform  tenor  of  my  whole 
public  life  will  protect  me  against  the  supposition  of  any  unrea- 
sonable avidity  for  public  employment.  During  the  administration 
of  that  illustrious  man,  to  whose  civil  services  more  than  to  those  of 
any  other  American  patriot,  living  or  dead,  this  country  is  indebted 
for  the  blessings  of  its  present  constitution,  now  more  than  ten 
years  ago,  the  mission  to  Russia,  and  a  place  in  his  cabinet,  were 
successively  offered  me.  A  place  in  his  cabinet,  at  that  period  of 
my  life,  was  more  than  equivalent  to  any  place  under  any  admin- 


ELECTION     OF     PRESIDENT     BY     CONGRESS.         511 

istration,  at  my  present  more  advanced  age.  His  immediate 
successor  tendered  to  me  the  same  place  in  his  cabinet,  which  he 
anxiously  urged  me  to  accept,  and  the  mission  to  England.  Gen- 
ilemen,  I  hope  yon  will  believe  that  far  from  being  impelled  by  any 
vain  or  boastful  spirit,  to  mention  these  things,  I  do  it  with  humili- 
ation and  mortification. 

If  I  had  refused  the  department  of  state,  the  same  individuals 
who  now,  in  the  absence  of  all  proof,  against  all  probability,  and  in 
utter  disregard  of  all  truth,  proclaim  the  existence  of  a  corrupt  pre- 
vious arrangement,  would  have  propagated  the  same  charge  with 
the  same  affected  confidence  which  they  now  unblushingly  assume. 
And  it  would  have  been  said,  with  at  least  much  plausibility,  that 
1  had  contributed  to  the  election  of  a  chief  magistrate,  of  whom  t 
thought  so  unfavorably  that  I  would  not  accept  that  place  in  his 
cabinet  which  is  generally  regarded  as  the  first.  I  thought  it 
my  duty,  unawed  by  their  denunciations,  to  proceed  in  the  office 
assigned  me  by  the  president  and  senate,  to  render  the  country  the 
best  service  of  which  my  poor  abilities  are  capable.  If  this  admin- 
istration should  show  itself  unfriendly  to  American  liberty  and  to 
free  and  liberal  institutions;  if  it  should  be  conducted  upon  a 
system  adverse  to  those  principles  of  public  policy,  which  I  have 
ever  endeavored  to  sustain,  and  I  should  be  found  still  clinging  to 
office ;  then  nothing  which  could  be  said  by  those  who  are  inimical 
to  me,  would  be  undeserved. 

But  the  president  ought  not  to  have  appointed  one  who  had 
voted  for  him.  Mr.  Jefferson  did  not  think  so,  who  called  to  his 
cabinet  a  gentleman  who  had  voted  for  him,  in  the  most  warmly 
contested  election  that  has  ever  occurred  in  the  house  of  represent- 
atives, and  who  appointed  to  other  highly  important  offices  other 
members  of  the  same  house,  who  voted  for  him.  Mr.  Madison  did 
not  think  so,  who  did  not  feel  himself  restrained  from  sending  me 
on  a  foreign  service,  because  I  had  supported  his  election.  Mr. 
Monroe  did  not  think  so,  who  appointed  in  his  cabinet  a  gentle- 
man, now  filling  the  second  office  in  the  government,  who  attended 
the  caucus  that  nominated  and  warmly  and  efficiently  espoused 
his  election.  But,  suppose  the  president  acted  upon  the  most 
disinterested  doctrine  which  is  now  contended  for  by  those  who 
opposed  his  election,  and  were  to  appoint  to  public  office  from 
their  ranks  only,  to  the  entire  exclusion  of  those  who  voted  for 
him,  would  he  then  escape  their  censure  ?  No !  we  have  seen  him 
charged,  for  that  equal  distribution  of  the  public  service  among 
every  class  of  citizens,  which  has  hitherto  characterized  his  admin- 
istration, with  the  nefarious  purpose  of  buying  up  portions  of  the 
community.  A  spirit  of  denunciation  is  abroad.  "With  some, 
condemnation,  right  or  wrong,  is  the  order  of  the  day.  No  matter 
what  prudence  and  wisdom  may  stamp  the  measures  of  the  admin- 
istration, no  matter  how  much  the  prosperity  of  the  country  may 


512  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

be  advanced,  or  what  public  evils  may  be  averted,  under  its  guid- 
ance, there  are  persons  who  would  make  general,  indiscriminate, 
and  interminable  opposition.  This  is  not  a  fit  occasion,  nor 
perhaps  am  I  a  fit  person,  to  enter  upon  a  vindication  of  its  meas- 
ures. But  I  hope  I  shall  be  excused  for  asking  what  measure  of 
domestic  policy  has  been  proposed  or  recommended  by  the  present 
executive,  which  has  not  its  prototype  in  previous  acts  or  recom- 
mendations of  administrations  at  the  head  of  which  was  a  citizen 
of  Virginia?  Can  the  liberal  and  high-minded  people  of  this  state, 
condemn  measures  emanating  from  a  citizen  of  Massachusetts, 
which,  when  proposed  by  a  Virginian,  commanded  their  express 
assent  or  silent  acquiescence,  or  to  which,  if  in  any  instance  they 
made  opposition,  it  was  respectful,  limited,  and  qualified?  The 
present  administration  desires  only  to  be  judged  by  its  measures, 
and  invites  the  strictest  scrutiny  and  the  most  watchful  vigilance 
on  the  part  of  the  public. 

With  respect  to  the  Panama  mission,  it  is  true  that  it  was  not 
recommended  by  any  preceding  administration,  because  the  circum- 
stances of  the  world  were  not  then  such  as  to  present  it  as  a  subject 
for  discussion.  But  during  that  of  Mr.  Monroe,  it  has  been  seen 
that  it  was  a  matter  of  consideration,  and  there  is  every  reason  to 
believe,  if  he  were  now  at  the  head  of  affairs,  his  determination 
would  correspond  with  that  of  his  successor.  Let  me  suppose  that 
it  was  the  resolution  of  this  country,  under  no  circumstances,  to 
contract  with  foreign  powers  intimate  public  engagements,  and  to 
remain  altogether  unbound  by  any  treaties  of  alliance ;  what  should 
have  been  the  course  taken  with  the  very  respectful  invitation 
which  was  given  to  the  United  States  to  be  represented  at  Panama  ? 
Haughtily  folding  your  arms,  would  you  have  given  it  a  cold  and 
abrupt  refusal  ?  Or  would  you  not  rather  accept  it,  send  ministers, 
and,  in  a  friendly  and  respectful  manner,  endeavor  to  satisfy  those 
who  are  looking  to  us  for  counsel  and  example,  and  imitating  our 
free  institutions,  that  there  is  no  necessity  for  such  an  alliance ;  that 
the  dangers  which  alone  could,  in  the  opinion  of  any  one,  have 
justified  it,  have  vanished,  and  that  it  is  not  good  for  them  or  for  us? 

What  may  be  the  nature  of  the  instructions  with  which  our 
ministers  may  be  charged,  it  is  not  proper  that  I  should  state ;  but 
all  candid  and  reflecting  men  must  admit,  that  we  have  great 
interests  in  connection  with  the  southern  republics,  independent  of 
any  compacts  of  alliance.  Those  republics,  now  containing  a 
population  of  upwards  of  twenty  millions,  duplicating  their  num- 
bers probably  in  periods  still  shorter  than  we  do,  comprising  within 
their  limits  the  most  abundant  sources  of  the  precious  metals,  offer 
to  our  commerce,  to  our  manufactures,  to  our  navigation,  so  many 
advantages,  that  none  can  doubt  the  expediency  of  cultivating  the 
most  friendly  relations  with  them.  If  treaties  of  commerce  and 
friendship,  and  liberal  stipulations  in  respect  to  neutral  and  bellige- 


ELECTION     OF     PRESIDENT     BY     CONGRESS.  513 

rent  rights,  could  be  negotiated  with  each  of  them  at  its  separate 
seat  of  government,  there  is  no  doubt  that  much  greater  facilities 
for  the  conclusion  of  such  treaties  present  themselves  at  a  point 
where,  all  being  represented,  the  way  may  be  smoothed  and  all 
obstacles  removed  by  a  disclosure  of  the  views  and  wishes  of  all, 
and  by  mutual  and  friendly  explanations.  There  was  one  con- 
sideration which  had  much  weight  with  the  executive,  in  the 
decision  to  accept  the  mission;  and  that  was  the  interest  which  this 
country  has,  and  especially  the  southern  states,  in  the  fate  and 
fortunes  of  the  island  of  Cuba.  No  subject  of  our  foreign  rela- 
tions has  created  with  the  executive  government  more  anxious 
concern,  than  that  of  the  condition  of  that  island  and  the  possibility 
of  prejudice  to  the  southern  states,  from  the  convulsions  to  which 
it  might  be  exposed.  It  was  believed,  and  is  yet  believed,  that  the 
dangers  which,  in  certain  contingencies,  might  threaten  our  quiet 
and  safety,  may  be  more  successfully  averted  at  a  place  at  which 
all  the  American  powers  should  be  represented  than  any  where  else. 
And  I  have  no  hesitation  in  expressing  the  firm  conviction,  that,  if 
there  be  one  section  of  this  union  more  than  all  others  interested 
in  the  Panama  mission,  and  the  benefits  which  may  flow  from  it, 
that  section  is  the  south.  It  was,  therefore,  with  great  and  unaffected 
surprise,  that  I  witnessed  the  obliquity  of  those  political  views 
which  led  some  gentlemen  from  that  quarter  to  regard  the  measure, 
as  it  might  operate  on  the  southern  states,  in  an  unfavorable  light. 
Whatever  may  be  the  result  of  the  mission,  its  moral  effect  in 
Europe  will  be  considerable,  and  it  cannot  fail  to  make  the  most 
friendly  impressions  upon  our  southern  neighbors.  It  is  one  of 
which  it  is  difficult,  in  sober  imagination,  to  conceive  any  possible 
mischievous  consequences,  and  which  the  executive  could  not 
have  declined,  in  my  opinion,  without  culpable  neglect  of  the 
interests  of  this  country,  and  without  giving  dissatisfaction  to 
nations  whose  friendship  we  are  called  upon  by  every  dictate  of 
policy  to  conciliate. 

There  are  persons  who  would  impress  on  the  southern  states  the 
belief  that  they  have  just  cause  of  apprehending  danger  to  a 
certain  portion  of  their  property  from  the  present  administration. 
It  is  not  difficult  to  comprehend  the  object  and  the  motive  of  these 
idle  alarms.  What  measure  of  the  present  administration  gives 
any  just  occasion  for  the  smallest  apprehension  to  the  tenure  by 
which  that  species  of  property  is  held?  '  However  much  the 
president  and  the  members  of  his  administration  may  deprecate 
the  existence  of  slavery  among  us,  as  the  greatest  evil  with  which 
we  are  afflicted,  there  is  not  one  of  them  that  does  not  believe  that 
the  constitution  of  the  general  government  confers  no  authority  to 
interpose  between  the  master  and  his  slave,  none  to  apply  an 
adequate  remedy,  if  indeed  there  be  any  remedy  within  the  scope 
of  human  power.  Suppose  an  object  of  these  alarmists  were 
vol.  i.  65 


514  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

accomplished,  and  the  slave-holding  states  were  united  in  the 
sentiment,  that  the  policy  of  this  government  in  all  time  to  come, 
should  be  regulated  on  the  basis  of  the  fact  of  slavery,  would  not 
union  on  the  one  side  lead  to  union  on  the  other  ?  And  would 
not  such  a  fatal  division  of  the  people  and  states  of  this  confede- 
racy, produce  perpetual  mutual  irritation  and  exasperation,  and 
ultimately  disunion  itself?  The  slave-holding  states  cannot  forget 
that  they  are  now  in  a  minority,  which  is  in  a  constant  relative 
diminution,  and  should  certainly  not  be  the  first  to  put  forth  a 
principle  of  public  action  by  which  they  would  be  the  greatest  losers. 

I  am  but  too  sensible  of  the  unreasonable  trespass  on  your  time 
which  I  have  committed,  and  of  the  egotism  of  which  my 
discourse  has  partaken.  I  must  depend  for  my  apology  upon 
the  character  of  the  times,  on  the  venom  of  the  attacks  which 
have  been  made  upon  my  character  and  conduct,  and  upon  the 
generous  sympathy  of  the  gentlemen  here  assembled.  During 
this  very  journey  a  paper  has  been  put  into  my  hands,  in  which  a 
member  of  the  house  of  representatives  is  represented  to  have  said 
that  the  distinguished  individual  at  the  head  of  the  government, 
and  myself,  have  been  indicted  by  the  people.  If  that  is  the  case, 
I  presume  that  some  defence  is  lawful.  By  the  bye,  if  the  honora- 
ble member  is  to  have  the  sole  conduct  of  the  prosecution  without 
the  aid  of  other  counsel,  I  think  that  it  is  not  difficult  to  predict 
that  his  clients  will  be  nonsuited,  and  that  they  will  be  driven  out 
of  court  with  the  usual  judgment  pronounced  in  such  cases. 

In  conclusion,  I  beg  leave  to  offer  a  toast  which,  if  you  are  as 
dry  as  I  am,  will,  I  hope,  be  acceptable  for  the  sake  of  the  wine,  if 
not  the  sentiment. 

*  The  continuation  of  the  turnpike  road  which  passes  through 
Lewisburg,  and  success  to  the  cause  of  internal  improvement, 
under  every  auspice.' 

He  then  took  his  seat  amid  the  repeated  cheers  of  the  whole 
company. 


ON  AFRICAN  COLONIZATION. 


IN  THE  HALL  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  AT  THE 

ANNUAL   MEETING  OF  THE  AMERICAN  COLONIZATION 

SOCIETY,  AT  WASHINGTON  CITY,  JANUARY  20,  1827. 


[The  subject  of  colonizing  the  free  people  of  color  and  emancipated  slaves,  became 
one  of  deep  and  profound  interest,  at  an  early  period,  in  the  history  of  the  United 
States.  The  question  was  agitated  in  Virginia  in  1800,  and  a  resolution  passed  in 
the  legislature  of  that  state,  requesting  the  governor  to  correspond  with  the  president 
of  the  United  States,  on  the  subject  of  purchasing  land  for  a  colony  5  and  president 
Jefferson  made  efforts,  which,  however,  were  unsuccessful,  to  obtain  by  negotiation 
an  establishment  within  the  British  colonies,  in  Africa,  or  the  Portuguese  colonies, 
in  South  America.  The  movement  which  finally  led  to  a  successful  result,  in  estab- 
lishing an  American  colony  on  the  roast  of  Africa,  commenced  in  the  legislature  of 
Virginia,  in  December,  1816,  by  instructing  the  executive  of  that  state,  and  their 
members  of  congress,  to  cooperate  with  the  United  States  government  in  endeavoring 
to  obtain  a  territory  on  the  before-mentioned  coast,  for  an  asylum  for  free  persons  of 
color.  Through  the  instrumentality  of  the  Rev.  Robert  Finley,  an  early  and  zealous 
friend  of  the  cause,  a  meeting  of  public  men  and  private  citizens  was  held  at  Wash- 
ington city,  on  the  twenty-first  of  December,  1816,  over  which  Mr.  Clay,  then  speaker 
of  the  house  of  representatives,  was  called  to  preside.  A  constitution  of  the  Ameri- 
can Colonization  Society  was  adopted,  at  an  adjourned  meeting  on  the  twenty-eighth 
of  December,  and  on  the  first  of  January,  1817,  the  officers  of  the  society  were 
chosen,  judge  Bushrod  Washington  being  elected  president,  and  Henry  Clay,  William 
H.  Crawford,  Andrew  Jackson,  Robert  Finley,  and  others,  vice-presidents.  Mr.  Clay 
has  always  taken  a  warm  and  decided  interest  in  the  promotion  of  the  objects  of  this 
society,  and  at  the  annual  meeting  thereof,  in  1827  (being  then  secretary  of  state),  he 
delivered  the  following  address.] 


I  cannot  withhold  the  expression  of  my  congratulations  to  the 
society,  on  account  of  the  very  valuable  acquisition  which  we 
have  obtained  in  the  eloquent  gentleman  from  Boston,  (Mr. 
Knapp,)  who  has  just  before  favored  us  with  an  address.  He  has 
told  us  of  his  original  impressions,  unfavorable  to  the  object  of  the 
society,  and  of  his  subsequent  conversion.  If  the  same  industry, 
investigation,  and  unbiased  judgment,  manifested  by  himself  and 
another  gentleman  (Mr.  Powell),  who  avowed  at  the  last  meeting 
of  the  society  a  similar  change  wrought  in  his  mind,  were  carried, 
by  the  public  at  large,  into  the  consideration  of  the  plan  of  the 
society,  the  conviction  of  its  utility  would  be  universal. 

I  have  risen  to  submit  a  resolution,  in  behalf  of  which  I  would 
bespeak  the  favor  of  the  society.     But  before  I  offer  any  observa- 


516  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

tions  in  its  support,  I  must  say  that,  whatever  part  I  shall  take  in 
the  proceedings  of  this  society,  whatever  opinions  or  sentiments  I 
may  utter,  they  are  exclusively  my  own.  Whether  they  are  worth 
any  thing  or  not,  no  one  but  myself  is  at  all  responsible  for  them. 
I  have  consulted  with  no  person  out  of  this  society,  and  I  have 
especially  abstained  from  all  communication  or  consultation  with 
any  one  to  whom  I  stand  in  any  official  relation.  My  judgment 
on  the  object  of  this  society  has  been  long  since  deliberately 
formed.  The  conclusions  to  which,  after  much  and  anxious  con- 
sideration, my  mind  has  been  brought,  have  been  neither  produced 
nor  refuted,  by  the  official  station  the  duties  of  which  have  been 
confided  to  me. 

From  the  origin  of  this  society,  every  member  of  it  has,  I 
believe,  looked  forward  to  the  arrival  of  a  period,  when  it  would 
become  necessary  to  invoke  the  public  aid  in  the  execution  of  the 
great  scheme  which  it  was  instituted  to  promote.  Considering 
itself  as  the  mere  pioneer  in  the  cause  which  it  had  undertaken,  it 
was  well  aware  that  it  could  do  no  more  than  remove  preliminary 
difficulties,  and  point  out  a  sure  road  to  ultimate  success ;  and  that 
the  public  only  could  supply  that  regular,  steady,  and  efficient 
support,  to  which  the  gratuitous  means  of  benevolent  individuals 
would  be  found  incompetent.  My  surprise  has  been,  that  the 
society  has  been  able  so  long  to  sustain  itself,  and  to  do  so  much 
upon  the  charitable  contributions  of  good,  and  pious,  and  enlight- 
ened men,  whom  it  has  happily  found  in  all  parts  of  our  country. 
But  our  work  has  so  prospered  and  grown  under  our  hands,  that 
the  appeal  to  the  power  and  resources  of  the  public,  should  be  no 
longer  deferred.  The  resolution  which  I  have  risen  to  propose, 
contemplates  this  appeal.     It  is  in  the  following  words : 

'  Resolved,  that  the  board  of  managers  be  empowered  and 
directed,  at  such  time  or  times  as  may  seem  to  them  expedient,  to 
make  respectful  application  to  the  congress  of  the  United  States, 
and  to  the  legislatures  of  the  different  states,  for  such  pecuniary 
aid,  in  furtherance  of  the  object  of  this  society,  as  they  may  respect- 
ively be  pleased  to  grant.' 

In  soliciting  the  countenance  and  support  of  the  legislatures  of 
the  union  and  the  states,  it  is  incumbent  on  the  society,  in  making 
out  its  case,  to  show,  first,  that  it  offers  to  their  consideration  a 
scheme  which  is  practicable,  and  secondly,  that  the  execution  of 
the  practicable  scheme,  partial  or  entire,  will  be  fraught  with  such 
beneficial  consequences  as  to  merit  the  support  which  is  solicited. 
I  believe  both  points  to  be  maintainable.  First,  it  is  now  a  little 
upwards  of  ten  years  since  a  religious,  amiable,  and  benevolent 
resident*  of  this  city,  first  conceived  the  idea  of  planting  a  colony, 

*  It  has  been,  since  the  delivery  of  the  speech,  su£r?ested,  that  the  reverend  Robert 
Finley,  of  New  Jersey,  (who  is  also,  unfortunately,  dead,)  contemplated  the  formation 
of  a  society,  with  a  view  to  the  establishment  of  a  colony  in  Africa,  and  probably  first 


ON     AFRICAN     COLONIZATION.  517 

from  the  United  States,  of  free  people  of  color,  on  the  western 
shores  of  Africa.  He  is  no  more,  and  the  noblest  eulogy  which 
could  be  pronounced  on  him  would  be,  to  inscribe  upon  his  tomb, 
the  merited  epitaph,  '  here  lies  the  projector  of  the  American 
Colonization  Society.'  Amongst  others,  to  whom  he  communicated 
the  project,  was  the  person  who  now  has  the  honor  of  addressing 
you.  My  first  impressions,  like  those  of  all  who  have  not  fully 
investigated  the  subject,  were  against  it.  They  yielded  to  his 
earnest  persuasions  and  my  own  reflections,  and  1  finally  agreed 
with  him  that  the  experiment  was  worthy  of  a  fair  trial.  A  meeting 
of  its  friends  was  called,  organized  as  a  deliberative  body,  and  a 
constitution  was  formed.  The  society  went  into  operation.  He 
lived  to  see  the  most  encouraging  progress  in  its  exertions,  and  died 
in  full  confidence  of  its  complete  success.  The  society  was 
scarcely  formed  before  it  was  exposed  to  the  derision  of  the 
unthinking;  pronounced  to  be  visionary  and  chimerical  by  those 
who  were  capable  of  adopting  wiser  opinions,  and  the  most  confi- 
dent predictions  of  its  entire  failure  were  put  forth.  It  found  itself 
equally  assailed  by  the  two  extremes  of  public  sentiment  in  regard 
to  our  African  population.  According  to  one,  (that  rash  class 
which,  without  a  due  estimate  of  the  fatal  consequence,  would 
forthwith  issue  a  decree  of  general,  immediate,  and  indiscriminate 
emancipation,)  it  was  a  scheme  of  the  slaveholder  to  perpetuate 
slavery.  The  other  (that  class  which  believes  slavery  a  blessing, 
and  which  trembles  with  aspen  sensibility  at  the  appearance  of  the 
most  distant  and  ideal  danger  to  the  tenure  by  which  that  descrip- 
tion of  property  is  held,)  declared  it  a  contrivance  to  let  loose  on 
society  all  the  slaves  of  the  country,  ignorant,  uneducated,  and 
incapable  of  appreciating  the  value  or  enjoying  the  privileges  of 
freedom.*  The  society  saw  itself  surrounded  by  every  sort  of 
embarrassment.  What  great  human  enterprise  was  ever  under- 
taken without  difficulty  ?  What  ever  failed,  within  the  compass 
of  human  power,  when  pursued  with  perseverance  and  blessed  by 
the  smiles  of  Providence?  The  society  prosecuted  undismayed 
its  great  work,  appealing  for  succor  to  the  moderate,  the  reasonable, 
the  virtuous,  and  religious  portions  of  the  public.  It  protested,  from 
the  commencement,  and  throughout  all  its  progress,  and  it  now 
protests,  that  it  entertains  no  purpose,  on  its  own  authority  or  by  its 
own  means,  to  attempt  emancipation,  partial  or  general;  that  it 
knows   the   general   government   has   no  constitutional  power  to 

commenced  the  project.  It  is  quite  likely  that  he  did:  and  Mr.  Clay  recollects  seeing 
Mr.  Finley  and  consulting  with  him  on  the  subject,  about  the  period  of  the  formation 
of  the  society.  But  the  allusion  to  Mr.  Caldwell  was  founded  on  the  facts,  well 
known  to  Mr.  Clay,  of  his  active  agency  in  the  organization  of  the  society,  and  his 
unremitted  subsequent  labors,  which  were  not  confined  to  the  District  of  Columbia, 
in  promoting:  the  cause. 

*  A  society  of  a  few  individuals,  without  power,  without  other  resources  than  those 
which  are  supplied  by  spontaneous  benevolence,  to  emancipate  all  the  slaves  of  the 
country ! 


518  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

achieve  such  an  object ;  that  it  believes  that  the  states,  and  the  states 
only,  which  tolerate  slavery,  can  accomplish  the  work  of  emanci- 
pation; and  that  it  ought  to  be  left  to  them,  exclusively,  absolutely, 
and  voluntarily,  to  decide  the  question 

The  object  of  the  society  was  the  colonization  of  the  free  colored 
people,  not  the  slaves,  of  the  country.  Voluntary  in  its  institution, 
voluntary  in  its  continuance,  voluntary  in  all  its  ramifications,  all 
its  means,  purposes, and  instruments,  are  also  voluntary.  But  it  was 
said  that  no  free  colored  persons  could  be  prevailed  upon  to  aban- 
don the  comforts  of  civilized  life  and  expose  themselves  to  all  the 
perils  of  a  settlement  in  a  distant,  inhospitable,  and  savage  country  ; 
that,  if  they  could  be  induced  to  go  on  such  a  quixotic  expedition, 
no  territory  could  be  procured  for  their  establishment  as  a  colony ; 
that  the  plan  was  altogether  incompetent  to  effectuate  its  professed 
object;  and  that  it  ought  to  be  rejected  as  the  idle  dream  of 
visionary  enthusiasts.  The  society  has  outlived,  thank  God,  all 
these  disastrous  predictions.  It  has  survived  to  swell  the  list  of 
false  prophets.  It  is  no  longer  a  question  of  speculation  whether 
a  colony  can  or  cannot  be  planted  from  the  United  States  of  free 
persons  of  color  on  the  shores  of  Africa.  It  is  a  matter  demon- 
strated ;  such  a  colony,  in  fact,  exists,  prospers,  has  made  successful 
war,  and  honorable  peace,  and  transacts  all  the  multiplied  business 
of  a  civilized  and  christian  community.*  It  now  has  about  five 
hundred  souls,  disciplined  troops,  forts,  and  other  means  of  defence, 
sovereignty  over  an  extensive  territory,  and  exerts  a  powerful  and 
salutary  influence  over  the  neighboring  clans. 

Numbers  of  the  free  African  race  among  us  are  willing  to  go  to 
Africa.  The  society  has  never  experienced  any  difficulty  on  that 
subject,  except  that  its  means  of  comfortable  transportation  have 
been  inadequate  to  accommodate  all  who  have  been  anxious  to 
migrate.  Why  should  they  not  go  ?  Here  they  are  in  the  lowest 
state  of  social  gradation;  aliens  —  political,  moral,  social  aliens  — 
strangers,  though  natives.  There,  they  would  be  in  the  midst  of 
their  friends  and  their  kindred,  at  home,  though  born  in  a  foreign 
land,  and  elevated  above  the  natives  of  the  country,  as  much  as 
they  are  degraded  here  below  the  other  classes  of  the  community. 
But  on  this  matter,  I  am  happy  to  have  it  in  my  power  to  furnish 
indisputable  evidence  from  the  most  authentic  source,  that  of  large 
numbers  of  free  persons  of  color  themselves.  Numerous  meetings 
have  been  held  in  several  churches  in  Baltimore,  of  the  free  people 
of  color,  in  whjch,  after  being  organized  as  deliberative  assemblies, 
by  the  appointment  of  a  chairman  (if  not  of  the  same  complexion) 
presiding  as  you,  Mr.  Vice-president,  do,  and  secretaries,  they  have 
voted  memorials  addressed  to  the  white  people,  in  which  they  have 

*  See  the  last  annual  report  and  the  highly  interesting  historical  sketch  of  the 
reverend  Mr.  Ashmun. 


ON     AFRICAN     COLONIZATION.  519 

argued  the  question  with  an  ability,  moderation,  and  temper, 
surpassing  any  that  I  can  command,  and  emphatically  recommended 
the  colony  of  Liberia  to  favorable  consideration,  as  the  most 
desirable  and  practicable  scheme  ever  yet  presented  on  this  inter- 
esting subject.  I  ask  permission  of  the  society  to  read  this  highly 
creditable  document. 

[Here  Mr.  Clay  read  the  memorial  referred  to.] 

The  society  has  experienced  no  difficulty  in  the  acquisition  of  a 
territory,  upon  reasonable  terms,  abundantly  sufficient  for  a  most 
extensive  colony.  And  land  in  ample  quantities,  it  has  ascer- 
tained, can  be  procured  in  Africa,  together  with  all  rights  of 
sovereignty,  upon  conditions  as  favorable  as  those  on  which  the 
United  States  extinguish  the  Indian  title  to  territory  within  their 
own  limits. 

In  respect  to  the  alleged  incompetency  of  the  scheme  to  accom- 
plish its  professed  object,  the  society  asks  that  that  object  should  be 
taken  to  be,  not  what  the  imaginations  of  its  enemies  represent  it 
to  be,  but  what  it  really  proposes.  They  represent  that  the  purpose 
of  the  society  is,  to  export  the  whole  African  population  of  the 
United  States,  bond  and  free ;  and  they  pronounce  this  design  to 
be  unattainable.  They  declare  that  the  means  of  the  whole 
country  are  insufficient  to  effect  the  transportation  to  Africa  of  a 
mass  of  population  approximating  to  two  millions  of  souls. 
Agreed ;  but  that  is  not  what  the  society  contemplates.  They  have 
substituted  their  own  notion  for  that  of  the  society.  "What  is  the 
true  nature  of  the  evil  of  the  existence  of  a  portion  of  the  African 
race  in  our  population  ?  It  is  not  that  there  are  some,  but  that  there 
are  so  many  among  us  of  a  different  caste,  of  a  different  physical, 
if  not  moral,  constitution,  who  never  can  amalgamate  with  the 
great  body  of  our  population.  In  every  country,  persons  are  to  be 
found  varying  in  their  color,  origin,  and  character,  from  the  native 
mass.  But  this  anomaly  creates  no  inquietude  or  apprehension, 
because  the  exotics,  from  the  smallness  of  their  number,  are  known 
to  be  utterly  incapable  of  disturbing  the  general  tranquillity.  Here, 
on  the  contrary,  the  African  part  of  our  population  bears  so  large  a 
proportion  to  the  residue,  of  European  origin,  as  to  create  the  most 
lively  apprehension,  especially  in  some  quarters  of  the  union, 
Any  project,  therefore,  by  which,  in  a  material  degree,  the  dangerous 
element  in  the  general  mass,  can  be  diminished  or  rendered 
stationary,  deserves  deliberate  consideration. 

The  colonization  society  has  never  imagined  it  to  be  practicable, 
or  within  the  reach  of  any  means  which  the  several  governments 
of  the  union  could  bring  to  bear  on  the  subject,  to  transport  the 
whole  of  the  African  race  within  the  limits  of  the  United  States. 
Nor  is  that  necessary  to  accomplish  the  desirable  objects  of  domestic 


520  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

tranquillity,  and  render  us  one  homogeneous  people.  The  population 
of  the  United  States  has  been  supposed  to  duplicate  in  periods  of 
twenty-five  years.  That  may  have  been  the  case  heretofore,  but 
the  terms  of  duplication  will  be  more  and  more  protracted  as  we 
advance  in  national  age ;  and  I  do  not  believe  that  it  will  be  found, 
in  any  period  to  come,  that  our  numbers  will  be  doubled  in  a  less 
term  than  one  of  about  thirty-three  and  a  third  years.  I  have  not 
time  to  enter  now  into  details  in  support  of  this  opinion.  They 
would  consist  of  those  checks  which  experience  has  shown  to 
obstruct  the  progress  of  population,  arising  out  of  its  actual 
augmentation  and  density,  the  settlement  of  waste  lands,  &c. 
Assuming  the  period  of  thirty-three  and  a  third,  or  any  other 
number  of  years,  to  be  that  in  which  our  population  will  hereafter 
be  doubled,  if,  during  that  whole  term,  the  capital  of  the  African 
stock  could  be  kept  down,  or  stationary,  whilst  that  of  European 
origin  should  be  left  to  an  unobstructed  increase,  the  result,  at  the 
end  of  the  term,  would  be  most  propitious.  Let  us  suppose,  for 
example,  that  the  whole  population  at  present  of  the  United  States, 
is  twelve  millions,  of  which  ten  may  be  estimated  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon,  and  two  of  the  African  race.  If  there  could  be  annually 
transported  from  the  United  States  an  amount  of  the  African 
portion  equal  to  the  annual  increase  of  the  whole  of  that  caste, 
whilst  the  European  race  should  be  left  to  multiply,  we  should  find 
at  the  .termination  of  the  period  of  duplication,  whatever  it  may  be, 
that  the  relative  proportions  would  be  as  twenty  to  two.  And  if 
the  process  were  continued,  during  a  second  term  of  duplication, 
the  proportion  would  be  as  forty  to  two  —  one  which  would  eradi- 
cate every  cause  of  alarm  or  solicitude  from  the  breasts  of  the  most 
timid.  But  the  transportation  of  Africans,  by  creating,  to  the  extent 
to  which  it  might  be  carried,  a  vacuum  in  society,  would  tend  to 
accelerate  the  duplication  of  the  European  race,  who  by  all  the 
laws  of  population,  would  fill  up  the  void  space. 

This  society  is  well  aware,  I  repeat,  that  they  cannot  touch  the 
subject  of  slavery.  But  it  is  no  objection  to  their  scheme,  limited, 
as  it  is,  exclusively  to  those  free  people  of  color  who  are  willing  to 
migrate,  that  it  admits  of  indefinite  extension  and  application,  by 
those  who  alone,  having  the  competent  authority,  may  choose  to 
adopt  and  apply  it.  Our  object  has  been  to  point  out  the  way,  to 
show  that  colonization  is  practicable,  and  to  leave  it  to  those  states 
or  individuals  who  may  be  pleased  to  engage  in  the  object,  to 
prosecute  it.  We  have  demonstrated  that  a  colony  may  be  planted 
in  Africa,  by  the  fact  that  an  American  colony  there  exists.  The 
problem  which  has  so  long  and  so  deeply  interested  the  thoughts 
of  good  and  patriotic  men,  is  solved;  a  country  and  a  home  have 
been  found,  to  which  the  African  race  may  be  sent,  to  the  promo- 
tion of  their  happiness  and  our  own. 

But,  Mr.  Vice-president,  I  shall  not  rest  contented  with  the  fact 


ON     AFRICAN     COLONIZATION.  521 

of  the  establishment  of  the  colony,  conclusive  as  it  ought  to  be 
deemed,  of  the  practicability  of  our  purpose.  I  shall  proceed  to 
show,  by  reference  to  indisputable  statistical  details  and  calcula- 
tions, that  it  is  within  the  compass  of  reasonable  human  means. 
I  am  sensible  of  the  tediousness  of  all  arithmetical  data,  but  I  will 
endeavor  to  simplify  them  as  much  as  possible.  It  will  be  borne 
in  mind  that  the  aim  of  the  society  is,  to  establish  in  Africa  a 
colony  of  the  free  African  population  of  the  United  States,  to  an 
extent  which  shall  be  beneficial  both  to  Africa  and  America.  The 
whole  free  colored  population  of  the  United  States,  amounted,  in 
1790,  to  fifty-nine  thousand  four  hundred  and  eighty-one;  in  1800, 
to  one  hundred  and  ten  thousand  and  seventy-two ;  in  1810,  to 
one  hundred  and  eighty-six  thousand  four  hundred  and  forty-six; 
and  in  1820,  to  two  hundred  and  thirty-three  thousand  five  hun- 
dred and  thirty.  The  ratio  of  annual  increase  during  the  first  term 
of  ten  years,  was  about  eight  and  a  half  per  cent,  per  annum ; 
during  the  second,  about  seven  per  cent,  per  annum;  and  during 
the  third,  a  little  more  than  two  and  a  half.  The  very  great  differ- 
ence in  the  rate  of  annual  increase,  during  those  several  terms, 
may  probably  be  accounted  for  by  the  effect  of  the  number  of 
voluntary  emancipations  operating  with  more  influence  upon  the 
total  smaller  amount  of  free  colored  persons  at  the  first  of  those 
periods,  and  by  the  facts  of  the  insurrection  in  St.  Domingo,  and 
the  acquisition  of  Louisiana,  both  of  which,  occurring  during  the 
first  and  second  terms,  added  considerably  to  the  number  of  our 
free  colored  population. 

Of  all  descriptions  of  our  population,  that  of  the  free  colored, 
taken  in  the  aggregate,  is  the  least  prolific,  because  of  the  checks 
arising  from  vice  and  want.  During  the  ten  years,  between  1810 
and  1820,  when  no  extraneous  causes  existed  to  prevent  a  fair 
competition  in  the  increase  between  the  slave  and  the  free  African 
race,  the  former  increased  at  the  rate  of  nearly  three  per  cent,  per 
annum,  whilst  the  latter  did  not  much  exceed  two  and  a  half. 
Hereafter  it  may  be  safely  assumed,  and  I  venture  to  predict,  will 
not  be  contradicted  by  the  return  of  the  next  census,  that  the 
increase  of  the  free  black  population  will  not  surpass  two  and  a 
half  per  cent,  per  annum.  Their  amount  at  the  last  census,  being 
two  hundred  and  thirty-three  thousand  five  hundred  and  thirty,  for 
the  sake  of  round  numbers,  their  annual  increase  may  be  assumed 
to  be  six  thousand,  at  the  present  time.  Now  if  this  number  could 
be  annually  transported  from  the  United  Stales  during  a  term  of 
years,  it  is  evident  that,  at  the  end  of  that  term,  the  parent  capital 
will  not  have  increased,  but  will  have  been  kept  down  at  least  to 
what  it  was  at  the  commencement  of  the  term.  Is  it  practicable, 
then,  to  colonize  annually  six  thousand  persons  from  the  United 
States,  without  materially  impairing  or  affecting  any  of  the  great 
interests  of  the  United  States  ?  This  is  the  question  presented  to 
vol.  i»  66 


522  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

the  judgments  of  the  legislative  authorities  of  our  country.  This 
is  the  whole  scheme  of  the  society.  From  its  actual  experience, 
derived  from  the  expenses  which  have  been  incurred  in  transport- 
ing the  persons  already  sent  to  Africa,  the  entire  average  expense 
of  each  colonist,  young  and  old,  including  passage  money  and 
subsistence,  may  be  stated  at  twenty  dollars  per  head.  There  is 
reason  to  believe  that  it  may  be  reduced  considerably  below  that 
sum.  Estimating  that  to  be  the  expense,  the  total  cost  of  trans- 
porting six  thousand  souls,  annually  to  Africa,  would  be  one 
hundred  and  twenty  thousand  dollars.  The  tonnage  requisite  to 
effect  the  object,  calculating  two  persons  to  every  five  tons,  (which 
is  the  provision  of  existing  law)  would  be  fifteen  thousand  tons. 
But  as  each  vessel  could  probably  make  two  voyages  in  the  year, 
it  may  be  reduced  to  seven  thousand  five  hundred.  And  as  both 
our  mercantile  and  military  marine  might  be  occasionally  employed 
on  this  collateral  service,  without  injury  to  the  main  object  of  the 
voyage,  a  further  abatement  might  be  safely  made  in  the  aggregate 
amount  of  the  necessary  tonnage.  The  navigation  concerned  in 
the  commerce  between  the  colony  and  the  United  States,  (and  it 
already  begins  to  supply  subjects  of  an  interesting  trade,)  might 
be  incidentally  employed  to  the  same  end. 

Is  the  annual  expenditure  of  a  sum  no  larger  than  one  hundred 
and  twenty  thousand  dollars,  and  the  annual  employment  of 
seven  thousand  five  hundred  tons  of  shipping,  too  much  for 
reasonable  exertion,  considering  the  magnitude  of  the  object  in 
view?  Are  they  not,  on  the  contrary,  within  the  compass  of 
moderate  efforts? 

Here  is  the  whole  scheme  of  the  society  —  a  project  which  has 
been  pronounced  visionary  by  those  who  have  never  given  them- 
selves the  trouble  to  examine  it,  but  to  which  I  believe  most 
unbiassed  men  will  yield  their  cordial  assent,  after  they  have  inves- 
tigated it. 

Limited  as  the  project  is,  by  the  society,  to  a  colony  to  be  formed 
by  the  free  and  unconstrained  consent  of  free  persons  of  color,  it  is 
no  objection,  but  on  the  contrary  a  great  recommendation,  of  the 
plan,  that  it  admits  of  being  taken  up  and  applied  on  a  scale  of 
much  more  comprehensive  utility.  The  society  knows,  and  it 
affords  just  cause  of  felicitation,  that  all  or  any  one  of  the  states 
which  tolerate  slavery,  may  carry  the  scheme  of  colonization  into 
effect,  in  regard  to  the  slaves  within  their  respective  limits,  and 
thus  ultimately  rid  themselves  of  a  universally  acknowledged 
curse.  A  reference  to  the  results  of  the  several  enumerations  of 
the  population  of  the  United  States  will  incontestably  prove  the 
practicability  of  its  application  on  the  more  extensive  scale.  The 
slave  population  of  the  United  States  amounted,  in  1790,  to  six 
hundred  and  ninety-seven  thousand,  six  hundred  and  ninety-seven; 
in  1800,  to  eight  hundred  and  ninety-six  thousand,  eight  hundred 


ON     AFRICAN     COLONIZATION.  523 

and  forty-nine ;  in  1810,  to  eleven  hundred  and  ninety-one  thous- 
and, three  hundred  and  sixty-four;  and  in  1820,  to  fifteen  hundred 
and  thirty-eight  thousand,  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight.  The 
rate  of  annual  increase,  (rejecting  fractions  and  taking  the  integer 
to  which  they  make  the  nearest  approach,)  during  the  first  term  of 
ten  years,  was  not  quite  three  per  centum  per  annum,  during  the 
second,  a  little  more  than  three  per  centum  per  annum  ;  and  during 
the  third,  a  little  less  than  three  per  centum.  The  mean  ratio  of 
increase  for  the  whole  period  of  thirty  years,  was  very  little  more 
than  three  per  centum  per  annum.  During  the  first  two  periods, 
the  native  stock  was  augmented  by  importations  from  Africa  in 
those  states  which  continued  to  tolerate  them,  and  by  the  acquisi- 
tion of  Louisiana.  Virginia,  to  her  eternal  honor,  abolished  the 
abominable  traffic  among  the  earliest  acts  of  her  self-government. 
The  last  term  alone  presents  the  natural  increase  of  the  capital 
unaffected  by  any  extraneous  causes.  That  authorizes,  as  a  safe 
assumption,  that  the  future  increase  will  not  exceed  three  per 
centum  per  annum.  As  our  population  increases,  the  value  of 
slave  labor  will  diminish,  in  consequence  of  the  superior  advan- 
tages in  the  employment  of  free  labor.  And  when  the  value  of 
slave  labor  shall  be  materially  lessened,  either  by  the  multiplication 
of  the  supply  of  slaves  beyond  the  demand,  or  by  the  competition 
between  slave  and  free  labor,  the  annual  increase  of  slaves  will  be 
reduced,  in  consequence  of  the  abatement  of  the  motives  to  provide 
for  and  rear  the  offspring. 

Assuming  the  future  increase  to  be  at  the  rate  of  three  per 
centum  per  annum,  the  annual  addition  to  the  number  of  slaves 
in  the  United  States,  calculated  upon  the  return  of  the  last  census, 
(one  million  five  hundred  and  thirty-eight  thousand,  one  hundred 
and  twenty-eight)  is  forty-six  thousand.  Applying  the  data  which 
have  been  already  stated  and  explained,  in  relation  to  the  coloniza- 
tion of  free  persons  of  color  from  the  United  States  to  Africa,  to 
the  aggregate  annual  increase,  both  bond  and  free,  of  the  African 
race,  and  the  result  will  be  found  most  encouraging.  The  total 
number  of  the  annual  increase  of  both  descriptions  is  fifty-two 
thousand.  The  total  expense  of  transporting  that  number  to 
Africa,  (supposing  no  reduction  of  present  prices)  would  be  one 
million  and  forty  thousand  dollars,  and  the  requisite  amount  of 
tonnage  would  be  only  one  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  tons  of 
shipping  —  about  one  ninth  part  of  the  mercantile  marine  of  the 
United  States.  Upon  the  supposition  of  a  vessel's  making  two 
voyages  in  the  year,  it  would  be  reduced  to  one  half,  sixty-five 
thousand.  And  this  quantity  would  be  still  further  reduced,  by 
embracing  opportunities  of  incidental  employment  of  vessels 
belonging  both  to  the  mercantile  and  military  marines. 

But,  is  the  annual  application  of  one  million  and  forty  thousand 
dollars,  and  the  employment  of  sixty-five  or  even  one  hundred  and 


524  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

thirty  thousand  tons  of  shipping,  considering  the  magnitude  of  the 
object,  beyond  the  ability  of  this  country?  Is  there  a  patriot, 
looking  forward  to  its  domestic  quiet,  its  happiness,  and  its  glory, 
that  would  not  cheerfully  contribute  his  proportion  of  the  burden, 
to  accomplish  a  purpose  so  great  and  so  humane  ?  During  the 
general  continuance  of  the  African  slave  trade,  hundreds  of  thous- 
ands of  slaves  have  been,  in  a  single  year,  imported  into  the 
several  countries  whose  laws  authorized  their  admission.  Not- 
withstanding the  vigilance  of  the  powers  now  engaged  to  suppress 
the  slave  trade,  I  have  received  information,  that  in  a  single  year, 
in  the  single  island  of  Cuba,  slaves  equal  in  amount  to  one  half 
of  the  above  number  of  fifty-two  thousand,  have  been  illicitly 
introduced.  Is  it  possible  that  those  who  are  concerned  in  an 
infamous  traffic  can  effect  more  than  the  states  of  this  union,  if 
they  were  seriously  to  engage  in  the  good  work  ?  Is  it  credible, 
is  it  not  a  libel  upon  human  nature  to  suppose,  that  the  triumphs 
of  fraud,  and  violence,  and  iniquity,  can  surpass  those  of  virtue, 
and  benevolence,  and  humanity? 

The  population  of  the  United  States  being,  at  this  time,  esti- 
mated at  about  ten  millions  of  the  European  race,  and  two  of  the 
African,  on  the  supposition  of  the  annual  colonization  of  a  num- 
ber of  the  latter,  equal  to  the  annual  increase,  of  both  of  its  classes, 
during  the  whole  period  necessary  to  the  process  of  duplication  of 
our  numbers,  they  would,  at  the  end  of  that  period,  relatively  stand 
twenty  millions  for  the  white  and  two  for  the  black  portion.  But 
an  annual  exportation  of  a  number  equal  to  the  annual  increase,  at 
the  beginning  of  the  term,  and  persevered  in  to  the  end  of  it,  would 
accomplish  more  than  to  keep  the  parent  stock  stationary.  The 
colonists  would  comprehend  more  than  an  equal  proportion  of 
those  of  the  prolific  ages.  Few  of  those  who  had  passed  that  age 
would  migrate.  So  that  the  annual  increase  of  those  left  behind, 
would  continue  gradually,  but  at  first  insensibly,  to  diminish  ;  and 
by  the  expiration  of  the  period  of  duplication,  it  would  be  found 
to  have  materially  abated.  But  it  is  not  merely  the  greater  relative 
safety  and  happiness  which  would,  at  the  termination  of  that  period, 
be  the  condition  of  the  whites.  Their  ability  to  give  further 
stimulus  to  the  cause  of  colonization  will  have  been  doubled, 
whilst  the  subjects  on  which  it  would  have  to  operate,  will  have 
decreased  or  remained  stationary.  If  the  business  of  colonization 
should  be  regularly  continued,  during  two  periods  of  duplication, 
at  the  end  of  the  second,  the  whites  would  stand  to  the  blacks,  as 
forty  millions  to  not  more  than  two,  whilst  the  same  ability  will 
have  been  quadrupled.  Even  if  colonization  should  then  alto- 
gether cease,  the  proportion  of  the  African  to  the  European  race 
will  be  so  small,  that  the  most  timid  may  then,  for  ever,  dismiss  all 
ideas  of  danger  from  within  or  without,  on  account  of  that  incon- 
gruous and  perilous  element  in  our  population. 


ON     AFRICAN     COLONIZATION.  525 

Further;  by  the  annual  withdrawal  of  fifty-two  thousand  persons 
of  color,  there  would  be  annual  space  created  for  an  equal  number 
of  the  white  race.  The  period,  therefore,  of  the  duplication  of  the 
whiles,  by  the  laws  which  govern  population,  would  be  accelerated. 

Such,  Mr.  Vice-president,  is  the  project  of  the  society ;  and 
such  is  the  extension  and  use  which  may  be  made  of  the  principle 
of  colonization,  in  application  to  our  slave  population,  by  those 
states  which  are  alone  competent  to  undertake  and  execute  it.  All, 
or  any  one,  of  the  states  which  tolerate  slavery,  may  adopt  and 
execute  it,  by  cooperation  or  separate  exertion.  If  I  could  be 
instrumental  in  eradicating  this  deepest  stain  upon  the  character  of 
our  country,  and  removing  all  cause  of  reproach  on  account  of  it, 
by  foreign  nations;  if  I  could  only  be  instrumental  in  ridding  of 
this  foul  blot  that  revered  state  that  gave  me  birth,  or  that  not  less 
beloved  state  which  kindly  adopted  me  as  her  son ;  I  would  not 
exchange  the  proud  satisfaction  which  I  should  enjoy,  for  the 
honor  of  all  the  triumphs  ever  decreed  to  the  most  successful 
conqueror. 

Having,  I  hope,  shown  that  the  plan  of  the  society  is  not  vision- 
ary, but  rational  and  practicable  ;  that  a  colony  does  in  fact  exist, 
planted  under  its  auspices ;  that  free  people  are  willing  and  anxious 
to  go ;  and  that  the  right  of  soil  as  well  as  of  sovereignty,  may  be 
acquired  in  vast  tracts  of  country  in  Africa,  abundantly  sufficient 
for  all  the  purposes  of  the  most  ample  colony,  and  at  prices  almost 
only  nominal,  the  task  which  remains  to  me  of  showing  the  bene- 
ficial consequences  which  would  attend  the  execution  of  the 
scheme,  is  comparatively  easy. 

Of  the  utility  of  a  total  separation  of  the  two  incongruous  por- 
tions of  our  population,  supposing  it  to  be  practicable,  none  have 
ever  doubted.  The  mode  of  accomplishing  that  most  desirable 
object,  has  alone  divided  public  opinion.  Colonization  in  Hayti, 
for  a  time,  had  its  partisans.  Without  throwing  any  impediments 
in  the  way  of  executing  that  scherne,  the  American  Colonization 
Society  has  steadily  adhered  to  its  own.  The  Haytien  project 
has  passed  away.  Colonization  beyond  the  Stony  mountains  has 
sometimes  been  proposed ;  but  it  would  be  attended  with  an 
expense  and  difficulties  far  surpassing  the  African  project,  whilst  it 
would  not  unite  the  same  animating  motives.  There  is  a  moral 
fitness  in  the  idea  of  returning  to  Africa  her  children,  whose 
ancestors  have  been  torn  from  her  by  the  ruthless  hand  of  fraud 
and  violence.  Transplanted  in  a  foreign  land,  they  will  carry  back 
to  their  native  soil  the  rich  fruits  of  religion,  civilization,  law,  and 
liberty.  May  it  not  be  one  of  the  great  designs  of  the  Ruler  of 
the  universe,  (whose  ways  are  often  inscrutable  by  short-sighted 
mortals,)  thus  to  transform  an  original  crime  into  a  signal  blessing, 
to  that  most  unfortunate  portion  of  the  globe.  Of  all  classes  of  our 
population,  the  most  vicious  is  that  of  the  free  colored.     It  is  the 


526  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

inevitable  result  of  their  moral,  political,  and  civil  degradation. 
Contaminated  themselves,  they  extend  their  vices  to  all  around 
them,  to  the  slaves  and  to  the  whites.  If  the  principle  of  coloniza- 
tion should  be  confined  to  them ;  if  a  colony  can  be  firmly  estab- 
lished and  successfully  continued  in  Africa  which  should  draw  off 
annually  an  amount  of  that  portion  of  our  population  equal  to  its 
annual  increase,  much  good  will  be  done.  If  the  principle  be 
adopted  and  applied  by  the  states,  whose  laws  sanction  the  exist- 
ence of  slavery,  to  an  extent  equal  to  the  annual  increase  of  slaves, 
still  greater  good  will  be  done.  This  good  will  be  felt  by  the  Afri- 
cans who  go,  by  the  Africans  who  remain,  by  the  white  popula- 
tion of  our  country,  by  Africa,  and  by  America.  It  is  a  project 
which  recommends  itself  to  favor  in  all  the  aspects  in  which  it  can 
be  contemplated.  It  will  do  good  in  every  and  any  extent  in  which 
it  may  be  executed.  It  is  a  circle  of  philanthrophy,  every  segment 
of  which  tells  and  testifies  to  the  beneficence  of  the  whole. 

Every  emigrant  to  Africa  is  a  missionary  carrying  with  him 
credentials  in  the  holy  cause  of  civilization,  religion,  and  free  insti- 
tutions. Why  is  it  that  the  degree  of  success  of  missionary  exer- 
tions is  so  limited,  and  so  discouraging  to  those  whose  piety  and 
benevolence  prompt  them  ?  Is  it  not  because  the  missionary  is 
generally  an  alien  and  a  stranger,  perhaps  of  a  different  color,  and 
from  a  different  tribe  ?  There  is  a  sort  of  instinctive  feeling  of 
jealousy  and  distrust  towards  foreigners  which  repels  and  rejects 
them  in  all  countries ;  and  this  feeling  is  in  proportion  to  the  degree 
of  ignorance  and  barbarism  which  prevail.  But  the  African  colo- 
nists, whom  we  send  to  convert  the  heathen,  are  of  the  same  color, 
the  same  family,  the  same  physical  constitution.  When  the  pur- 
poses of  the  colony  shall  be  fully  understood,  they  will  be  received 
as  long  lost  brethren  restored  to  the  embraces  of  their  friends  and 
their  kindred  by  the  dispensations  of  a  wise  providence. 

The  society  is  reproached  for  agitating  this  question.  It  should 
be  recollected  that  the  existence  of  free  people  of  color  is  not  lim- 
ited to  the  states  only  which  tolerate  slavery.  The  evil  extends 
itself  to  all  the  states,  and  some  of  those  which  do  not  allow  of 
slavery,  (their  cities  especially,)  experience  the  evil  in  an  extent 
even  greater  than  it  exists  in  the  slave  states.  A  common  evil 
confers  a  right  to  consider  and  apply  a  common  remedy.  Nor  is 
it  a  valid  objection  that  this  remedy  is  partial  in  its  operation  or 
distant  in  its  efficacy.  A  patient,  writhing  under  the  tortures  of 
excruciating  disease,  asks  of  his  physician  to  cure  him  if  he  can, 
and,  if  he  cannot,  to  mitigate  his  sufferings.  But  the  remedy  pro- 
posed, if  generally  adopted  and  perseveringly  applied,  for  a  sufficient 
length  of  time,  should  it  not  entirely  eradicate  the  disease,  will 
enable  the  body  politic  to  bear  it  without  danger  and  without  suf- 
fering. 

We   are  reproached  with  doing  mischief  by  the  agitation  of 


ON     AFRICAN     COLONIZATION.  527 

this  question.  The  society  goes  into  no  household  to  disturb  its 
domestic  tranquillity ;  it  addresses  itself  to  no  slaves  to  weaken 
their  obligations  of  obedience.  It  seeks  to  affect  no  man's  property. 
It  neither  has  the  power  nor  the  will  to  affect  the  property  of  any 
one  contrary  to  his  consent.  The  execution  of  its  scheme  would 
augment  instead  of  diminishing  the  value  of  the  property  left 
behind.  The  society,  composed  of  free  men,  concerns  itself  only 
with  the  free.  Collateral  consequences  we  are  not  responsible  for. 
It  is  not  this  society  which  has  produced  the  great  moral  revolution 
which  the  age  exhibits.  What  would  they,  who  thus  reproach  us, 
have  done?  If  they  would  repress  all  tendencies  towards  liberty 
and  ultimate  emancipation,  they  must  do  more  than  put  down  the 
benevolent  efforts  of  this  society.  They  must  go  back  to  the  era  of 
our  liberty  and  independence,  and  muzzle  the  cannon  which  ihun- 
ders  its  annual  joyous  return.  They  must  revive  the  slave  trade, 
with  all  its  train  of  atrocities.  They  must  suppress  the  workings 
of  British  philanthropy,  seeking  to  meliorate  the  condition  of  the 
unfortunate  West  Indian  slaves.  They  must  arrest  the  career  of 
South  American  deliverance  from  thraldom.  They  must  blow  out 
the  moral  lights  around  us,  and  extinguish  that  greatest  torch  of 
all  which  America  presents  to  a  benighted  world,  pointing  the  way 
to  their  rights,  their  liberties,  and  their  happiness.  And  when  they 
have  achieved  all  these  purposes,  their  work  will  be  yet  incomplete. 
They  must  penetrate  the  human  soul,  and  eradicate  the  light  of 
reason  and  the  love  of  liberty.  Then,  and  not  till  then,  when 
universal  darkness  and  despair  prevail,  can  you  perpetuate  slavery, 
and  repress  all  sympathies,  and  all  humane  and  benevolent  efforts 
among  freemen,  in  behalf  of  the  unhappy  portion  of  our  race 
doomed  to  bondage. 

Our  friends,  who  are  cursed  with  this  greatest  of  human  evils, 
deserve  the  kindest  attention  and  consideration.  Their  property  and 
their  safety  are  both  involved.  But  the  liberal  and  candid  among 
them  will  not,  cannot,  expect  that  every  project  to  deliver  our 
country  from  it  is  to  be  crushed  because  of  a  possible  and  ideal 
danger.  Animated  by  the  encouragement  of  the  past,  let  us  pro- 
ceed under  the  cheering  prospects  which  lie  before  us.  Let  us 
continue  to  appeal  to  the  pious,  the  liberal,  and  the  wise.  Let  us 
bear  in  mind  the  condition  of  our  forefathers,  when,  collected  on 
the  beach  in  England,  they  embarked,  amidst  the  scoffings  and  the 
false  predictions  of  the  assembled  multitude,  for  this  distant  land  ; 
and  here,  in  spite  of  all  the  perils  of  forest  and  ocean,  which  they 
encountered,  successfully  laid  the  foundations  of  this  glorious 
republic.  Undismayed  by  the  prophecies  of  the  presumptuous,  let 
us  supplicate  the  aid  of  the  American  representatives  of  the  people, 
and  redoubling  our  labors,  and  invoking  the  blessings  of  an  all- 
wise  Providence,  I  boldly  and  confidently  anticipate  success.  I 
hope  the  resolution  which  I  offer  will  be  unanimously  adopted* 


528  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY 


EXTRACTS 

PROM  THE  REPORT  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  MANAGERS  OF  THE  AMERICAN 
COLONIZATION  SOCIETY,  PRESENTED  AT  ITS  ANNUAL  MEETING, 
JANUARY  THIRTEENTH,  1827,  READ  BY  MR.  CLAY  IN  THE  COURSE 
OF    THE    DELIVERY    OF    THE    PRECEDING    SPEECH. 

The  system  of  government  established  with  the  full  consent  of 
the  colonists,  in  the  autumn  of  1824,  and  which  the  managers  had 
the  happiness  to  represent  in  their  last  report,  as  having  thus  far  ful- 
filled all  the  purposes  of  its  institution,  has  continued  ils  operations 
during  the  year  without  the  least  irregularity,  and  with  undimin- 
ished success.  The  republican  principle  is  introduced  as  far  as  is 
consistent  with  the  youthful  and  unformed  character  of  the  settle- 
ment, and  in  the  election  of  their  officers  the  colonists  have  evinced 
such  integrity  and  judgment  as  afford  promise  of  early  preparation 
for  all  the  duties  of  self-government.  '  The  civil  prerogatives  and 
government  of  the  colony  and  ihe  body  of  the  laws  by  which  they 
are  sustained,'  says  ihe  colonial  agent,  '  are  the  pride  of  all.  I  am 
happy  in  the  persuasion  I  have,  that  I  hold  the  balance  of  the  laws 
in  the  midst  of  a  people,  with  whom  the  first  perceptible  inclina- 
tion of  the  sacred  scale  determines  authoritatively  their  sentiments 
and  their  conduct.  There  are  individual  exceptions,  but  these  re- 
marks extend  to  the  body  of  the  settlers.' 

The  moral  and  religious  character  of  the  colony  exerts  a  powerful 
influence  on  its  social  and  civil  condition.  That  piety  which  had 
guided  most  of  the  early  emigrants  to  Liberia,  even  before  they 
left  this  country,  to  respectability  and  usefulness  among  their  asso- 
ciates, prepared  them,  in  laying  the  foundations  of  a  colony,  to  act 
with  a  degree  of  wisdom  and  energy  which  no  earthly  motives 
could  inspire.  Humble,  and  for  the  most  part  unlettered  men  ; 
born  and  bred  in  circumstances  the  most  unfavorable  to  mental 
culture  ;  unsustained  by  the  hope  of  renown,  and  unfamiliar  with 
the  history  of  great  achievements  and  heroic  virtues,  theirs  was 
nevertheless  a  spirit  unmoved  by  dangers  or  by  sufferings,  which 
misfortunes  could  not  darken,  nor  death  dismay.  They  left 
America,  and  felt  that  it  was  forever ;  they  landed  in  Africa,  possi- 
bly to  find  a  home,  but  certainly  a  grave.  Strange  would  it  have 
been  had  the  religion  of  every  individual  of  these  early  settlers 
proved  genuine  ;  but  immensely  changed  as  have  been  their  cir- 
cumstances and  severely  tried  their  faith,  most  have  preserved 
untarnished  the  honors  of  their  profession,  and  to  the  purity  of 
their  morals  and  the  consistency  of  their  conduct,  is  in  a  great 
measure  to  be  attributed  the  social  order  and  general  prosperity  of 
the  colony  of  Liberia.  Their  exnmple  has  proved  most  salutary ; 
and  while  subsequent  emigrants  have  found  themselves  awed  and 


ON     AFRICAN     COLONIZATION.  529 

restrained,  by  their  regularity,  seriousness,  and  devotion,  the  poor 
natives  have  given  their  confidence  and  acknowledged  the  excel- 
lence of  practical  Christianity.  '  It  deserves  record,'  says  Mr.  Ash- 
mun,  c  that  religion  has  been  the  principal  agent  employed  in 
laying  and  confirming  the  foundations  of  the  settlement.  To  this 
sentiment,  ruling,  restraining,  and  actuating  the  minds  of  a  large 
proportion  of  the  colonists,  must  be  referred  the  whole  strength  of 
our  civil  government.'  Examples  of  intemperance,  profaneness,  or 
licentiousness,  are  extremely  rare,  and  vice,  wherever  it  exists,  is 
obliged  to  seek  concealment  from  the  public  eye.  The  sabbath  is 
universally  respected ;  sunday  schools,  both  for  the  children  of  the 
colony  and  for  the  natives,  are  established ;  all  classes  attend  regu- 
larly upon  the  worship  of  God ;  some  charitable  associations  have 
been  formed  for  the  benefit  of  the  heathen  ;  and  though  it  must  not 
be  concealed,  that  the  deep  concern  on  the  subject  of  religion 
which  resulted,  towards  the  conclusion  of  the  year  1825,  in  the 
public  profession  of  Christianity  by  about  fifty  colonists,  has  in  a 
measure  subsided,  and  some  few  cases  of  delinquency  since  oc- 
curred ;  and  though  there  are  faults  growing  out  of  the  early 
condition  and  habits  of  the  settlers  which  require  amendment ;  yet 
the  managers  have  reason  to  believe,  that  there  is  a  vast  and  in- 
creasing preponderance  on  the  side  of  correct  principle  and  virtuous 
practice. 

The  agriculture  of  the  colony  has  received  less  attention  than  its 
importance  demands.  This  is  to  be  attributed  to  the  fact,  that  the 
labor  of  the  settlers  has  been  applied  to  objects  conducing  more 
immediately  to  their  subsistence  and  comfort. 

It  will  not,  the  board  trust,  be  concluded  that,  because  more 
might  have  been  done  for  the'  agricultural  interests  of  the  colony, 
what  has  been  effected  is  inconsiderable.  Two  hundred  and 
twenty-four  plantations,  of  from  five  to  ten  acres  each,  were,  in 
June  last,  occupied  by  the  settlers,  and  most  of  them  are  believed 
to  be  at  present  under  cultivation.  One  hundred  and  fourteen  of 
these  are  on  cape  Montserado,  thirty-three  on  Stockton  creek,  (de- 
nominated the  half-way  farms,  because  nearly  equidistant  from 
Monrovia  and  Caldwell,  the  St.  Paul's  settlement)  and  seventy- 
seven  at  the  confluence  of  Stockton  creek  with  the  St.  Paul's. 

The  St.  Paul's  territory  includes  the  half-way  farms,  and  is 
represented  as  a  beautiful  tract  of  country,  comparatively  open, 
well  watered  and  fertile,  and  still  further  recommended  as  having 
been  for  ages  selected  by  the  natives,  on  account  of  its  productive- 
ness for  their  rice  and  cassada  plantations.  The  agricultural 
habits  of  the  present  occupants  of  this  tract,  concur  with  the  advan- 
tages of  their  situation,  in  affording  promise  of  success  to  their 
exertions.  'Nothing,'  says  the  colonial  agent,  'but  circumstances 
of  the  most  extraordinary  nature,  can  prevent  them  from  making 
their  way  directly  to  respectability  and  abundance.* 
vol.  i.  67 


530  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

Oxen  were  trained  to  labor  in  the  colony  in  1825,  and  it  was 
then  expected  that  the  plough  would  be  introduced  in  the  course 
of  another  year.  Although  commerce  has  thus  far  taken  the  lead 
of  agriculture,  yet  the  excellence  of  the  soil,  the  small  amount  of 
labor  required  for  its  cultivation,  and  the  value  and  abundance  of  its 
products,  cannot  fail,  finally,  to  render  the  latter  the  more  cherished, 
as  it  is,  certainly,  the  more  important  interest  of  the  colony. 

The  trade  of  Liberia  has  increased  with  a  rapidity  almost  un- 
exampled, and  while  it  has  supplied  the  colonists  not  only  with 
the  necessaries,  but  with  the  conveniences  and  comforts  of  life, 
the  good  faith  with  which  it  has  been  conducted,  has  conciliated 
the  friendship  of  the  natives,  and  acquired  the  confidence  of 
foreigners. 

The  regulations  of  the  colony  allowing  no  credits,  except  by  a 
written  permission,  and  requiring  the  barter  to  be  carried  on  through 
factories  established  for  the  purpose,  has  increased  the  profits  of 
the  traffic,  and  prevented  numerous  evils  which  must  have  attended 
upon  a  more  unrestricted  license. 

Between  the  first  of  January  and  the  fifteenth  of  July,  1826,  no 
less  than  fifteen  vessels  touched  at  Monrovia,  and  purchased  the 
produce  of  the  country,  to  the  amount,  according  to  the  best 
probable  estimate,  of  forty-three  thousand  nine  hundred  and  eighty 
dollars,  African  value.  The  exporters  of  this  produce  realize,  on 
the  sale  of  the  goods  given  in  barter  for  it,  a  profit  of  twenty- 
one  thousand  nine  hundred  and  ninety  dollars,  and  on  the  freight, 
of  eight  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty-six  dollars,  making  a 
total  profit  of  thirty  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty-six  dollars. 

A  gentleman  in  Portland  has  commenced  a  regular  trade  with 
the  colony ;  and  for  his  last  cargo  landed  in  Liberia,  amounting  to 
eight  thousand  dollars,  he  received  payment  in  the  course  of  ten 
days.  The  advantages  of  this  trade  to  the  colony,  are  manifest 
from  the  high  price  of  labor,  (that  of  mechanics  being  two  dollars 
per  day,  and  that  of  common  laborers  from  seventy-five  cents  to 
one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents,)  and  from  the  easy  and  comforta- 
ble circumstances  of  the  settlers.  '  An  industrious  family,  twelve 
months  in  Africa,  destitute  of  the  means  of  furnishing  an  abundant 
table,  is  not  known  ;  and  an  individual,  of  whatever  age  or  sex, 
without  ample  provision  of  decent  apparel,  cannot,  it  is  believed, 
be  found.'  '  Every  family,'  says  Mr.  Ashmun,  '  and  nearly  every 
single  adult  person  in  the  colony,  has  the  means  of  employing  from 
one  to  four  native  laborers,  at  an  expense  of  from  four  to  six  dollars 
the  month ;  and  several  of  the  settlers,  when  called  upon  in  conse- 
quence of  sudden  emergences  of  the  public  service,  have  made 
repeated  advances  of  merchantable  produce,  to  the  amount  of  three 
hundred  to  six  hundred  dollars  each.' 

The  managers  are  happy  to  state,  that  the  efforts  of  the  colonial 
agent  to  enlarge  the  territory  of  Liberia,  and  particularly  to  bring 


ON     AFRICAN     COLONIZATION.  531 

under  the  government  of  the  colony  a  more  extended  line  of  coast, 
have  been  judicious  and  energetic,  and  in  nearly  every  instance 
resulted  in  complete  success.  From  cape  Mount  to  Tradetown,  a 
distance  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  the  colonial  government  has 
acquired  partial  jurisdiction.  Four  of  the  most  important  stations 
on  this  tract,  including  Montserado,  belong  to  the  society,  either 
by  actual  purchase,  or  by  a  deed  of  perpetual  lease  ;  and  such  nego- 
tiations have  been  entered  upon  with  the  chiefs  of  the  country,  as 
amount  to  a  preclusion  of  all  Europeans  from  any  possessions 
within  these  limits.  The  fine  territory  of  the  St.  Paul's,  now 
occupied  by  settlers,  was  described  in  the  last  annual  report  of  the 
society. 

The  territory  of  Young  Sesters,  recently  ceded  to  the  society,  is 
ninety  miles  south  of  Montserado,  in  the  midst  of  a  very  produc- 
tive rice  country,  affording  also  large  quantities  of  palm  oil, 
camwood,  and  ivory.  The  tract  granted  to  the  colony,  includes 
the  bed  of  the  Sester's  river,  and  all  the  land  on  each  side,  to  the 
distance  of  half  a  league,  and  extending  longitudinally  from  the 
river's  mouth  to  its  source.  In  compliance  with  the  terms  of  the 
contract,  the  chief  of  the  country  has  constructed  a  commodious 
storehouse,  and  put  a  number  of  laborers  sufficient  for  the  cultiva- 
tion of  a  rice  plantation  of  forty  acres,  under  the  direction  of  a 
respectable  colonist,  who  takes  charge  of  the  establishment. 

The  right  of  use  and  occupancy  have  also  been  obtained  to  a 
region  of  country  on  the  south  branch  of  the  St.  John's  river,  north 
nine  miles  from  Young  Sesters,  and  the  trading  factory  established 
there,  under  the  superintendence  of  a  family  from  Monrovia,  has 
already  provided  a  valuable  source  of  income  to  the  colony.  Rice 
is  also  here  to  be  cultivated,  and  the  chief  who  cedes  the  territory, 
agrees  to  furnish  the  labor. 

The  upright  and  exemplary  conduct  of  the  individual  at  the  head 
of  this  establishment,  has  powerfully  impressed  the  natives  with 
the  importance  of  inviting  them  to  settle  in  their  country;  and 
consequently,  the  offer  made  by  the  colonial  agent  for  the  purchase 
of  Factory  island,  has  been  accepted  by  its  proprietor.  This 
island  is  in  the  river  St.  John's,  four  miles  from  its  mouth,  from 
five  to  six  miles  in  length,  and  one  third  of  a  mile  in  breadth,  and 
is  among  the  most  beautiful  and  fertile  spots  in  Africa,  A  few 
families  are  about  to  take  up  their  residence  upon  it,  and  prepare 
for  founding  a  settlement,  '  which  cannot  fail,'  says  Mr.  Ashmun, 
4  in  a  few  years,  to  be  second  to  no  other  in  the  colony,  except 
Monrovia.' 

Negotiations  are  also  in  progress  with  the  chiefs  of  cape  Mount, 
which,  if  successful,  will  secure  to  the  colony  the  whole  trade  of 
that  station,  estimated  at  fifty  thousand  dollars  per  annum,  and 
may  ultimately  lead  to  its  annexation  to  the  territories  of  Liberia. 
1  The    whole    country   between   cape    Mount    and    Tradetown,' 


532  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

observes  Mr.  Ashmun,  ■  is  rich  in  soil  and  other  natural  advantages, 
and  capable  of  sustaining  a  numerous  and  civilized  population 
beyond  almost  any  other  country  on  earth.  Leaving  the  seaboard, 
the  traveller,  every  where,  at  the  distance  of  a  very  few  miles, 
enters  upon  a  uniform  upland  country,  of  moderate  elevation, 
intersected  by  innumerable  rivulets,  abounding  in  springs  of 
unfailing  water,  and  covered  with  a  verdure  which  knows  no 
other  changes  except  those  which  refresh  and  renew  its  beauties. 
The  country  directly  on  the  sea,  although  verdant  and  fruitful  to  a 
high  degree,  is  found  every  where  to  yield,  in  both  respects,  to  the 
interior.' 

Much  progress  has  been  made  the  last  year  in  the  construction 
of  public  buildings  and  works  of  defence,  though  wTith  adequate 
supplies  of  lumber,  more  might  doubtless  have  been  accomplished. 
Two  handsome  churches,  erected  solely  by  the  colonists,  now 
adorn  the  village  of  Monrovia.  Fort  Stockton  has  been  rebuilt  in 
a  style  of  strength  and  beauty.  A  receptacle  capable  of  accommo- 
dating one  hundred  and  fifty  emigrants,  is  completed.  The  new 
agency-house,  market-house,  Lancasterian  school,  and  town-house, 
in  Monrovia,  were  some  months  since  far  advanced,  and  the 
finishing  strokes  were  about  to  be  given  to  the  government-house 
on  the  St.  Paul's.  The  wing  of  the  old  agency-house  has  been 
'  handsomely  fitted  up  for  the  colonial  library,  which  now  consists 
of  twelve  hundred  volumes  systematically  arranged  in  glazed 
cases  with  appropriate  hangings.  All  the  books  are  substantially 
covered,  and  accurately  labelled ;  and  files  of  more  than  ten 
newspapers,  more  or  less  complete,  are  preserved.  The  library  is 
fitted  up  so  as  to  answer  the  purpose  of  a  reading-room,  and  it  is 
intended  to  make  it  a  museum  of  all  the  natural  curiosities  of 
Africa,  which  can  be  procured.' 

No  efforts  have  been  spared  to  place  the  colony  in  a  state  of 
adequate  defence,  and  while  it  is  regarded  as  perfectly  secure  from 
the  native  forces,  it  is  hoped  and  believed,  that  it  may  sustain 
itself  against  any  piralical  assaults.  '  The  establishment  has  fifteen 
large  carriage  guns  and  three  small  pivot  guns,  all  fit  for  service.' 
Fort  Stockton  overlooks  the  whole  town  of  Monrovia,  and  a  strong 
battery  is  now  building  on  the  height  of  Thompson-town,  near  the 
extremity  of  the  cape,  which  it  is  thought  will  afford  protection  to 
vessels  anchoring  in  the  roadstead.  The  militia  of  the  colony 
consists  of  two  corps  appropriately  uniformed,  one  of  artillery  of 
about  fifty  men,  the  other  of  infantry  of  forty  men,  and  on  various 
occasions  have  they  proved  themselves  deficient  neither  in  disci- 
pline nor  courage. 


ON      AFRICAN     COLONIZATION.  533 


EXTRACTS    FROM    THE    REV.    J.    ASHMUN'S    REPORT    OF    THE    COLONY. 

The  money  expended  on  these  various  objects  has  necessarily 
been  considerable;  but,  in  comparison  with  the  expense  which 
similar  objects  in  this  country  cost  European  governments,  it  will 
be  found  not  merely  moderate,  but  trifling.  Less  than  has  been 
effected  towards  the  extension  of  our  limits,  I  could  not  attempt : 
and  I  am  certain  that  where  the  direction  of  every  other  establish- 
ment on  the  coast,  except  the  Portuguese,  would  regard  itself  not 
only  authorized,  but  obliged,  to  pay  away  thousands,  I  have  in 
countless  instances  spent  not  a  dollar.  But  that  species  of  economy 
which  sacrifices  to  itself  any  object  essential  to  the  success  of  this 
undertaking,  I  am  as  little  able  to  practice  as  the  board  is  to 
approve. 

The  natives  of  the  country,  but  particularly  of  the  interior,  not- 
withstanding their  habitual  indolence,  produce,  after  supplying 
their  own  wants,  a  considerable  surplus  of  the  great  staple  of  this 
part  of  Western  Africa,  rice.  The  moderate  rate  at  which  this 
grain  is  purchased  by  such  as  deal  directly  with  the  growers, 
and  the  various  uses  of  which  it  is  susceptible  in  the  domestic 
economy,  easily  place  the  means  of  supplying  the  first  necessities 
of  nature  in  the  reach  of  every  one.  Rice,  moreover,  always 
commands  a  ready  sale  with  transient  trading  vessels  or  coasters ; 
and  forms  a  useful  object  of  exchange  for  other  provisions  and 
necessaries,  between  individuals  of  the  colony. 

To  this  succeeds,  as  next  in  importance,  the  camwood  of  the 
country,  of  which  several  hundred  tons  every  year  pass  through 
the  hands  of  the  settlers,  and  serve  to  introduce,  in  return,  ihe 
provisions  and  groceries  of  America;  and  the  dry  goods  and 
wares,  both  of  Europe  and  America,  which,  from  the  necessary 
dependence  of  the  members  of  every  society  on  each  other,  come 
soon  to  be  distributed,  for  the  common  advantage  of  all. 

The  ivory  of  Liberia  is  less  abundant,  and  less  valuable,  than 
that  of  other  districts  of  Western  Africa.  It,  however,  forms  a 
valuable  article  6f  barter  and  export,  to  the  settlement ;  and  the 
amount  annually  bought  and  sold,  falls  between  five  and  eight 
thousand  dollars. 

No  less  than  five  schools  for  different  descriptions  of  learners, 
exclusive  of  the  Sunday  schools,  have  been  supported  during  the 
year,  and  still  continue  in  operation.  The  youths  and  children  of 
the  colony  discover,  for  their  age,  unequivocal  proofs  of  a  good 
degree  of  mental  accomplishment.  The  contrast  between  children 
several  years  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  advantages  of  the  colony, 
and  most  others  of  the  same  age,  arriving  from  the  United  States, 
is  striking,  and  would  leave  an  entire  stranger  at  no  loss  to  distin- 
guish the  one  from  the  other.     Should  emigration,  but  for  a  very 


534  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

few  months,  cease  to  throw  the  little  ignorants  into  the  colony, 
from  abroad,  the  phenomenon  of  a  child  of  five  years,  unable  to 
read,  it  is  believed,  would  not  exist  among  us. 

The  first  successful  essay  in  the  construction  of  small  vessels, 
has  been  made  the  past  year.  I  have  built,  and  put  upon  the  rice 
trade,  between  our  factories  to  the  leeward,  and  cape  Montserado, 
a  schooner  of  ten  tons  burthen,  adapted  to  the  passage  of  the  bars 
of  all  the  navigable  rivers  of  the  coast.  The  sailing  qualities  of 
this  vessel  are  so  superior,  that  before  the  wind,  it  is  believed,  few, 
or  none  of  the  numerous  pirates  of  the  coast,  can  overtake  her. 
She  makes  a  trip,  freighted  both  ways,  in  ten  days  ;  and  commonly 
carries  and  brings  merchandise  and  produce,  to  the  amount  of  from 
four  to  eight  hundred  dollars  each  trip.  Another  craft  of  equal 
tonnage,  but  of  very  indifferent  materials,  has  been  built  by  one  of 
the  colonists.  The  model  of  the  St.  Paul's  (the  public  boat)  was 
furnished  by  myself;  but  she  was  constructed  under  the  superin- 
tendence of  J.  Blake,  who  has  thus  entitled  himself  to  the  character 
of  a  useful  and  ingenious  mechanic. 

One  of  the  most  obvious  effects  of  this  colony,  has  already  been 
to  check,  in  this  part  of  Africa,  the  prevalence  of  the  slave-trade. 
The  promptness  and  severity  with  which  our  arms  have,  in  every 
instance,  avenged  the  insults  and  injuries  offered  by  slave  ships 
and  factories  to  the  colony,  have,  I  may  confidently  say,  banished 
it  for  ever  from  this  district  of  the  coast.  Our  influence  with  the 
natives  of  this  section  of  the  coast,  is  known  to  be  so  great  as  to 
expose  to  certain  miscarriage,  any  transaction  entered  into  with 
them  for  slaves.  But  there  is  a  moral  feeling  at  work  in  the  minds 
of  most  of  our  neighbors,  contracted,  doubtless,  by  means  of  their 
intercourse  with  the  colony,  which  represents  to  them  the  dark 
business  in  a  new  aspect  of  repulsiveness  and  absurdity.  Most 
are  convinced  that  it  is  indeed  a  bad  business,  and  are  apparently 
sincere  in  their  determination  to  drop  it  for  ever,  unless  compelled 
by  their  wants  to  adventure  a  few  occasional  speculations. 

In  the  punishment  of  offences,  the  most  lenient  maxims  of 
modern  jurisprudence  have  been  observed,  by  way  of  experiment 
on  human  nature,  in  that  particular  modification  of  it  exhibited  by 
the  population  of  this  colony.  The  result  has  been,  so  far,  favor- 
able to  the  policy  pursued.  The  passion  to  which  corporeal  and 
other  ignominious  punishments  address  their  arguments,  is  certainly 
one  of  the  least  ingenuous  of  the  human  constitution. 

EXTRACTS     FROM    A    MEMORIAL    FROM    THE     FREE     PEOPLE    OF    COLOR 
TO    THE    CITIZENS    OF    BALTIMORE. 

We  have  hitherto  beheld,  in  silence,  but  with  the  intensest 
interest,  the  efforts  of  the  wise  and  philanthropic  in  our  behalf.  If 
it  became  us  to  be  silent,  it  became  us  also  to  feel  the  liveliest 
anxiety  and  gratitude. 


ON    AFRJPAN     COLONIZATION.  535 

The  time  has  now  arrived,  as  we  believe,  in  which  your  work 
and  our  happiness  may  be  promoted  by  the  expression  of  our 
opinions.  We  have  therefore  assembled  for  that  purpose,  from 
every  quarter  of  the  city,  and  every  denomination,  to  offer  you  this 
respectful  address,  with  all  the  weight  and  influence  which  our 
number,  character,  and  cause,  can  lend  it. 

We  reside  among  you,  and  yet  are  strangers  ;  natives,  and  yet 
not  citizens  ;  surrounded  by  the  freest  people  and  most  republican 
institutions  in  the  world,  and  yet  enjoying  none  of  the  immunities 
of  freedom. 

It  is  not  to  be  imputed  to  you  that  we  are  here.  Your  ancestors 
remonstrated  against  the  introduction  of  the  first  of  our  race,  who 
were  brought  amongst  you  ;  and  it  was  the  mother  country  that 
insisted  on  their  admission,  that  her  colonies  and  she  might  profit, 
as  she  thought,  by  their  compulsory  labor.  But  the  gift  was  a 
curse  to  them,  wilhout  being  an  advantage  to  herself.  The  colonies, 
grown  to  womanhood,  burst  from  her  dominion  ;  and  if  they  have 
an  angry  recollection  of  their  union  and  rupture,  it  must  be  at  the 
sight  of  the  baneful  institution  which  she  has  entailed  upon  them. 

How  much  you  regret  its  existence  among  you,  is  shown  by  the 
severe  laws  you  have  enacted  against  the  slave-trade,  and  by  your 
employment  of  a  naval  force  for  its  suppression.  You  have  gone 
still  further.  Not  content  with  checking  the  increase  of  the  already 
too  growing  evil,  you  have  deliberated  how  you  might  best  exter- 
minate the  evil  itself.  This  delicate  and  important  subject  has 
produced  a  great  variety  of  opinions  ;  but  we  find,  even  in  that 
diversity,  a  consolatory  proof  of  the  interest  with  which  you  regard 
the  subject,  and  of  your  readiness  to  adopt  that  scheme  which  may 
appear  to  be  the  best. 

Leaving  out  all  considerations  of  generosity,  humanity,  and 
benevolence,  you  have  the  strongest  reasons  to  favor  and  facilitate 
the  withdrawal  from  among  you  of  such  as  wish  to  remove.  It  ill 
consists,  in  the  first  place,  with  your  republican  principles,  and 
with  the  health  and  moral  sense  of  the  body  politic,  that  there 
should  be,  in  the  midst  of  you,  an  extraneous  mass  of  men,  united 
to  you  only  by  soil  and  climate,  and  irrevocably  excluded  from 
your  institutions.  Nor  is  it  less  for  your  advantage  in  another 
point  of  view.  Our  places  might,  in  our  opinion,  be  better  occu- 
pied by  men  of  your  own  color,  who  would  increase  the  strength 
of  your  country.  In  the  pursuit  of  livelihood,  and  the  exercise  of 
industrious  habits,  we  necessarily  exclude  from  employment  many 
of  the  whites,  your  fellow-citizens,  who  would  find  it  easier, 
in  proportion  as  we  depart,  to  provide  for  themselves  and  their 
families. 

But  if  you  have  every  reason  to  wish  for  our  removal,  how  much 
greater  are  our  inducements  to  remove !  Though  we  are  not 
slaves,  we  are  not  free.     We  do  not,  and  never  shall,  participate 


536  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

in  the  enviable  privileges  which  we  continually  witness.  Beyond 
a  mere  subsistence,  and  the  impulse  of  religion,  there  is  nothing  to 
arouse  us  to  the  exercise  of  our  faculties,  or  excite  us  to  the  attain- 
ment of  eminence. 

Of  the  many  schemes  that  have  been  proposed,  we  most  approve 
of  that  of  African  colonization.  If  we  were  able,  and  at  liberty  to 
go  whithersoever  we  would,  the  greater  number,  willing  to  leave 
this  community,  would  prefer  Liberia,  on  the  coast  of  Africa. 
Others,  no  doubt,  would  turn  them  towards  some  other  regions  ; 
the  world  is  wide.  Already  established  there,  in  the  settlement  of 
the  American  colonization  society,  are  many  of  our  brethren,  the 
pioneers  of  African  restoration,  who  encourage  us  to  join  them. 
Several  were  formerly  residents  of  this  city,  and  highly  considered 
by  the  people  of  their  own  class  and  color.  They  have  been 
planted  at  cape  Montserado,  the  most  eligible,  and  one  of  the  most 
elevated  sites  on  the  western  coast  of  Africa,  selected  in  1821 ; 
and  their  number  has  augmented  to  five  hundred.  Able,  as  we 
are  informed,  to  provide  for  their  own  defence  and  support,  and 
capable  of  self-increase,  they  are  now  enjoying  all  the  necessaries 
and  comforts,  and  many  of  the  luxuries  of  larger  and  older  com- 
munities. In  Africa  we  shall  be  freemen  indeed,  and  republicans, 
after  the  model  of  this  republic.  We  shall  carry  your  language, 
your  customs,  your  opinions  and  Christianity  to  that  now  desolate 
shore,  and  thence  they  will  gradually  spread,  with  our  growth,  far 
into  the  continent.  The  slave-trade,  both  external  and  internal, 
can  be  abolished  only  by  settlements  on  the  coast.  Africa,  if 
destined  to  be  ever  civilized  and  converted,  can  be  civilized  and 
converted  by  that  means  only. 

We  foresee  that  difficulties  and  dangers  await  those  who 
emigrate,  such  as  every  infant  establishment  must  encounter  and 
endure;  such  as  your  fathers  suffered,  when  first  they  landed  on 
this  now  happy  shore. 

The  portion  of  comforts  which  they  may  lose,  they  will  cheer- 
fully abandon.  Human  happiness  does  not  consist  in  meat  and 
drink,  nor  in  costly  raiment,  nor  in  stately  habitations  ;  to  contribute 
to  it  even,  they  must  be  joined  with  equal  rights,  and  respectability, 
and  it  often  exists  in  a  high  degree  without  them. 

That  you  may  facilitate  the  withdrawal  from  among  you  of  such 
as  wish  to  remove,  is  what  we  now  solicit.  It  can  best  be  done, 
we  think,  by  augmenting  the  means  at  the  command  of  the  Amer- 
ican Colonization  Society,  that  the  colony  of  Liberia  may  be 
strengthened  and  improved  for  their  gradual  reception.  The 
greater  the  number  of  persons  sent  thither,  from  any  part  of  this 
nation  whatsoever,  so  much  the  more  capable  it  becomes  of 
receiving  a  still  greater.  Every  encouragement  to  it,  therefore, 
though  it  may  not  seem  to  have  any  particular  portion  of  emigrants 
directly  in  view,  will  produce  a  favorable  effect  upon  all      The 


ON     AFRICAN     COLONIZATION.  537 

emigrants  may  readily  be  enabled  to  remove,  in  considerable 
numbers  every  fall,  by  a  concerted  system  of  individual  contribu- 
tions, and  still  more  efficiently  by  the  enactment  of  laws  to  promote 
their  emigration,  under  the  patronage  of  the  state.  The  expense 
would  not  be  nearly  so  great  as  it  might  appear  at  first  sight ;  for, 
when  once  the  current  shall  have  set  towards  Liberia,  and  inter- 
course grown  frequent,  the  cost  will,  of  course,  diminish  rapidly, 
and  many  will  be  able  to  defray  it  for  themselves.  Thousands 
and  tens  of  thousands  poorer  than  we,  annually  emigrate  from 
Europe  to  your  country,  and  soon  have  it  in  their  power  to  hasten 
the  arrival  of  those  they  left  behind.  Every  intelligent  and  indus- 
trious colored  man  would  continually  look  forward  to  the  day, 
when  he  or  his  children  might  go  to  their  veritable  home,  and 
would  accumulate  all  his  little  earnings  for  that  purpose. 

We  have  ventured  these  remarks,  because  we  know  that  you 
take  a  kind  concern  in  the  subject  to  wThich  they  relate,  and  because 
we  think  they  may  assist  you  in  the  prosecution  of  your  designs. 
If  we  were  doubtful  of  your  good  will  and  benevolent  intentions, 
we  would  remind  you  of  the  time  when  you  were  in  a  situation 
similar  to  ours,  and  when  your  forefathers  were  driven,  by  religious 
persecution,  to  a  distant  and  inhospitable  shore.  We  are  not  so 
persecuted  :  but  we,  too,  leave  our  homes,  and  seek  a  distant  and 
inhospitable  shore  :  an  empire  may  be  the  result  of  our  emigration, 
as  of  their's.  The  protection,  kindness,  and  assistance  which  you 
would  have  desired  for  yourselves  under  such  circumstances,  now 
extend  to  us  :  so  may  you  be  rewarded  by  the  riddance  of  the  stain 
and  evil  of  slavery,  the  extension  of  civilization  and  the  gospel,  and 
the  blessings  of  our  common  Creator ! 

WILLIAxM  CORNISH, 
Chairman  of  the  meeting  in  Bethel  church. 

ROBERT  COWLEY, 
Secretarv  of  the  meeting  in  Bethel  church. 

JAMES  DEAVER, 
Chairman  of  the  meeting  in  the  African  church,  Sharp  street. 

REMUS  HARVEY, 
Secretary  of  the  meeting  in  the  African  church,  Sharp  street 


VOL.  I. 


68 


ON  THE  CHARGE  OF  CORRUPTION, 

AT  LEXINGTON,  KENTUCKY,  JULY  12.  1827. 


[In  June,  1827,  Mr.  Carter  Beverley,  of  Virginia,  published  in  the  United  States 
Telegraph,  printed  at  Washington,  a  letter  from  general  Jackson,  charging  Mr.  Clay 
with  corrupt  motives  in  having  voted  for  his  competitor,  Mr.  Adams,  for  president,  of 
the  United  States,  in  the  election  by  congress,  in  1825.  Mr.  Clay  being  on  a  visit  to 
Kentucky  during  the  same  summer,  attended  various  meetings  of  his  former  constitu- 
ents and  friends,  who  were  desirous  of  testifying  their  continued  regard  for  him.  At 
a  public  dinner  given  him  at  Lexington,  the  following  toast  was  given,  in  the  course 
of  his  answer  to  which,  Mr.  Clay  takes  the  opportunity  to  refute  the  charges  of 
general  Jackson  against  him,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  subjoined  remarks.] 


1  Our  distinguished  guest,  Henry  Clay.  The  furnace  of  persecution  may  be  heated 
seven  times  hotter,  and  seventy  times  more  he  will  come  out  unscathed  by  the  fire 
of  malignity,  brighter  to  all  and  dearer  to  his  friends;  while  his  enemies  shall  sink 
with  the  dross  of  their  own  vile  materials.' 


Mr.  President,  friends,  and  fellow-citizens, 

I  beg  permission  to  offer  my  hearty  thanks,  and  to  make  my  res- 
pectful acknowledgments,  for  the  affectionate  reception  which  has 
been  given  me  during  my  present  visit  to  my  old  congressional 
district,  and  for  this  hospitable  and  honorable  testimony  of  your 
esteem  and  confidence.  And  I  thank  you  especially  for  the  friendly 
sentiments  and  feelings  expressed  in  the  toast  which  you  have  just 
done  me  the  honor  to  drink.  I  always  had  the  happiness  of  knowing 
that  I  enjoyed,  in  a  high  degree,  the  attachment  of  that  portion  of 
my  fellow-citizens  whom  I  formerly  represented ;  but  I  should 
never  have  been  sensible  of  the  strength  and  ardor  of  their  affec- 
tion, except  for  the  extraordinary  character  of  the  times.  For  near 
two  years  and  a  half  I  have  been  assailed  with  a  rancor  and  bitter- 
ness which  have  few  examples.  I  have  found  myself  the  particular 
object  of  concerted  and  concentrated  abuse ;  and  others,  thrusting 
themselves  between  you  and  me,  have  dared  to  arraign  me  for  treach- 
ery to  your  interests.  But  my  former  constituents,  unaffected  by  the 
calumnies  which  have  been  so  perseveringly  circulated  to  my  preju- 
dice, have  stood  by  me  with  a  generous  confidence  and  a  noble 
magnanimity.  The  measure  of  their  regard  and  confidence  has  risen 
with,  and  even  surpassed,  that  of  the  malevolence,  great  as  it  is,  of 


ON     THE     CHARGE     OF     CORRUPTION.  539 

my  personal  and  political  foes.  I  thank  you,  gentlemen,  who  are  a 
large  portion  of  my  late  constituents.  I  thank  you,  and  every  one  of 
them,  with  all  my  heart,  for  the  manly  support  which  I  have  uniformly 
received.  It  has  cheered  and  consoled  me,  amidst  all  my  severe 
trials;  and  may  I  not  add,  that  it  is  honorable  to  the  generous 
hearts  and  enlightened  heads  who  have  resolved  to  protect  the 
character  of  an  old  friend  and  faithful  servant. 

The  numerous  manifestations  of  your  confidence  and  attach- 
ment will  be  among  the  latest  and  most  treasured  recollections  of 
my  life.  They  impose  upon  me  obligations  which  can  never  be 
weakened  or  cancelled.  One  of  these  obligations  is,  that  I  should 
embrace  every  fair  opportunity  to  vindicate  that  character  which 
you  have  so  generously  sustained,  and  to  evince  to  you  and  to  the 
world,  that  you  have  not  yielded  to  the  impulses  of  a  blind  and 
enthusiastic  sentiment.  I  feel  that  I  am,  on  all  fit  occasions,  espe- 
cially bound  to  vindicate  myself  to  my  former  constituents.  It 
was  as  their  representative,  it  was  in  fulfilment  of  a  high  trust 
which  they  confided  to  me,  that  I  have  been  accused  of  violating 
the  most  sacred  of  duties  —  of  treating  their  wishes  with  contempt, 
and  their  interests  with  treachery.  Nor  is  this  obligation,  in  my 
conception  of  its  import,  at  all  weakened  by  the  dissolution  of  the 
relations  which  heretofore  existed  between  us.  I  would  instantly 
resign  the  place  I  hold  in  the  councils  of  the  nation,  and  directly 
appeal  to  the  suffrages  of  my  late  constituents,  as  a  candidate  for 
reelection,  if  I  did  not  know  that  my  foes  are  of  that  class  whom 
one  rising  from  the  dead  cannot  convince,  whom  nothing  can  silence, 
and  who  wage  a  war  of  extermination.  On  the  issue  of  such  an 
appeal  they  would  redouble"  their  abuse  of  you  and  of  me,  for 
their  hatred  is  common  to  us  both. 

They  have  compelled  me  so  often  to  be  the  theme  of  my 
addresses  to  the  people,  that  I  should  have  willingly  abstained,  on 
this  festive  occasion,  from  any  allusion  to  this  subject,  but  for  a  new 
and  imposing  form  which  the  calumny  against  me  has  recently 
assumed.  I  am  again  put.  on  my  defence,  not  of  any  new  charge, 
nor  by  any  new  adversary  ;  but  of  the  old  charges,  clad  in  a  new 
dress,  and  exhibited  by  an  open  and  undisguised  enemy.  The 
fictitious  names  have  been  stricken  from  the  foot  of  the  indictment, 
and  that  of  a  known  and  substantial  prosecutor  has  been  voluntarily 
offered.  Undaunted  by  the  formidable  name  of  that  prosecutor,  I 
will  avail  myself,  with  your  indulgence,  of  this  fit  opportunity  of 
free  and  unreserved  intercourse  with  you,  as  a  large  number  of  my 
late  constituents,  to  make  some  observations  on  the  past  and 
present  state  of  the  question.  When  evidence  shall  be  produced, 
as  I  have  now  a  clear  right  to  demand,  in  support  of  the  accusa- 
tion, it  will  be  the  proper  time  for  me  to  take  such  notice  of  it  as 
its  nature  shall  require. 

In  February,  1825*  it  was  my  duty,  as  the  representative  of  this 


540  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

district,  to  vote  for  some  one  of  the  three  candidates  for  the  presi- 
dency, who  were  returned  to  the  house  of  representatives.  It  has 
been  established,  and  can  be  further  proved,  that,  before  I  left  this 
state  the  preceding  fall,  I  communicated  to  several  gentlemen  of 
the  highest  respectability,  my  fixed  determination  not  to  vote  for 
general  Jackson.  The  friends  of  Mr.  Crawford  asserted  to  the 
last,  lhat  the  condition  of  his  health  was  such  as  to  enable  him  to 
administer  the  duties  of  the  office.  I  thought  otherwise,  after  I 
reached  Washington  city,  and  visited  him  to  satisfy  myself;  and 
thought  that  physical  impediment,  if  there  were  no  other  objections, 
ought  to  prevent  his  election.  Although  the  delegations  from  four 
states  voted  for  him,  and  his  pretensions  were  zealously  pressed  to 
the  very  last  moment,  it  has  been  of  late  asserted,  and  I  believe  by 
some  of  the  very  persons  who  then  warmly  espoused  his  cause, 
that  his  incompetency  was  so  palpable  as  clearly  to  limit  the 
choice  to  two  of  the  three  returned  candidates.  In  my  view  of 
my  duty,  there  was  no  alternative  but  that  which  I  embraced. 
That  I  had  some  objections  to  Mr.  Adams,  I  am  ready  freely  to 
admit;  but  these  did  not  weigh  a  feather  in  comparison  with  the 
greater  and  insurmountable  objections,  long  and  deliberately  enter- 
tained against  his  competitor.  I  take  this  occasion,  with  great 
satisfaction,  to  state,  that  my  objections  to  Mr.  Adams  arose 
chiefly  from  apprehensions  which  have  not  been  realized.  I  have 
found  him  at  the  head  of  the  government  able,  enlightened,  patient 
of  investigation,  and  ever  ready  to  receive  with  respect,  and,  when 
approved  by  his  judgment,  to  act  upon,  the  counsels  of  his  official 
advisers.  I  add,  with  unmixed  pleasure,  that,  from  the  commence- 
ment of  the  government,  with  the  exception  of  Mr.  Jefferson's 
administration,  no  chief  magistrate  has  found  the  members  of  his 
cabinet  so  united  on  all  public  measures,  and  so  cordial  and 
friendly  in  all  their  intercourse,  private  and  official,  as  these  are  of 
the  present  president. 

Had  I  voted  for  general  Jackson,  in  opposition  to  the  well-known 
opinions  which  I  entertained  of  him,  one  tenth  part  of  the  ingenuity 
and  zeal  which  have  been  employed  to  excite  prejudices  against 
me,  would  have  held  me  up  to  universal  contempt ;  and  what 
would  have  been  worse,  /should  have  fell  that  I  really  deserved  it. 

Before  the  election,  an  attempt  was  made  by  an  abusive  letter, 
published  in  the  Columbian  Observer,  at  Philadelphia,  a  paper 
which,  as  has  since  transpired,  was  sustained  by  Mr.  senator  Eaton, 
the  colleague,  the  friend,  and  the  biographer  of  general  Jackson,  to 
assail  my  motives,  and  to  deter  me  in  the  exercise  of  my  duty. 
This  letter  being  avowed  by  Mr.  George  Kremer,  I  instantly 
demanded  from  the  house  of  representatives  an  investigation.  A 
committee  was  accordingly,  on  the  fifth  day  of  February,  1825, 
appointed  in  the  rare  mode  of  balloting  by  the  house,  instead  of  by 
selection  of  ihe  speaker.     It  was  composed  of  some  of  the  leading 


ON     THE     CHARGE     OF     CORRUPTION.  541 

members  of  that  body,  not  one  of  whom  was  my  political  friend  in 
the  preceding  presidential  canvass.  Although  Mr.  Kremer,  in 
addressing  the  house,  had  declared  his  willingness  to  bring  forward 
his  proofs,  and  his  readiness  to  abide  the  issue  of  the  inquiry,  his 
fears,  or  other  counsels  than  his  own,  prevailed  upon  him  to  take 
refuge  in  a  miserable  subterfuge.  Of  all  possible  periods,  that  was 
the  most  fitting  to  substantiate  the  charge,  if  it  were  true.  Every 
circumstance  was  then  fresh ;  the  witnesses  all  living  and  present ; 
the  election  not  yet  complete ;  and  therefore  the  imputed  corrupt 
bargain  not  fulfilled.  All  these  powerful  considerations  had  no 
weight  with  the  conspirators  and  their  accessories,  and  they 
meanly  shrunk  from  even  an  attempt  to  prove  their  charge,  for  the 
best  of  all  possible  reasons  —  because,  being  false  and  fabricated, 
they  could  adduce  no  proof  which  was  not  false  and  fabricated. 

During  two  years  and  a  half,  which  have  now  intervened,  a 
portion  of  the  press  devoted  to  the  cause  of  general  Jackson  has 
been  teeming  with  the  vilest  calumnies  against  me,  and  the  charge, 
under  every  chameleon  form,  has  been  a  thousand  times  repeated. 
Up  to  this  time,  I  have  in  vain  invited  investigation,  and  demanded 
evidence.     None,  not  a  particle,  has  been  adduced. 

The  extraordinary  ground  has  been  taken,  that  the  accusers  were 
not  bound  to  establish  by  proof  the  guilt  of  their  designated  victim. 
In  a  civilized,  christian,  and  free  community,  the  monstrous 
principle  has  been  assumed,  that  accusation  and  conviction  are 
synonymous;  and  that  the  persons  who  deliberately  bring  forward 
an  atrocious  charge  are  exempted  from  all  obligations  to  substan- 
tiate it !  And  the  pretext  is,  that  the  crime,  being  of  a  political 
nature,  is  shrouded  is  darkness,  and  incapable  of  being  substan- 
tiated. But  is  there  any  real  difference,  in  this  respect,  between 
political  and  other  offences  ?  Do  not  all  the  perpetrators  of  crime 
endeavor  to  conceal  their  guilt  and  to  elude  detection?  If  the 
accuser  of  a  political  offence  is  absolved  from  the  duty  of  support- 
ing his  accusation,  every  other  accuser  of  offence  stands  equally 
absolved.  Such  a  principle,  practically  carried  into  society,  would 
subvert  all  harmony,  peace,  and  tranquillity.  None  —  no  age,  nor 
sex,  nor  profession,  nor  calling  —  would  be  safe  against  its  baleful 
and  overwhelming  influence.  It  would  amount  to  a  universal 
license  to  universal  calumny  ! 

No  one  has  ever  contended  that  the  proof  should  be  exclusively 
that  of  eye-witnesses,  testifying  from  their  senses  positively  and 
directly  to  the  fact.  Political,  like  other  offences,  may  be  estab- 
lished by  circumstantial  as  well  as  positive  evidence.  But  I  do 
contend,  that  some  evidence,  be  it  what  it  may,  ought  to  be 
exhibited.  If  there  be  none,  how  do  the  accusers  know  that  an 
offence  has  been  perpetrated  ?  If  they  do  know  it,  let  us  have  the 
fact  on  which  their  conviction  is  based.  I  will  not  even  assert, 
that,  in  public  affairs,  a  citizen  has  not  a  right  freely  to  express  his 


542  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

opinions  of  public  men,  and  to  speculate  upon  the  motives  of  their 
conduct.  But  if  he  chooses  to  promulgate  opinions,  let  them  be 
given  as  opinions.  The  public  will  correctly  judge  of  their  value 
and  their  grounds.  No  one  has  a  right  to  put  forth  a  positive 
assertion,  that  a  political  offence  has  been  committed,  unless  he 
stands  prepared  to  sustain,  by  satisfactory  proof  of  some  kind,  its 
actual  existence. 

If  he  who  exhibits  a  charge  of  political  crime  is,  from  its  very 
nature,  disabled  to  establish  it,  how  much  more  difficult  is  the 
condition  of  the  accused  ?  How  can  he  exhibit  negative  proof  of 
his  innocence,  if  no  affirmative  proof  of  his  guilt  is  or  can  be 
adduced  ? 

It  must  have  been  a  conviction  that  the  justice  of  the  public 
required  a  definite  charge,  by  a  responsible  accuser,  that  has  at  last 
extorted  from  general  Jackson  his  letter  of  the  sixth  of  June,  lately 
published.  I  approach  that  letter  with  great  reluctance,  not  on  my 
own  account,  for  on  that  I  do  most  heartily  and  sincerely  rejoice 
that  it  has  made  its  appearance.  But  it  is  reluctance,  excited  by 
the  feelings  of  respect  which  I  would  anxiously  have  cultivated 
towards  its  author.  He  has,  however,  by  that  letter,  created  such 
relations  between  us,  lhat,  in  any  language  which  I  may  employ, 
in  examining  its  contents,  I  feel  myself  bound  by  no  other  obliga- 
tions than  those  which  belong  to  truth,  to  public  decorum,  and  to 
myself. 

The  first  consideration  which  must,  on  the  perusal  of  the  letter, 
force  itself  upon  every  reflecting  mind,  is  that  which  arises  out  of 
the  delicate  posture  in  which  general  Jackson  stands  before  the 
American  public.  He  is  a  candidate  for  the  presidency,  avowed 
and  proclaimed.  He  has  no  competitor  at  present,  and  there  is  no 
probability  of  his  having  any,  but  one.  The  charges  which  he  has 
allowed  himself  to  be  the  organ  of  communicating  to  the  very 
public  who  is  to  decide  the  question  of  the  presidency,  though 
directly  aimed  at  me,  necessarily  implicate  his  only  competitor. 
Mr.  Adams  and  myself  are  both  guilty,  or  we  are  both  innocent 
of  the  imputed  arrangement  between  us.  His  innocence  is  abso- 
lutely irreconcilable  with  my  guilt.  If  general  Jackson,  therefore, 
can  establish  my  guilt,  and,  by  inference  or  by  insinuation,  that  of 
his  sole  rival,  he  will  have  removed  a  great  obstacle  to  the  consum- 
mation of  the  object  of  his  ambition.  And  if  he  can,  at  the  same 
time,  make  out  his  own  purity  of  conduct,  and  impress  the 
American  people  with  the  belief,  that  his  purity  and  integrity  alone 
prevented  his  success  before  the  house  of  representatives,  his  claims 
will  become  absolutely  irresistible.  Were  there  ever  more  powerful 
motives  to  propagate,  was  there  ever  greater  interest,  at  all  hazards, 
to  prove  the  truth  of  charges  ? 

I  state  the  case,  I  hope,  fairly ;  I  mean  to  state  it  fairly  and 
fearlessly.     If  the  position  be  one  which  exposes  general  Jackson 


ON     THE     CHARGE     OF     CORRUPTION.  543 

to  unfavorable  suspicions,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  he  has 
voluntarily  taken  it,  and  he  must  abide  the  consequences.  I  am 
acting  on  the  defensive,  and  it  is  he  who  assails  me,  and  who  has 
called  forth,  by  the  eternal  laws  of  self-protection,  the  right  to  use 
all  legitimate  means  of  self-defence. 

General  Jackson  has  shown  in  his  letter,  that  he  is  not  exempt 
from  the  influence  of  that  bias  towards  one's  own  interest,  which 
is  unfortunately  the  too  common  lot  of  human  nature.  It  is  his 
interest  to  make  out  that  he  is  a  person  of  spotless  innocence,  and 
of  unsullied  integrity;  and  to  establish  by  direct  charge,  or  by 
necessary  inference,  the  want  of  those  qualities  in  his  rival. 
Accordingly,  we  find,  throughout  the  letter,  a  labored  attempt  to  set 
forth  his  own  immaculate  purity  in  striking  contrast  with  the  corrup- 
tion which  is  attributed  to  others.  We  would  imagine  from  his 
letter,  that  he  very  seldom  touches  a  newspaper.  The  Telegraph 
is  mailed  regularly  for  him  at  Washington,  but  it  arrives  at  the 
Hermitage  very  irregularly.  He  would  have  the  public  to  infer, 
that  the  postmaster  at  Nashville,  whose  appointment  happened  not 
to  be  upon  his  recommendation,  obstructed  his  reception  of  it.  In 
consequence  of  his  not  receiving  the  Telegraph,  he  had  not  on  the 
sixth  of  June,  1827,  seen  Carter  Beverley's  famous  Fayetteville 
letter,  dated  the  eighth  of  the  preceding  March,  published  in 
numerous  gazettes,  and  published,  I  have  very  little  doubt,  although 
I  have  not  the  means  of  ascertaining  the  fact,  in  the  gazettes  of 
Nashville.  I  will  not  say,  contrary  to  general  Jackson's  assertion, 
that  he  had  never  read  that  letter,  when  he  wrote  that  of  the  sixth 
of  June,  but  I  must  think  that  it  is  very  strange  that  he  should  not 
have  seen  it;  and  I  doubt  whether  there  is  another  man  of  any 
political  eminence  in  the  United  States  who  has  not  read  it.  There 
is  a  remarkable  coincidence  between  general  Jackson  and  certain 
editors  who  espouse  his  interest,  in  relation  to  Mr.  Beverley's 
letter.  They  very  early  took  the  ground,  in  respect  to  it,  that  I 
ought,  under  my  own  signature,  to  come  out  and  deny  the  state- 
ments. And  general  Jackson  now  says,  in  his  letter  of  the  sixth 
of  June,  that  he  *  always  intended,  should  Mr.  Clay  come  out  over 
his  own  signature,  and  deny  having  any  knowledge  of  the  commu- 
nication made  by  his  friends  to  my  friends  and  to  me,  that  I  would 
give  him  the  name  of  the  gentleman  through  whom  that  commu- 
nication came.' 

The  distinguished  member  of  congress  who  bore  the  alleged 
overture,  according  to  general  Jackson,  presented  himself  with 
diplomatic  circumspection,  lest  he  should  wound  the  very  great 
sensibility  of  the  general.  He  avers  that  the  communication  was 
intended\vith  the  most  friendly  motives,  <  that  he  came  as  a  friend,' 
and  that  he  hoped,  however  it  might  be  received,  there  would  be  no 
alteration  in  the  friendly  feelings  between  them.  The  general 
graciously   condescends    to  receive   the    communication,  and,  in 


544  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

consideration  of  the  high  standing  of  the  distinguished  member, 
and  of  his  having  always  been  a  professed  friend,  he  is  promised 
impunity,  and  assured  that  there  shall  be  no  change  of  amicable 
ties.  After  all  these  necessary  preliminaries  are  arranged  between 
the  high  negotiating  powers,  the  envoy  proceeds :  *  he  had  been 
informed  by  the  friends  of  Mr.  Clay,  that  the  friends  of  Mr.  Adams 
had  made  overtures  to  them,  saying  if  Mr.  Clay  and  his  friends 
would  unite  in  aid  of  the  election  of  Mr.  Adams,  Mr.  Clay  should 
be  secretary  of  state ;  that  the  friends  of  Mr.  Adams  were  urging, 
as  a  reason  to  induce  the  friends  of  Mr.  Clay  to  accede  to  their 
proposition,  that  if  I  was  elected  president,  Mr.  Adams  would  be 
continued  secretary  of  state,  (inuendo,  there  would  be  no  room  for 
Kentucky.)'  [Is  this  general  Jackson's  inuendo,  or  that  of  the 
distinguished  member  of  congress  ?  ]  '  That  the  friends  of  Mr. 
Clay  stated  the  west  does  not  want  to  separate  from  the  west,  and 
if  I  would  say,  or  permit  any  of  my  confidential  friends  to  say 
that,  in  case  I  was  elected  president,  Mr.  Adams  should  not  be 
continued  secretary  of  state,  by  a  complete  union  of  Mr.  Clay  and 
his  friends,  they  would  put  an  end  to  the  presidential  contest  in  one 
hour ;  and  he  was  of  opinion  it  was  right  to  fight  such  intriguers 
with  their  own  weapons.'  To  which  the  general  states  himself  to 
have  replied  in  substance,  '  that  in  politics,  as  in  every  thing  else, 
my  guide  was  principle,  and  contrary  to  the  expressed  and  unbiased 
will  of  the  people  or  their  constituted  agents,  I  never  would  step 
into  the  presidential  chair;  and  requested  him  to  say  to  Mr.  Clay 
and  his  friends,  (for  I  did  suppose  he  had  come  from  Mr.  Clay, 
although  he  used  the  terms  Mr.  Claijs  friends,)  that  before  I  would 
reach  the  presidential  chair  by  such  means  of  bargain  and  corrup- 
tion, I  would  see  the  earth  open  and  swallow  both  Mr.  Clay  and 
his  friends  and  myself  with  them.'  Now  all  these  professions  are 
very  fine,  and  display  admirable  purity.  But  its  sublimity  would 
be  somewhat  more  impressive,  if  some  person  other  than  general 
Jackson  had  proclaimed  it.  He  would  go  into  the  presidential 
chair,  but  never,  no !  never,  contrary  to  '  the  expressed  and  unbiased 
will  of  the  people,  or  their  constituted  agents:'  two  modes  of 
arriving  at  it  the  more  reasonable,  as  there  happens  to  be  no  other 
constituted  way.  He  would  see  'the  earth  open  and  swallow  both 
Mr.  Clay  and  his  friends  and  myself,'  before  he  would  reach  the 
presidential  chair  by  '  such  means  of  bargain  and  corruption.'  I 
hope  general  Jackson  did  not  intend  that  the  whole  human  race 
should  be  also  swallowed  up,  on  the  contingency  he  has  stated,  or 
that  they  were  to  guaranty  that  he  has  an  absolute  repugnance 
to  the  employment  of  any  exceplionable  means  to  secure  his 
elevation  to  the  presidency.  If  he  had  rendered  the  distinguished 
member  of  congress  a  little  more  distinguished,  by  instantly 
ordering  him  from  his  presence,  and  by  forthwith  denouncing  him 
and   the  infamous  propositions  which  he  bore,  to  the  American 


ON     THE     CHARGE     OF     CORRUPTION.  545 

public,  we  should  be  a  little  better  prepared  to  admit  the  claims  to 
untarnished  integrity,  which  the  general  so  modestly  puts  forward. 
But,  according  to  his  own  account,  a  corrupt  and  scandalous 
proposal  is  made  to  him ;  the  person  who  conveyed  it,  advises  him 
to  accept  it,  and  yet  that  person  still  retains  the  friendship  of  general 
Jackson,  who  is  so  tender  of  his  character  that  his  name  is  carefully 
concealed  and  reserved  to  be  hereafter  brought  forward  as  a 
witness !  A  man,  who,  if  he  be  a  member  of  the  house  of  repre- 
sentatives, is  doubly  infamous  —  infamous  for  the  advice  which  he 
gave,  and  infamous  for  his  willingness  to  connive  at  the  corruption 
of  the  body  of  which  he  is  a  sworn  member  —  is  the  credible 
witness  by  whom  general  Jackson  stands  ready  to  establish  the 
corruption  of  men,  whose  characters  are  never  questioned ! 

Of  all  the  properties  which  belong  to  honorable  men,  not  one  is 
so  highly  prized  as  that  of  character.  General  Jackson  cannot  be 
insensible  to  its  value,  for  he  appears  to  be  the  most  anxious  to  set 
forth  the  loftiness  and  purity  of  his  own.  How  has  he  treated 
mine  ?  During  the  dispensation  of  the  hospitalities  of  the  her- 
mitage, in  the  midst  of  a  mixed  company  of  individuals  from 
various  states,  he  permits  himself  to  make  certain  statements 
respecting  my  friends  and  me,  which,  if  true,  would  forever 
dishonor  and  degrade  us.  The  words  are  hardly  passed  from  his 
mouth,  before  they  are  committed  to  paper,  by  one  of  his  guests, 
and  transmitted  in  the  form  of  a  letter  to  another  state,  when  they 
are  published  in  a  newspaper,  and  thence  circulated  throughout  the 
union.  And  now  he  pretends  that  these  statements  were  made 
*  without  any  calculation  that  they  were  to  be  thrown  into  the  public 
journals.'  Does  he  reprove  the  indiscretion  of  this  guest  who  had 
violated  the  sanctity  of  a  conversation  at  the  hospitable  board  ? 
Far  from  it.  The  public  is  incredulous.  It  cannot  be,  general 
Jackson  would  be  so  wanting  in  delicacy  and  decorum.  The  guest 
appeals  to  him  for  the  confirmation  of  the  published  statements ; 
and  the  general  promptly  addresses  a  letter  to  him,  in  which  '  he 
unequivocally  confirms  (says  Mr.  Carter  Beverley,)  all  I  have  said 
regarding  the  overture  made  to  him  pending  the  last  presidential 
election  before  congress  ;  and  he  asserts  a  great  deal  more  than  he 
ever  told  me?  I  should  be  glad  to  know  if  all  the  versions  of  the 
tale  have  now  made  their  appearance,  and  whether  general  Jack- 
son will  allege,  that  he  did  not '  calculate'  upon  the  publication  of 
his  letter  of  the  sixth  of  June. 

The  general  states  that  the  unknown  envoy  used  the  terms,  '  Mr. 
Clay's  friends,'  to  the  exclusion,  therefore,  of  myself,  but  he  never- 
theless inferred  that  he  had  come  from  me.  Now,  why  did  he  draw 
this  inference  contrary  to  the  import  of  the  statement  which  he 
received  ?  Does  not  this  disposition  to  deduce  conclusions  unfa- 
vorable to  me,  manifest  the  spirit  which  actuates  him  ?  And  does 
not  general  Jackson  exhibit  throughout  his  letter  a  desire  to  give  a 
vol.  h  60 


546  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

coloring  to  the  statements  of  his  friend,  the  distinguished  member 
of  congress,  higher  than  they  would  justify  ?  No  one  should  ever 
resort  to  implication  but  from  necessity.  Why  did  he  not  ascertain 
from  the  envoy  if  he  had  come  from  me  ?  Was  any  thing  more 
natural  than  that  general  Jackson  should  ascertain  the  persons  who 
had  deputed  the  envoy  ?  If  his  slacked  sensibility  and  indignant 
virtue  and  patriotism  would  not  allow  him  to  inquire  into  particu- 
lars, ought  he  to  have  hazarded  the  assertion,  that  I  was  privy  to 
the  proposal,  without  assuring  himself  of  the  fact ;  could  he  not, 
after  rejecting  the  proposal,  continuing,  as  he  did,  on  friendly  terms 
with  the  organ  of  it,  have  satisfied  himself  if  I  were  conusant  of 
it  ?  If  he  had  not  time  then,  might  he  not  have  ascertained  the  fact 
from  his  friend  or  from  me,  during  the  intervening  two  and  a  half 
years?  The  compunctions  of  his  own  conscience  appear  for  a 
moment  to  have  visited  him  towards  the  conclusion  of  his  letter, 
for  he  there  does  say,  '  that  in  the  supposition  stated,  J  may  have 
done  injustice  to  Mr.  Clay  ;  if  so,  the  gentleman  informing  me  can 
explain.'  No  good  or  honorable  man  will  do  another  voluntarily 
any  injustice.  It  was  not  necessary  that  general  Jackson  should 
have  done  me  any.  And  he  cannot  acquit  himself  of  the  rashness 
and  iniquity  of  his  conduct  towards  me,  by  referring  at  this  late 
day  to  a  person  whose  name  is  withheld  from  the  public.  This 
compendious  mode  of  administering  justice,  by  first  hanging  and 
then  trying  a  man,  however  justifiable  it  may  be,  according  to  the 
precepts  of  the  Jackson  code,  is  sanctioned  by  no  respectable 
system  of  jurisprudence. 

It  is  stated  in  the  letter  of  the  sixth  of  June,  that  the  overture 
was  made  early  in  January ;  and  that  the  second  day  after  the 
communication,  it '  was  announced  in  the  newspapers,  that  Mr. 
Clay  had  come  out  openly  and  avowedly  in  favor  of  Mr.  Adams.' 
The  object  of  this  statement  is  obvious.  It  is  to  insinuate  that  the 
proposal  which  was  rejected  with  disdain  by  general  Jackson,  was 
accepted  with  promptitude  by  Mr.  Adams.  This  renders  the  fact 
as  to  the  time  of  the  alleged  annunciation  very  important.  It  is  to 
be  regretted  that  general  Jackson  had  not  been  a  little  more  precise. 
It  was  early  in  January  that  the  overture  was  made,  and  the  second 
day  after,  the  annunciation  of  my  intention  took  place.  Now,  I 
will  not  assert  that  there  may  not  have  been  some  speculations  in 
the  newspapers  about  that  time,  (although  I  do  not  believe  there 
were  any  speculations  so  early,)  as  to  the  probable  vote  which  I 
should  give ;  but  I  should  be  glad  to  see  any  newspaper  which  the 
second  day  after  early  in  January,  asserted  in  its  columns,  that  I 
had  come  out  '  openly  and  avowedly  in  favor  of  Mr.  Adams.'  I 
challenge  the  production  of  such  a  paper.  I  do  not  believe  my 
intention  so  to  vote  for  Mr.  Adams  was  announced  in  the  news- 
papers openly  and  avowedly  during  the  whole  month  of  January, 
or  at  any  rate  until  late  in  that  month.     The  only  avowal  of  my 


ON     THE     CHARGE     OF     CORRUPTION.  547 

intention  to  vote  for  him,  which  was  publicly  made  in  the  news- 
papers, prior  to  the  election,  is  contained  in  my  letter  to  Judge 
Brooke,  which  is  dated  the  twenty-eighth  of  January.  It  was  first 
published  in  the  Enquirer  at  Richmond,  some  time  in  the  ensuing 
month.  I  go  further ;  I  do  not  believe  any  newspaper  at  Wash- 
ington can  be  produced,  announcing,  before  the  latter  part  of 
January,  the  fact,  whether  upon  my  avowal  or  not,  of  my  intention 
to  vote  for  Mr.  Adams.  General  Jackson's  memory  must  deceive 
him.  He  must  have  confounded  events  and  circumstances.  His 
friend,  Mr.  George  Kremer,  in  his  letter  to  the  Columbian  Observer 
bearing  date  the  twenty-fifth  of  January,  has,  according  to  my 
recollection  of  the  public  prints,  a  claim  to  the  merit  of  being  the 
first,  or  among  the  first,  to  announce  to  the  public  my  intended 
vote.  That  letter  was  first  published  at  Philadelphia,  and  returned 
in  the  Columbian  Observer  to  Washington  city,  on  the  thirty-first 
of  January.  How  long  before  its  date  that  letter  was  written  to 
Mr.  Kremer,  does  not  appear.  Whether  there  be  any  connection 
made  by  the  distinguished  member  of  congress,  and  that  letter, 
perhaps  general  Jackson  can  explain. 

At  the  end  of  more  than  two  years  after  a  corrupt  overture  has 
been  made  to  general  Jackson,  he  now,  for  the  first  time,  openly 
proclaims  it.  It  is  true,  as  I  have  ascertained  since  the  publica- 
tion of  Mr.  Beverley's  Fayetteville  letter,  the  general  has  been  for 
a  long  time  secretly  circulating  the  charge.  Immediately  on  the 
appearance  at  Washington  of  that  letter  in  the  public  prints,  the 
editor  of  the  Telegraph  asserted,  in  his  paper,  that  general  Jackson 
had  communicated  the  overture  to  him  about  the  period  of  the 
election,  not  as  he  now  states,  but  according  to  Mr.  Beverley's 
version  of  the  tale.  Since  I  left  Washington  on  the  tenth  of  last 
month,  I  have  understood  that  general  Jackson  has  made  a  similar 
communication  to  several  other  persons  at  different  and  distant 
points.  Why  has  the  overture  been  thus  clandestinely  circulated  ? 
Was  it  that  through  the  medium  of  the  Telegraph,  the  leading 
paper  supporting  the  interest  of  general  Jackson,  and  through  his 
other  depositories,  the  belief  of  the  charge  should  be  duly  and 
gradually  infused  into  the  public  mind,  and  thus  contribute  to  the 
support  of  his  cause  ?  The  zeal  and  industry  with  which  it  has 
been  propagated,  the  daily  columns  of  certain  newspapers  can 
testily.  Finding  the  public  still  unconvinced,  has  the  general  found 
it  to  be  necessary  to  come  out  in  proper  person,  through  the  thin 
veil  of  Mr.  Carter  Beverley's  agency  ? 

WThen  the  alleged  overture  was  made,  the  election  remained 
undecided.  Why  did  not  general  Jackson  then  hold  up  to  univer- 
sal scorn  and  indignation  the  infamous  bearer  of  the  proposal,  and 
those  who  dared  to  insult  his  honor,  and  tamper  with  his  integrity  ? 
If  he  had  at  that  time  denounced  all  the  infamous  parties  concerned, 
demanded  an  inquiry  in  the  house  of  representatives,  and  estab- 


548  SPEECHES      OF      HENRY      CLAY. 

lished  by  satisfactory  proof  the  truth  of  his  accusation,  there  might 
and  probably  would  have  been  a  different  result  to  the  election. 
Why,  when  at  my  instance,  a  committee  was  on  the  fifth  day  of 
February,  1825,  (only  four  days  before  the  election,)  appointed  to 
investigate  the  charges  of  Mr.  Kremer,  did  not  general  Jackson 
present  himself  and  establish  their  truth  ?  Why,  on  the  seventh  of 
that  month,  two  days  before  the  election,  when  the  committee 
reported  that  Mr.  Kremer  declined  to  come  forward,  and  that '  if 
they  knev)  of  any  reason  for  such  investigation,  they  would  have 
asked  to  be  clothed  with  the  proper  power,  but  not  having  them- 
selves any  such  knowledge,  they  have  felt  it  to  be  their  duty  only 
to  lay  before  the  house  the  communication  which  they  have 
received;'  why  did  not  general  Jackson  authorize  a  motion  to 
recommit  the  report,  and  manfully  come  forward  with  all  his 
information  ?  The  congress  of  the  nation  is  in  session.  An 
important  election  has  devolved  on  it.  All  eyes  are  turned  towards 
Washington.  The  result  is  awaited  with  intense  anxiety  and 
breathless  expectation.  A  corrupt  proposition,  affecting  the  elec- 
tion, is  made  to  one  of  the  candidates.  He  receives  it,  is  advised 
to  accept  it,  deliberates,  decides  upon  it.  A  committee  is  in  session 
to  investigate  the  very  charge.  The  candidate,  notwithstanding, 
remains  profoundly  silent,  and,  after  the  lapse  of  more  than  two 
years,  when  the  period  of  another  election  is  rapidly  approaching, 
in  which  he  is  the  only  competitor  for  the  office,  for  the  first  time, 
announces  it  to  the  American  republic !  They  must  have  more 
than  an  ordinary  share  of  credulity  who  do  not  believe  that  general 
Jackson  labors  under  some  extraordinary  delusion. 

It  is  possible  that  he  may  urge  by  way  of  excuse,  for  what  must 
be  deemed  his  culpable  concealment  of  meditated  corruption,  that 
he  did  not  like  to  volunteer  as  a  witness  before  the  committee,  or 
to  transmit  to  it  the  name  of  his  friend,  the  distinguished  member 
of  the  house  of  representatives,  although  it  is  not  very  easy  to 
discern  any  just  reason  for  his  volunteering  now,  which  would  not 
have  applied  with  more  force  at  that  time.  But  what  apology  can 
be  made  for  his  failure  to  discharge  his  sacred  duty  as  an  American 
senator?  More  than  two  months  after  the  alleged  overture,  my 
nomination  to  the  office  which  I  now  hold,  was  made  to  the  senate 
of  the  United  States,  of  which  general  Jackson  was  then  a  sworn 
member.  On  that  nomination  he  had  to  deliberate  and  to  act  in 
the  most  solemn  manner.  If  I  were  privy  to  a  corrupt  proposal  to 
general  Jackson,  touching  the  recent  election  ;  if  I  had  entered  into 
a  corrupt  bargain  with  Mr.  Adams  to  secure  his  elevation,  I  was 
unworthy  of  the  office  to  which  I  was  nominated;  and  it  was  the 
duty  of  general  Jackson,  if  he  really  possessed  the  information 
which  he  now  puts  forward,  to  have  moved  the  senate  to  appoint 
a  committee  of  inquiry,  and  by  establishing  my  guilt,  to  have  pre- 
served the  national  councils  from  an  abominable  contamination. 


ON     THE     CHARGE     OF     CORRUPTION.  549 

As  the  conspiracy  of  George  Kremer  &  Co.  had  a  short  time 
before  meanly  shrunk  from  appearing  before  the  committee  of  the 
house  of  representatives,  to  make  good  their  charges,  I  requested 
a  senator  of  the  United  States,  when  my  nomination  should  be 
taken  up,  to  ask  of  the  senate  the  appointment  of  a  commitlee  of 
inquiry,  unless  it  should  appear  to  him  to  be  altogether  unneces- 
sary. One  of  our  senators  was  compelled,  by  the  urgency  of  his 
private  business,  to  leave  Washington  before  my  nomination  was 
disposed  of;  and  as  1  had  but  little  confidence  in  the  fidelity  and 
professed  friendship  of  the  other,  I  was  constrained  to  present  my 
application  to  a  senator  from  another  state.  I  was  afterwards 
informed  that  when  it  was  acted  upon,  general  Jackson,  and  every 
other  senator  present,  was  silent  as  to  the  imputation  now  made; 
no  one  presuming  to  question  my  honor  or  integrity.  How  can 
general  Jackson  justify  to  his  conscience  or  to  his  country,  this 
palpable  breach  of  his  public  duty  ?  It  is  in  vain  to  say  that  he 
gave  a  silent  negative  vote.  He  was  in  possession  of  information 
which,  if  true,  must  have  occasioned  the  rejection  of  my  nomina- 
tion. It  does  not  appear  that  any  other  senator  possessed  the 
same  information.  Investigation  was  alike  due  to  the  purity  of 
the  national  councils,  to  me,  and,  as  an  act^  of  strict  justice,  to  all 
the  other  parties  implicated.  It  is  impossible  for  him  to  escape 
from  the  dilemma  that  he  has  been  faithless  as  a  senator  of  the 
United  States,  or  has  lent  himself  to  the  circulation  of  an  atrocious 
calumny. 

After  the  election,  general  Jackson  was  among  the  first  who 
eagerly  pressed  his  congratulations  upon  his  successful  rival.  If 
Mr.  Adams  had  been  guilty  of  the  employment  of  impure  means 
to  effect  his  election,  general  Jackson  ought  to  have  disdained  to 
sully  his  own  hands  by  touching  those  of  his  corrupt  competitor. 

On  the  tenth  of  February,  1825,  the  very  next  day  after  the 
election,  general  Jackson  was  invited  to  a  public  dinner  at  Wash- 
ington, by  some  of  his  friends.  He  expressed  to  them  his  wish 
that  he  might  be  excused  from  accepting  the  invitation,  because, 
alluding  to  the  recent  election,  he  said,  'any  evidence  of  kindness 
and  regard,  such  as  you  propose,  might,  by  many,  be  viewed  as 
conveying  with  it  exception,  murmurings,  and  feelings  of  com- 
plaint, which  I  sincerely  hope  belong  to  none  of  my  friends.' 
More  than  one  month  after  the  corrupt  proposal  is  pretended  to 
have  been  received,  and  after,  according  to  the  insinuation  of 
general  Jackson,  a  corrupt  arrangement  had  been  made  between 
Mr.  Adams  and  me :  after  the  actual  termination  of  an  election, 
the  issue  of  which  was  brought  about,  according  to  general  Jack- 
son, by  the  basest  means,  he  was  unwilling  to  accept  the  honors 
of  a  public  dinner,  lest  it  should  imply  even  an  exception  against 
the  result  of  the  election. 

General  Jackson  professes  in  his  letter  of  the  sixth  of  June  —  I 


550  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

quote  again  his  words — 'to  have  always  intended,  should  Mr.  Clay 
come  out  over  his  own  signature,  and  deny  having  any  knowledge 
of  the  communication  made  by  his  friends  to  my  friends,  and  to 
me,  that  I  would  give  him  the  name  of  the  gentleman  through 
whom  that  communication  came.'  He  pretends  never  to  have 
seen  the  Fayetteville  letter;  and  yet  the  pretext  of  a  denial  under 
my  signature  is  precisely  that  which  had  been  urged  by  the  princi- 
pal editors  who  sustain  his  cause.  H  this  be  an  unconeerted,  it  is 
nevertheless  a  most  wonderful  coincidence.  The  general  never 
communicated  to  me  his  professed  intention,  but  left  me  in  entire 
ignorance  of  his  generous  purpose ;  like  the  overture  itself,  it  was 
profoundly  concealed  from  me.  There  was  an  authorized  denial 
from  me,  which  went  to  the  circle  of  the  public  prints,  immedi- 
ately after  the  arrival  at  Washington  of  the  Fayetteville  letter.  In 
that  denial  my  words  are  given.  They  were  contained  in  a  letter 
dated  at  Washington  city  on  the  eighteenth  day  of  April  last,  and 
are  correctly  stated  to  have  been  '  that  the  statement  that  his  (my) 
friends  had  made  such  a  proposition  as  the  latter  describes  to  the 
friends  of  general  Jackson  was,  as  far  as  he  knew  or  believed, 
utterly  destitute  of  foundation;  that  he  was  unwilling  to  believe 
that  general  Jackson  fyad  made  any  such  statement;  but  that  no 
matter  with  whom  it  had  originated,  he  was  fully  persuaded  it  was 
a  gross  fabrication  of  the  same  calumnious  character  with  the 
Kremer  story,  put  forth  for  the  double  purpose  of  injuring  his 
public  character,  and  propping  the  cause  of  general  Jackson  ;  and 
then  for  himself  and  for  his  friends  he  defied  the  substantiation  of 
the  charge  before  any  fair  tribunal  whatever.'  Such  were  my  own 
words,  transmitted  in  the  form  of  a  letter  from  a  friend  to  a  knoicn 
person.  Whereas  the  charge  which  they  repelled  was  contained 
in  a  letter  written  by  a  person  then  unknown  to  some  person  also 
unknown.  Did  I  not  deny  the  charge  under  my  own  signature, 
in  my  card  of  the  thirty-first  of  January,  1825,  published  in  the 
National  Intelligencer?  Was  not  there  a  substantial  denial  of  it 
in  my  letter  to  Judge  Brooke,  dated  the  twenty-eighth  of  the  same 
month?  In  my  circular  to  my  constituents?  In  my  Lewisburg 
speech  ?  And  may  I  not  add,  in  the  whole  tenor  of  my  public 
life  and  conduct  ?  If  general  Jackson  had  offered  to  furnish  me 
the  name  of  a  member  of  congress,  who  was  capable  of  advising 
his  acceptance  of  a  base  and  corrupt  proposition,  ought  I  to  have 
resorted  to  his  infamous  and  discredited  witness? 

It  has  been  a  thousand  times  asserted  and  repeated,  that  I  viola- 
ted instructions  which  I  ought  to  have  obeyed.  I  deny  the  charge  ; 
and  I  am  happy  to  have  this  opportunity  of  denying  it  in  the 
presence  of  my  assembled  constituents.  The  general  assembly 
requested  the  Kentucky  delegation  to  vote  in  a  particular  way.  A 
majority  of  that  delegation,  including  myself,  voted  in  opposition 
to  that  request.     The  legislature  did  not  intend  to  give  an  impera- 


ON     THE     CHARGE     OF     CORRUPTION.  551 

live  instruction.  The  distinction  between  a  request  and  an  instruc- 
tion was  familiar  to  the  legislature,  and  their  rolls  attest  that  the 
former  is  always  addressed  to  the  members  of  the  house  of  repre- 
sentatives, and  the  latter  only  to  the  senators  of  the  United   States. 

But  I  do  not  rely  exclusively  on  this  recognised  distinction.  I 
dispute  at  once  the  right  of  the  legislature  to  issue  a  mandatory 
instruction  to  the  representatives  of  the  people.  Such  a  right  has 
no  foundation  in  the  constitution,  in  the  reason  or  nature  of  things, 
nor  in  usage  of  the  Kentucky  legislature.  Its  exercise  would  be  a 
manifest  usurpation.  The  general  assembly  has  the  incontroverti- 
ble right  to  express  its  opinions  and  to  proclaim  its  wishes  on  any 
political  subject  whatever;  and  to  such  an  expression  great  defer- 
ence and  respect  are  due ;  but  it  is  not  obligatory.  The  people, 
when,  in  August,  1824,  they  elected  members  to  the  general 
assembly,  did  not  invest  them  with  any  power  to  regulate  or  control 
the  exercise  of  the  discretion  of  the  Kentucky  delegation  in  the 
congress  of  the  United  States.  I  put  it  to  the  candor  of  every 
elector  present,  if  he  intended  to  part  with  his  own  right,  or  antici- 
pated the  exertion  of  any  such  power,  by  the  legislature,  when  he 
gave  his  vote  in  August,  1824? 

The  only  instruction  which  I  received  from  a  legitimate  source, 
emanated  from  a  respectable  portion  of  my  immediate  constituents; 
and  that  directed  me  to  exercise  my  own  discretion,  regardless  of 
the  will  of  the  legislature.  You  subsequently  ratified  my  vote  by 
unequivocal  demonstrations,  repeatedly  given,  of  your  affectionate 
attachment  and  your  unshaken  confidence.  You  ratified  it  two 
years  ago,  by  the  election  of  my  personal  and  political  friend, 
(judge  Clarke)  to  succeed  me  in  the  house  of  representatives,  who 
had  himself  subscribed  the  only  legitimate  instruction  which  I 
received.  You  ratify  it  by  the  presence  and  the  approbation,  of 
this  vast  and  respectable  assemblage. 

I  rejoice  again  and  again,  that  the  contest  has  at  last  assumed 
its  present  practical  form.  Heretofore,  malignant  whispers  and 
dark  surmises  have  been  clandestinely  circulated,  or  openly  or 
unblushingly  uttered  by  irresponsible  agents.  They  were  borne 
upon  the  winds,  and  like  them  were  invisible  and  intangible.  No 
responsible  man  stood  forward  to  sustain  them,  with  his  acknowl- 
edged authority.  They  have  at  last  a  local  habitation  and  a  name. 
General  Jackson  has  now  thrown  off  the  mask  and  comes  confes- 
sedly forth  from  behind  his  concealed  batteries,  publicly  to  accuse 
and  convict  me.  We  stand  confronted  before  the  American 
people.  Pronouncing  the  charges,  as  I  again  do,  destitute  of  all 
foundation,  and  gross  aspersions,  whether  clandestinely  or  openly 
issued  from  the  halls  of  the  capitol,  the  saloons  of  the  hermitage, 
or  by  press,  by  pen,  or  by  tongue,  and  safely  resting  on  my 
conscious  integrity,  I  demanded  the  witness,  and  await  the  event 
with  fearless  confidence. 


552  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

The  issue  is  fairly  joined.  The  imputed  offence  does  not  com- 
prehend a  single  friend,  but  the  collective  body  of  my  friends  in 
congress;  and  it  accuses  them  of  ottering,  and  me  with  sanction- 
ing, corrupt  propositions,  derogating  from  honor,  and  in  violation 
of  the  most  sacred  of  duties.  The  charge  has  been  made  after 
two  years  deliberation.  General  Jackson  has  voluntarily  taken  his 
position,  and  without  provocation.  In  voting  against  him  as 
president  of  the  United  States,  I  gave  him  no  just  cause  of  offence. 
1  exercised  no  more  than  my  indisputable  privilege,  as,  on  a 
subsequent  occasion,  of  which  I  have  never  complained,  he  exer- 
cised his  in  voting  against  me  as  secretary  of  state.  Had  I  voted 
for  him,  I  must  have  gone  counter  to  every  fixed  principle  of  my 
public  life.  I  believed  him  incompetent,  and  his  election  fraught 
with  danger.  At  this  early  period  of  the  republic,  keeping  steadily 
in  view  the  dangers  which  had  overturned  .every  other  free  state,  I 
believed  it  to  be  essential  to  the  lasting  preservation  of  our  liberties, 
that  a  man,  devoid  of  civil  talenls,  and  offering  no  recommendation 
but  one  founded  on  military  service,  should  not  be  selected  to 
administer  the  government.  I  believe  so  yet;  and  I  shall  consider 
the  days  of  the  commonwealth  numbered,  when  an  opposite 
principle  is  established.  I  believed,  and  still  believe,  that  now, 
when  our  institutions  are  in  comparative  infancy,  is  the  time  to 
establish  the  great  principle,  that  military  qualification  alone  is  not 
a  sufficient  title  to  the  presidency.  If  we  start  right,  wc  may  run 
a  long  race  of  liberty,  happiness,  and  glory.  If  we  stumble  in 
setting  out,  we  shall  fall  as  others  have  fallen  before  us,  and  fall 
without  even  a  claim  to  the  regrets  or  sympathies  of  mankind. 

I  have  never  done  general  Jackson,  knowingly,  any  injustice.  I 
have  taken  pleasure,  on  every  proper  occasion,  to  bestow  on  him 
merited  praise,  for  the  glorious  issue  of  the  battle  of  New  Orleans. 
No  American  citizen  enjoyed  higher  satisfaction  than  I  did  with 
the  event.  I  heard  it  for  the  first  time  on  the  boulevards  of  Paris  ; 
and  I  eagerly  perused  the  details  of  the  actions,  with  the  anxious 
hope  that  I  should  find  that  the  gallant  militia  of  my  own  state 
had  avenged,  on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi,  the  blood  which 
they  had  so  freely  spilt  on  the  disastrous  field  of  Raisin.  That 
hope  was  not  then  gratified;  and  although  I  had  the  mortification 
to  read  in  the  official  statement,  that  they  ingloriously  fied,  I  was 
nevertheless  thankful  for  the  success  of  the  arms  of  my  country, 
and  felt  grateful  to  him  who  had  most  contributed  to  the  ever 
memorable  victory.  This  concession  is  not  now  made  for  the 
purpose  of  conciliating  the  favor  or  mitigating  the  wrath  of  general 
Jackson.  He  has  erected  an  impassable  barrier  between  us,  and  1 
would  scorn  to  accept  any  favor  at  his  hands.  I  thank  my  God 
that  He  has  endowed  me  with  a  soul  incapable  of  apprehensions 
from  the  anger  of  any  being  but  himself. 


ON     THE     CHARGE     OF     CORRUPTION.  553 

I  have,  as  your  representative,  freely  examined,  and,  in  my  delib- 
erate judgment,  justly  condemned  the  conduct  of  general  Jackson 
in  some  of  our  Indian  wars.  I  believed  and  yet  believe  him  to 
have  trampled  upon  the  constitution  of  his  country,  and  to  have 
violated  the  principles  of  humanity.  Entertaining  these  opinions, 
1  did  not  and  could  not  vote  for  him. 

I  owe  you,  my  friends  and  fellow-citizens,  many  apologies  for 
this  long  interruption  of  the  festivities  of  the  day.  I  hope  that  my 
desire  to  vindicate  their  honored  object,  and  to  satisfy  you  that  he 
is  not  altogether  unworthy  of  them,  will  be  deemed  sufficient. 


vol.  i.  70 


ON  THE  POLITICAL  CONDITION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 
DURING  J.  Q.  ADAMS'S  ADMINISTRATION. 

DELIVERED  AT  CINCINNATI,  AUGUST  23,  1828. 


[On  Friday,  (twenty-second  August,)  Mr.  Clay  arrived  in  Cincinnati.  During  the 
day  he  was  visited  by  a  large  number  of  the  citizens.  On  Saturday,  at  two  o'clock, 
he  met  his  fellow-citizens  at  Mr.  Ruffner's,  where  a  collation  was  prepared.  A  vast 
concourse  of  persons  were  present.  The  general  impression  was,  that  the  number 
exceeded  five  thousand.  Mr.  Clay  was  introduced  to  the  company  by  a  short  address 
from  the  chairman  of  the  .administration  committee,  S.  W.  Davies,  Esq.,  to  which  he 
replied  in  the  following  words.] 


Mr.  Chairman, 

Although  it  is  not  entirely  compatible  with  the  precautions 
which  are  enjoined  by  the  delicate  state  of  my  health,  to  which 
you  have  so  obligingly  alluded,  to  present  myself  in  this  attitude, 
I  cannot  refrain  from  making  a  public  expression  to  you,  and  to 
my  fellow-citizens  here  assembled,  of  my  profound  acknowledg- 
ments for  the  hearty  welcome  and  the  cordial,  spontaneous,  and 
enthusiastic  manifestation  of  respect  and  attachment  with  which 
my  present  visit  to  your  city  has  been  attended.  It  has  been 
frequently,  but  not  less  truly  said,  that  the  highest  reward  for 
public  service,  is  the  approbation  of  the  public.  The  support  of 
public  opinion  is  the  greatest  incentive  to  the  faithful  and  beneficial 
discharge  of  official  duty.  If,  as  you  have  truly  suggested,  it  has 
been  my  misfortune  for  several  years,  to  have  been  abused  and 
assailed  without  example,  I  have  nevertheless  had  the  satisfaction 
to  have  been  cheered  and  sustained,  in  all  parts  of  the  union,  by 
some  of  the  best  and  most  virtuous  men  in  it.  And  I  seize  with 
pleasure  this  occasion  to  say,  that,  even  among  my  political  oppo- 
nents, many  of  the  most  moderate  and  intelligent  have  done  me 
the  justice  to  discredit  and  discountenance  the  calumnies  of  which 
I  have  been  the  object.  But  nowhere  have  I  found  more  constant, 
ardent,  and  effective  friends  than  in  this  city.  I  thank  them  most 
heartily  for  all  their  friendly  sentiments  and  exertions. 

Whatever  may  be  the  issue  of  the  contest  which  at  present 
unhappily  divides  and  distracts  our  country,  I  trust  that  the  bene- 
ficial system,  to  which  you  have  referred,  will  survive  the  struggle, 


ADMINISTRATION     OF     J.    Q, .    ADAMS.  555 

and  continue  to  engage  the  affections,  and  to  cheer  and  animate 
the  industry  of  the  people  of  the  United  States.  It  has  indeed 
been  recently  attacked  in  another  quarter  of  the  union,  by  some  of 
our  fellow-citizens,  with  a  harshness  and  intemperance  which 
mast  every  where  excite  the  patriot's  regret.  It  has  been  denounced 
as  if  it  were  a  new  system,  that  sprung  into  existence  but  yesterday, 
or  at  least  with  the  present  administration,  if  not  during  the  last 
session  of  congress.  But  it  owes  its  origin  to  a  much  earlier  date. 
The  present  administration,  though  sincerely  attached  to  it,  and 
most  anxious  for  its  preservation,  has  not  the  merit  of  having  first 
proposed  or  first  established  it.  The  manufacturing  system  was 
quickened  into  existence  by  the  commercial  restrictions  which 
preceded  the  late  war  with  Great  Britain,  and  by  that  greatest  of 
them  all,  the  war  itself.  Our  wants,  no  longer  supplied  from 
abroad,  must  have  been  supplied  at  home,  or  we  must  have  been 
deprived  of  the  necessaries  and  comforts  of  civilization,  if  we  had 
not  relapsed  into  a  state  of  barbarism.  The  policy  of  Jefferson  and 
Madison  fostered,  if  it  did  not  create,  the  manufactures  of  our 
country.  The  peace  brought  with  it  a  glut  of  foreign  fabrics,  which 
would  have  prostrated  our  establishments,  if  government  had  been 
capable  of  unjustly  witnessing  such  a  spectacle,  without  interposing 
its  protective  power.  Protection,  therefore,  was  not  merely  called 
for  by  the  substantial  independence  of  our  country,  but  it  was  a 
parental  duty  of  government  to  those  citizens  who  had  been  tempted 
by  its  restrictive  policy  to  embark  all  their  hopes  and  fortunes  in 
the  business  of  manufacturing.  Twelve  years  ago  congress  took 
up  the  subject,  and  after  long  and  mature  deliberation,  solemnly 
decided  to  extend  that  measure  of  protection  which  was  alike 
demanded  by  sound  policy  and  strict  justice.  Then  the  founda- 
tions were  laid  of  the  American  system  ;  and  all  that  has  been 
subsequently  done,  including  the  act  of  the  last  session  of  congress, 
are  but  the  consequences  of  the  policy  then  deliberately  adopted, 
having  for  their  object  the  improvement  and  perfection  of  the  great 
work  then  begun.  It  is  not  the  least  remarkable  of  the  circum- 
stances of  these  strange  times,  that  some  who  assisted  in  the 
commencement,  who  laid  corner-stones  of  the  edifice,  are  now 
ready  to  pull  down  and  demolish  it. 

It  is  not  the  fact  of  the  existence  of  an  opposition  to  the  tariff, 
that  can  occasion  any  inquietude;  nor  that  of  large  and  respectable 
assemblies  of  the  people,  to  express  their  disapprobation  of  the 
policy,  and  their  firm  resolution  to  consume  only  the  produce  of 
their  own  industry.  These  meetings  are  in  the  true  spirit  of  our 
free  institutions,  and  that  resolution  is  in  the  true  spirit  of  the 
American  system  itself.  But  what  must  excite  deep  regret  is,  that 
any  persons  should  allow  themselves  to  speak  of  open  and  forcible 
resistance  to  the  government  of  their  country,  and  to  threaten  a 
dissolution  of  the  union.     What  is  the  state  of  the  case  ?     A  great 


556  SPEECHES    OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

measure  of  national  policy  is  proposed  ;  it  is  a  subject  of  discussion 
for  a  period  of  twelve  years,  in  the  public  prints,  in  popular  assem- 
blies, in  political  circles,  and  in  the  congress  of  the  United  States. 
That  body,  after  hearing  the  wishes  and  wants  of  all  parts  of  the 
union,  fairly  stated  by  their  respective  representatives,  decides  by 
repeated  majorities,  to  adopt  the  measure.  It  is  accordingly  put 
into  successful  operation,  improved  from  time  to  time,  and  is 
rapidly  fulfilling  all  the  hopes  and  expectations  of  its  friends.  In 
this  encouraging  condition  of  things,  a  small  number  of  the  citizens 
composing  the  minority,  (for  I  will  not  impute  to  the  great  body 
of  the  minority  any  such  violent  purposes,)  threaten  the  employ- 
ment of  force,  and  the  dissolution  of  the  union!  Can  any  principle 
be  more  subversive  of  all  government,  or  of  a  tendency  more 
exceptionable  and  alarming.  It  amounts  to  this,  that  whenever 
any  portion  of  the  community  finds  itself  in  a  minority,  in  reference 
to  any  important  act  of  the  government,  and  by  high  coloring  and 
pictures  of  imaginary  distress,  can  persuade  itself  that  the  measure 
is  oppressive,  that  minority  may  appeal  to  arms,  and  if  it  can, 
dissolve  the  union.  Such  a  principle  would  reverse  the  estab- 
lished maxim  of  representative  government,  according  to  which, 
the  will  of  the  majority  must  prevail.  If  it  were  possible  that  the 
minority  could  govern  and  control,  the  union  may  indeed  as  well 
be  dissolved ;  for  it  would  not  then  be  worth  preserving.  The 
conduct  of  an  individual  would  not  be  more  unwise  and  suicidal, 
who,  because  of  some  trifling  disease  afflicting  his  person,  should, 
in  a  feverish  and  fretful  moment,  resolve  to  terminate  his  existence. 

Nothing  can  be  more  unfair  and  ridiculous,  than  to  compare  any 
of  the  acts  of  the  congress  of  the  United  States,  representing  all, 
and  acting  for  all,  to  any  of  the  acts  of  the  British  parliament,  which 
led  to  our  revolution.  The  principle  on  which  the  colonies  seceded 
was,  that  there  should  be  no  taxation  without  representation.  They 
were  not  represented  in  the  British  parliament,  and  to  have  submitted 
to  taxation,  would  have  been  to  have  submitted  to  slavery,  and  to 
have  surrendered  the  most  valuable  privileges  of  freemen.  If  the 
colonies  had  been  fairly  represented  in  the  British  parliament,  and 
equal  taxes,  alike  applicable  to  all  parts  of  the  British  empire,  had 
been  imposed  by  a  majority,  a  case  of  remote  analogy  to  any  act 
of  congress  to  which  a  minority  is  opposed,  might  be  deduced  from 
the  history  of  the  revolution.  But  every  state  of  this  confederacy 
is  fairly  represented,  and  has  the  faculty  of  being  fully  heard  in  the 
congress  of  the  United  States.  The  representation  has  been  regu- 
lated by  a  joint  principle  of  distribution,  the  result  of  a  wise  spirit 
of  mulvnl  compromise  and  concession,  which  I  hope  never  to  see 
disturbed,  of  which  none  can  justly  complain,  and  least  of  all,  those 
citizens  who  have  resorted  to  threats  of  an  appeal  to  arms  and 
disunion. 

But  there  is,  I  hope  and  believe,  no  reason  to  apprehend  the 


ADMINISTRATION     OF     J.    Q .    ADAMS.  557 

execution  of  those  empty  threats.  The  good  sense,  the  patriotism, 
and  the  high  character  of  the  people  of  South  Carolina,  are  sure 
guarantees  for  repressing,  without  aid,  any  disorders,  should  any  be 
attempted  within  her  limits.  The  spirit  of  Marion,  and  Pickens, 
and  Sumpter,  of  the  Rutledges,  the  Pinckneys,  and  of  Lowndes, 
yet  survives,  and  animates  the  high-minded  Carolinians.  The 
Taylors,  and  the  Williamses,  and  their  compatriots  of  the  present 
day,  will  be  able  to  render  a  just  account  of  all,  if  there  be  any  who 
shall  dare  to  raise  their  parricidal  hands  against  the  peace,  the 
constitution,  and  the  union  of  the  states.  Rebuked  by  public 
opinion  —  a  sufficient  corrective  —  and  condemned  by  their  own 
sober  reflections,  the  treasonable  purpose  will  be  relinquished,  if  it 
were  ever  seriously  contemplated  by  any. 

I  have  no  fears  for  the  permanency  of  our  union,  whilst  our 
liberties  are  preserved.  It  is  a  tough  and  strong  cord,  as  all  will 
find  who  shall  presumptuously  attempt  to  break  it.  It  has  been 
competent  to  suppress  all  the  domestic  insurrections,  and  to  carry 
us  safely  through  all  the  foreign  wars  with  which  we  have  been 
afflicted  since  it  was  formed,  and  it  has  come  out  of  each  with 
more  strength,  and  greater  promise  of  durability.  It  is  the  choicest 
political  blessing  which,  as  a  people,  we  enjoy,  and  I  trust  and 
hope  that  Providence  will  permit  us  to  transmit  it,  unimpaired,  to 
posterity,  through  endless  generations. 

I  thank  you,  Mr.  Chairman,  for  the  flattering  opinion  which  you 
have  expressed  of  my  public  services,  and  especially  of  those  which 
1  have  endeavored  to  render  to  the  west.  Whilst  I  am  sensible 
that  you  appreciate  them  much  too  highly,  it  is  at  the  same  time 
true,  that  I  have  sought,  on  all  occasions  that  appeared  to  me 
proper,  to  advance  the  interests  of  that  section,  of  which  I  am 
proud  to  be  a  citizen,  whenever  I  have  thought  it  could  be  done 
without  prejudice  to  the  predominant  interests  of  the  whole.  I 
have,  nevertheless,  in  several  important  instances,  given  my  most 
zealous  support  to  measures,  (the  navy,  and  the  late  war,  for 
example,)  in  which  the  west  could  not  be  regarded  as  having  any 
distinct  or  other  interest,  than  that  which  belongs  to  the  honor,  the 
prosperity,  and  the  character,  of  the  whole  confederacy.  During 
the  short  period  of  the  present  administration,  I  hope  I  may  be 
permitted  to  say,  without  meaning  to  claim  for  it  exclusive  merit, 
that  more  has  been  done  and  recommended  for  the  west,  than  ever 
was  done  during  the  whole  preceding  period  of  our  present  con- 
stitution, with  the  exception  only  of  the  acquisition  of  Louisiana, 
under  the  administration  of  Mr.  Jefferson.  I  have  not  strength  or 
time  to  enter  into  details  to  establish  the  general  proposition  ;  but 
those  who  will  take  the  trouble  to  examine  the  appropriations  of 
land  and  of  money,  for  objects  of  internal  improvement  and  edu- 
cation, the  measures  which  have  been  adopted  or  recommended, 
in  respect  to  the  public  domain,  the  judiciary;  and  s6  forth',  will 
find  that  proposition  fully  sustained; 


558  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

There  are  here  many  who,  by  a  too  flattering  estimate  of  my 
capacity,  decided  me  worthy  of  the  office  of  chief  magistrate,  and, 
during  the  last  presidential  canvass,  honored  me  with  their  support. 
To  them  I  take  this  occasion  to  say,  that,  if  instead  of  the  present 
abused  chief  magistrate,  they  had  obtained  the  preference,  the 
measures  of  the  administration  would  not  have  been,  in  any 
essential  particular,  different  from  those  which  have  been  adopted. 
All  the  principal  acts  and  measures  of  the  existing  administration, 
have  met  with  my  humble  and  hearty  concurrence. 

Cultivating  a  farm  in  Kentucky,  and  having  other  objects  of 
private  concern,  I  have  found  it  necessary,  both  on  that  account, 
and  the  relaxation  from  official  business,  indispensable  to  the 
preservation  of  health,  annually  to  visit  this  quarter  of  the  union, 
during  the  period  of  my  connection  with  the  executive  of  the 
United  States.  In  these  visits,  I  have  frequently  met  large  portions 
of  my  fellow-citizens,  upon  their  friendly  and  pressing  invitations. 
My  object  has  been  called  in  question,  and  my  motives  assailed. 
It  has  been  said,  that  my  purpose  was  electioneering.  If  it  be 
intended  to  charge  me  with  employing  improper  or  dishonorable 
acts,  to  secure  my  election,  I  deny  the  charge,  and  disclaim  the 
purpose.  I  defy  my  most  malignant  enemies  to  show  that  I  ever, 
during  any  period  of  my  life,  resorted  to  such  acts  to  promote  my 
own  election,  or  that  of  any  other  person.  I  have  availed  myself 
of  these  assemblies,  and  of  other  opportunities,  to  defend  myself 
against  an  accusation,  publicly  made,  and  a  thousand  times 
repeated.  I  had  a  right  to  do  this  by  the  immutable  laws  of  self- 
defence.  My  addresses  to  the  public,  heretofore,  have  been  gen- 
erally strictly  defensive.  If  they  have  ever  given  pain  to  any  of 
my  adversaries,  they  must  reproach  themselves  with  its  infliction. 
There  is  one  way,  and  but  one  way,  in  which  they  can  silence 
me.  My  traducers  have  attributed  to  me  great  facility  in  making 
a  bargain.  Whether  I  possess  it  or  not,  there  is  one  bargain 
which,  for  their  accommodation,  I  am  willing  to  enter  into  with 
them.  If  they  will  prevail  upon  their  chief  to  acknowledge  that 
he  has  been  in  error,  and  has  done  me  injustice,  and  if  they  will 
cease  to  traduce  and  abuse  me,  I  will  no  longer  present  myself 
before  public  assemblies,  or  in  public  prints,  in  my  own  defence. 
That  is  one  bargain  which  I  have  no  expectation  of  being  able  to 
conclude  ;  for  men  who  are  in  a  long-established  line  of  business, 
will  not  voluntarily  quit  their  accustomed  trade,  and  acknowledge 
themselves  bankrupts  to  honor,  decency,  and  truth. 

Some  who  have  persuaded  themselves  that  they  saw  in  my 
occasional  addresses  to  the  people,  incompatibility  with  the  dignity 
and  reserve  belonging  to  the  office  I  hold,  I  know  not  according 
to  what  standard,  (it  can  hardly  be  any  deduced  from  a  popular 
representative  government,)  these  gentlemen  have  regulated  their 
opinions.     True  dignity  appears  to  me  to  be  independent  of  office 


ADMINISTRATION     OF     J.     Q.     ADAMS.  559 

or  station.  It  belongs  to  every  condition  ;  but  if  there  be  a  differ- 
ence between  private  and  public  life,  the  more  exalted  the  station, 
the  greater  is  the  obligation  of  the  public  functionary,  in  my 
humble  judgment,  to  render  himself  amiable,  affable,  and  accessible. 
The  public  officer  who  displays  a  natural  solicitude  to  defend 
himself  against  a  charge  deeply  affecting  his  honor  and  his  char- 
acter, manifests,  at  the  same  time,  a  just  respect  for  the  community. 
It  is,  I  think,  an  erroneous  judgment  of  the  nature  of  office,  and  its 
relations,  to  suppose  that  it  imposes  the  duty  on  the  officer,  of 
abstracting  himself  from  society,  and  a  stiff  and  stately  port. 
Without,  I  hope,  forgetting  what  was  due  to  myself,  my  habit, 
throughout  life,  has  been  that  of  friendly,  free,  and  frank  intercourse 
with  my  fellow-citizens.  I  have  not  thought  it  necessary  to  change 
my  personal  identity  in  any  of  the  various  offices  through  which  I 
have  passed,  or  to  assume  a  new  character.  It  may  not  be  easy 
to  draw  the  line,  as  to  the  occasions  in  which  a  man  should 
remain  silent,  or  defend  himself.  In  the  general,  it  is  better, 
perhaps,  that  he  should  leave  his  public  acts,  and  the  measures 
which  he  espouses  or  carries,  to  their  own  vindication ;  but  if  his 
integrity  be  questioned,  and  dishonorable  charges,  under  high  and 
imposing  names,  be  preferred  against  him,  he  cannot  remain  silent 
without  a  culpable  insensibility  to  all  that  is  valuable  in  human 
life. 

Sir,  I  feel  that  I  have  trespassed  too  much,  both  upon  you  and 
myself.  If  prudence  were  a  virtue  of  which  I  could  boast,  I  should 
have  spared  both  you  and  me.  But  I  could  not  deny  myself  the 
gratification  of  expressing  my  thanks  to  my  Cincinnati  friends,  for 
the  numerous  instances  which  I  have  experienced  of  their  kind 
and  respectful  consideration.  I  beg  you,  sir,  and  every  gentleman 
here  attending,  to  accept  my  acknowledgments  ;  and  I  especially 
owe  them  to  the  gentlemen  of  the  committee,  who  did  me  the 
honor  to  meet  me  at  Louisville,  and  accompany  me  to  this  city. 
Whatever  may  be  my  future  destiny,  whilst  my  faculties  are 
preserved,  I  shall  cherish  a  proud  and  grateful  recollection  of  these 
testimonies  of  respect  and  attachment. 


ON  RETIRING  PROM  OFFICE. 

AT  WASHINGTON,  MARCH  7,  1829 


[At  the  close  of  Mr.  Adams's  administration,  Mr.  Clay,  having  resigned  his  office 
of  secretary  of  state  before  the  inauguration  of  general  Jackson  as  president  of  the 
United  States,  was  invited  to  meet  his  friends  at  Washington  city,  and  others  from 
various  parts  of  the  union,  at  a  public  dinner,  which  he  accepted,  while  preparing  to 
return  to  the  place  of  his  residence  at  the  weat.     On  this  occasion  the  fifth  toast  was: 

'  Health,  prosperity,  and  happiness  to  our  highly  valued  and  esteemed  guest  and 
fellow-citizen,  Henry  Clay.  Whatever  the  future  destination  of  his  life,  he  has 
done  enough  for  honor,  and  need  desire  no  higher  reward  than  the  deep  seated  affec- 
tion and  respect  of  his  friends  and  his  country.' 

This  having  been  received  with  much  feeling  and  applause,  Mr.  Clay  arose  and 
addressed  the  company  as  follows:  ] 


In  rising,  Mr.  President,  to  offer  my  respectful  acknowledgments 
for  the  honors  of  which  I  am  here  the  object,  I  must  ask  the 
indulgence  of  yourself  and  the  other  gentlemen  now  assembled, 
for  an  unaffected  embarrassment,  which  is  more  sensibly  felt  than 
it  can  be  distinctly  expressed.  This  city  has  been  the  theatre  of 
the  greater  portion  of  my  public  life.  You,  and  others  whom  I 
now  see,  have  been  spectators  of  my  public  course  and  conduct. 
You  and  they  are,  if  I  may  borrow  a  technical  expression  from  an 
honorable  profession  of  which  you  and  I  are  both  members,  jurors 
of  the  vicinage.  To  a  judgment  rendered  by  those  who  have  thus 
long  known  me,  and  by  others  though  not  of  the  panel,  who  have 
possessed  equal  opportunities  of  forming  correct  opinions,  I  most 
cheerfully  submit.  If  the  weight  of  human  testimony  should  be 
estimated  by  the  intelligence  and  respectability  of  the  witness,  and 
the  extent  of  his  knowledge  of  the  matter  on  which  he  testifies,  the 
highest  consideration  is  due  to  that  which  has  been  this  day  spon- 
taneously given.  I  shall  ever  cherish  it  with  the  most  grateful 
recollection,  and  look  back  upon  it  with  proud  satisfaction. 

I  should  be  glad  to  feel  that  I  could  with  any  propriety  abstain 
from  any  allusion  at  this  time  and  at  this  place,  to  public  affairs. 
But  considering  the  occasion  which  has  brought  us  together,  the 
events  which  have  preceded  it,  and  the  influence  which  they  may 
exert  upon  the  destinies  of  our  country,  my  silence  might  be 
misinterpreted,  and  1  think  it  therefore  proper  that  I  should  embrace 


ON     RETIRING     FROM     OFFICE.  561 

this  first  public  opportunity  which  I  have  had  of  saying  a  few 
words,  since  the  termination  of  the  late  memorable  and  embittered 
contest.  It  is  far  from  my  wish  to  continue  or  to  revive  the  agita- 
tion with  which  that  contest  was  attended.  It  is  ended,  for  good 
or  for  evil.  The  nation  wants  repose.  A  majority  of  the  people 
has  decided,  and  from  their  decision  there  can  and  ought  to  be  no 
appeal.  Bowing,  as  I  do,  with  profound  respect  to  them,  and  to 
this  exercise  of  their  sovereign  authority,  I  may  nevertheless  be 
allowed  to  retain  and  to  express  my  own  unchanged  sentiments, 
even  if  they  should  not  be  in  perfect  coincidence  with  theirs.  It  is 
a  source  of  high  gratification  to  me  to  believe  that  I  share  these 
sentiments  in  common  with  more  than  half  a  million  of  freemen, 
possessing  a  degree  of  virtue,  of  intelligence,  of  religion,  and  of 
genuine  patriotism,  which,  without  disparagement  to  others,  is 
unsurpassed,  in  the  same  number  of  men  in  this  or  any  other 
country,  in  this  or  any  other  age. 

I  deprecated  the  election  of  the  present  president  of  the  United 
States,  because  I  believed  he  had  neither  the  temper,  the  experi- 
ence, nor  the  attainments  requisite  to  discharge  the  complicated  and 
arduous  duties  of  chief  magistrate.  I  deprecated  it  still  more, 
because  his  elevation,  I  believed,  would  be  the  result  exclusively  of 
admiration  and  gratitude  for  military  service,  without  regard  to 
indispensable  civil  qualifications.  I  can  neither  retract,  nor  alter, 
nor  modify,  any  opinion  which,  on  these  subjects,  I  have  at  any 
time  heretofore  expressed.  I  thought  I  beheld  in  his  election  an 
awful  foreboding  of  the  fate  which,  at  some  future  (I  pray  to  God 
that,  if  it  ever  arrive,  it  may  be  some  far  distant)  day,  was  to  befall 
this  infant  republic.  All  past  history  has  impressed  on  my  mind 
this  solemn  apprehension.  Nor  is  it  effaced  or  weakened  by 
contemporaneous  events  passing  upon  our  own  favored  continent. 
It  is  remarkable  that,  at  this  epoch,  at  the  head  of  eight  of  the  nine 
independent  governments  established  in  both  Americas,  military 
officers  have  been  placed,  or  have  placed  themselves.  General 
Lavalle  has,  by  military  force,  subverted  the  republic  of  La  Plata. 
General  Santa  Cruz  is  the  chief  magistrate  of  Bolivia;  colonel 
Pinto  of  Chili ;  general  Lamar  of  Peru ;  and  general  Bolivar  of 
Colombia.  Central  America,  rent  in  pieces,  and  bleeding  at  every 
pore,  from  wounds  inflicted  by  contending  military  factions,  is 
under  the  alternate  sway  of  their  chiefs.  In  the  government  of 
our  nearest  neighbor,  an  election,  conducted  according  to  all  the 
requirements  of  their  constitution,  has  terminated  with  a  majority 
of  the  states  in  favor  of  Pedrazza,  the  civil  candidate.  An  insur- 
rection was  raised  in  behalf  of  his  military  rival ;  the  cry,  not 
exactly  of  a  bargain,  but  of  corruption,  was  sounded ;  the  election 
was  annulled,  and  a  reform  effected  by  proclaiming  general 
Guerrero,  having  only  a  minority  of  the  states,  duly  elected  presi- 
dent. The  thunders  from  the  surrounding  fortsj  and  the  acclama- 
vol*  n  71 


562  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

tions  of  the  assembled  multitude,  on  the  fourth,  told  us  what  general 
was  at  the  head  of  our  affairs.  It  is  true,  and  in  this  respect  we 
are  happier  than  some  of  the  American  states,  that  his  election  has 
not  been  brought  about  by  military  violence.  The  forms  of  the 
constitution  have  yet  remained  inviolate. 

In  reasserting  the  opinions  which  I  hold,  nothing  is  further  from 
my  purpose  than  to  treat  with  the  slightest  disrespect  those  of  my 
fellow-citizens,  here  or  elsewhere,  who  may  entertain  opposite  senti- 
ments. The  fact  of  claiming  and  exercising  the  free  and  inde- 
pendent expression  of  the  dictates  of  my  own  deliberate  judgment, 
affords  the  strongest  guarantee  of  my  full  recognition  of  their 
corresponding  privilege. 

A  majority  of  my  fellow-citizens,  it  would  seem,  do  not  perceive 
the  dangers  which  I  apprehended  from  the  example.  Believing 
that  they  are  not  real,  or  that  we  have  some  security  against  their 
effect,  which  ancient  and  modern  republics  have  not  found,  that 
majority,  in  the  exercise  of  their  incontestable  right  of  suffrage, 
have  chosen  for  chief  magistrate  a  citizen  who  brings  into  that  high 
trust  no  qualification  other  than  military  triumphs. 

That  citizen  has  done  much  injustice  —  wanton,  unprovoked, 
and  unatoned  injustice.  It  was  inflicted,  as  I  must  ever  believe, 
for  the  double  purpose  of  gratifying  private  resentment  and  promo- 
ting personal  ambition.  When,  during  the  late  canvass,  he  came 
forward  in  the  public  prints  under  his  proper  name,  with  his  charge 
against  me,  and  summoned  before  the  public  tribunal  his  friend 
and  his  only  witness  to  establish  it,  the  anxious  attention  of  the 
whole  American  people  was  directed  to  the  testimony  which  that 
witness  might  render.  He  promptly  obeyed  the  call  and  testified 
to  what  he  knew.  He  could  say  nothing,  and  he  said  nothing, 
which  cast  the  slightest  shade  upon  my  honor  or  integrity.  What 
he  did  say  was  the  reverse  of  any  implication  of  me.  Then  all 
just  and  impartial  men,  and  all  who  had  faith  in  the  magnanimity 
of  my  accuser,  believed  that  he  would  voluntarily  make  a  public 
acknowledgment  of  his  error.  How  far  this  reasonable  expectation 
has  been  fulfilled,  let  his  persevering  and  stubborn  silence  attest. 
But  my  relations  to  that  citizen  by  a  recent  event  are  now  changed. 
He  is  the  chief  magistrate  of  my  country,  invested  with  large  and 
extensive  powers,  the  administration  of  which  may  conduce  to  its 
prosperity  or  occasion  its  adversity.  Patriotism  enjoins  as  a  duty, 
that  whilst  he  is  in  that  exalted  station,  he  should  be  treated  with 
decorum,  and  his  official  acts  be  judged  of  in  a  spirit  of  candor. 
Suppressing,  as  far  as  I  can,  a  sense  of  my  personal  wrong; 
willing  even  to  forgive  him,  if  his  own  conscience  and  our  common 
God  can  acquit  him  ;  and  entertaining  for  the  majority  which  has 
elected  him,  and  for  the  office  which  he  fills,  all  the  deference  which 
is  due  from  a  private  citizen;  I  most  anxiously  hope, that  under  his 
guidance  the  great  interests  of  our  country,  foreign  and  domestic, 


ON     RETIRING     FROM     OFFICE.  56o 

may  be  upheld,  our  free  institutions  be  unimpaired,  and  the 
happiness  of  the  nation  be  continued  and  increased. 

While  I  am  prompted  by  an  ardent  devotion  to  the  welfare  of 
my  country,  sincerely  to  express  this  hope,  I  make  no  pledges,  no 
promises,  no  threats,  and  I  must  add,  I  have  no  confidence.  My 
public  life,  I  trust,  furnishes  the  best  guarantee  for  my  faithful 
adherence  to  those  great  principles  of  external  and  internal  policy, 
to  which  it  has  been  hitherto  zealously  dedicated.  Whether  I  shall 
ever  hereafter  take  any  part  in  the  public  councils  or  not,  depends 
upon  circumstances  beyond  my  control.  Holding  the  principle 
that  a  citizen,  as  long  as  a  single  pulsation  remains,  is  under  an 
obligation  to  exert  his  utmost  energies  in  the  service  of  his  country, 
if  necessary,  whether  in  private  or  public  station,  my  friends,  here 
and  every  where,  may  rest  assured  that,  in  either  condition,  I  shall 
stand  erect,  with  a  spirit  unconquered,  whilst  life  endures,  ready  to 
second  their  exertions  in  the  cause  of  liberty,  the  union,  and  the 
national  prosperity. 

Before  I  sit  down,  I  avail  myself  with  pleasure  of  this  oppor- 
tunity to  make  my  grateful  acknowledgments,  for  the  courtesies  and 
friendly  attentions  which  I  have  uniformly  experienced  from  the 
inhabitants  of  this  city.  A  free  and  social  intercourse  with  them, 
during  a  period  of  more  than  twenty  years,  is  about  to  terminate, 
without  any  recollection  on  my  part  of  a  single  painful  collision, 
and  without  leaving  behind  me,  as  far  as  I  know,  a  solitary 
personal  enemy.  If,  in  the  sentiment  with  which  I  am  about  to 
conclude,  I  do  not  give  a  particular  expression  to  the  feelings 
inspired  by  the  interchange  of  civilities  and  friendly  offices,  I  hope 
the  citizens  of  Washington  will  be  assured  that  their  individual 
happiness  and  the  growth  and  prosperity  of  this  city  will  ever  be 
objects  of  my  fervent  wishes.  In  the  sentiment  which  I  shall 
presently  offer,  they  are  indeed  comprehended.  For  the  welfare 
of  this  city  is  indissolubly  associated  with  that  of  our  union,  and 
the  preservation  of  our  liberty.     I  request  permission  to  propose, 

Let  us  never  despair  of  the  American  republic. 


ON  THE  COMMENCEMENT  OF   JACKSON'S 
ADMINISTRATION. 

AT   FOWLER'S    GARDEN,  LEXINGTON,  KENTUCKY,  MAY  16,  1629. 


[After  the  election  of  general  Jackson  as  president  of  the  United  States,  Mr.  Clay, 
having  retired  to  private  life  at  his  former  residence  in  Kentucky,  was  occasionally 
invited  to  meet  his  friends  and  neighbors  at  public  entertainments,  where  large 
concourses  always  assembled  to  manifest  for  him  their  continued  regard  and 
confidence.  On  one  of  these  occasions  he  made  the  following  speech,  in  which  he 
contrasts  the  proscriptive  course  of  Jackson's  administration  in  removals  from  office, 
with  that  adopted  and  pursued  by  previous  presidents.  He  also  alludes  to  other 
subjects  of  prominent  public  interest.] 

TOAST. 

Our  distinguished  guest,  friend,  and  neighbor.  Henry  Clay.  With  increased 
proofs  of  his  w  Tth,  we  delight  to  renew  the  assurance  of  our  confidence  in  his 
patriotism,  talents,  and  incorruptibility.  May  health  and  happiness  attend  him  in 
retirement,  and  a  grateful  nation  do  justice  to  his  virtues. 

After  the  above,  Mr.  Clay  rose  and  addressed  the  immense 
assemblage  of  people  present,  as  follows : 

I  fear,  friends  and  fellow-citizens,  that  if  I  could  find  language 
to  express  the  feelings  which  now  animate  me,  I  could  not  be 
heard  throughout  this  vast  assembly.  My  voice,  once  strong  and 
powerful,  has  had  its  vigor  impaired  by  delicate  health  and 
advancing  age.  You  must  have  been  separated,  as  I  have  been, 
for  four  years  past,  from  some  of  your  best  and  dearest  friends, 
with  whom  during  the  greater  part  of  your  lives,  you  had  associated 
in  the  most  intimate  friendly  intercourse;  you  must  have  been 
traduced,  as  I  have  been,  after  exerting  with  zeal  and  fidelity  the 
utmost  of  your  powers  to  promote  the  welfare  of  our  country ;  and 
you  must  have  returned  among  those  warm-hearted  friends,  and 
been  greeted  and  welcomed  and  honored  by  them,  as  I  have 
recently  been  ;  before  you  could  estimate  the  degree  of  sensibility 
which  I  now  feel,  or  conceive  how  utterly  inadequate  ail  human 
language  is  to  portray  the  grateful  emotions  of  my  heart.  I  behold 
gathered  here,  as  I  have  seen  in  other  instances  since  my  return 
among  you,  sires  far  advanced  in  years,  endeared  to  me  by  an  inter- 
change of  friendly  office  and  sympathetic  feeling,  beginning  more 


BEGINNING     OF     JACKSON'S    ADMINISTRATION.    565 

than  thirty  years  ago.  Their  sons,  grown  up  during  my  absence 
in  the  public  councils,  accompanying  them  ;  and  all,  prompted  by 
ardent  attachment,  affectionately  surrounding  and  saluting  me,  as 
if  I  belonged  to  their  own  household.  Considering  the  multitude 
here  assembled,  their  standing  and  respectability,  and  the  distance 
which  many  have  come  personally  to  see  me,  and  to  testify  their 
respect  and  confidence,  I  consider  this  day  and  this  occasion  as  the 
proudest  of  my  life.  The  tribute,  thus  rendered  by  my  friends, 
neighbors,  and  fellow-citizens,  flows  spontaneously  from  their 
hearts,  as  it  penetrates  the  inmost  recesses  of  mine.  Tendered  in 
no  servile  spirit,  it  does  not  aim  to  propitiate  one  in  authority. 
Power  could  not  buy  or  coerce  it.  The  offspring  of  enlightened 
and  independent  freemen,  it  is  addressed  to  a  beloved  fellow- 
citizen  in  private  life,  without  office,  and  who  can  present  nothing 
in  return,  but  his  hearty  thanks.  I  pray  all  of  you,  genllemen,  to 
accept  these.  They  are  due  to  every  one  of  you  for  the  sentiment, 
just  pronounced,  and  for  the  proceedings  of  this  day.  And  I  owe 
a  particular  expression  of  them  to  that  portion  of  my  friends,  who, 
although  I  had  the  misfortune  to  differ  from  them  in  the  late 
contest,  have  honored  me  by  their  attendance  here.  I  have  no 
reproaches  to  make  them.  Regrets  I  have;  but  I  give,  as  I  have 
received  from  them,  the  hand  of  friendship  as  cordially  as  it  is 
extended  to  any  of  my  friends.  It  is  highly  gratifying  to  me  to 
know,  that  they,  and  thousands  of  others  who  cooperated  with 
them  in  producing  the  late  political  change,  were  unaffected  towards 
me  by  the  prejudice  attempted  to  be  excited  against  me.  I  enter- 
tain too  high  respect  for  the  inestimable  privilege  of  freely  exercising 
one's  independent  judgment  on  public  affairs,  to  draw  in  question 
the  right  of  any  of  my  fellow-citizens  to  form  and  to  act  upon 
their  opinions  in  opposition  to  mine.  The  best  and  wisest  among 
us  are,  at  best,  but  weak  and  fallible  human  beings.  And  no  man 
ought  to  set  up  his  own  judgment  as  an  unerring  standard,  by 
which  the  correctness  of  all  others  is  to  be  tested  and  tried. 

It  cannot  be  doubted  that,  with  individual  exceptions,  the  great 
body  of  every  political  party  that  has  hitherto  appeared  in  this 
country,  has  been  honest  in  its  intentions,  and  patriotic  in  its  aims. 
Whole  parties  may  have  been  sometimes  deceived  and  deluded, 
but  without  being  conscious  of  it ;  they  no  doubt  sought  to  advance 
the  welfare  of  the  country.  Where  such  a  contest  has  existed  as 
that  which  we  have  recently  witnessed,  ihere  will  be  prejudices  on 
the  one  side,  and  predilections  on  the  other.  If,  during  its  progress, 
we  cannot  calm  the  passions,  and  permit  truth  and  reason  to  have 
their  undisturbed  sway,  we  ought,  at  least,  after  it  has  terminated, 
to  own  their  empire.  Judging  of  public  men  and  public  measures 
in  a  spirit  of  candor,  we  should  strive  to  eradicate  every  bias,  and 
to  banish  from  our  minds  every  consideration  not  connected  with 
the  good  of  our  country. 


566  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

I  do  not  pretend  to  be,  more  than  other  men,  exempt  from  the 
influence  of  prejudice  and  predilection.  But  I  declare  most 
sincerely,  that  I  have  sought,  in  reference  to  the  present  adminis- 
tration, and  shall  continue  to  strive,  to  discard  all  prejudices,  and 
to  judge  its  acts  and  measures  as  they  appear  to  me  to  affect 
the  interests  of  our  country. 

A  large  portion  of  my  friends  and  fellow-citizens,  from  whom  I 
differed  on  the  late  occasion,  did  not  disagree  with  me  as  to  the 
foreign  or  domestic  policy  of  government.  We  only  differed  in 
the  selection  of  agents  to  carry  that  policy  into  effect.  Experience 
can  alone  determine  who  was  right.  If  that  policy  continues  to  be 
pursued  under  the  new  administration,  it  shall  have  as  cordial 
support  from  me,  as  if  its  care  had  been  confided  to  agents  of  my 
choice.  If,  on  the  contrary,  it  shall  be  neglected  or  abandoned,  the 
friends  to  whom  I  now  refer  will  be  bound  by  all  the  obligations 
of  patriotism  and  consistency  to  adhere  to  the  policy. 

We  take  a  new  commencement  from  the  fourth  of  March  last. 
After  that  day,  those  who  supported  the  election  of  the  present 
chief  magistrate  were  left  as  free  to  judge  of  the  conduct  of  his 
administration,  as  those  who  opposed  it.  It  will  be  no  more  incon- 
sistent in  them,  if  it  disappoint  their  expectations,  to  disapprove 
his  administration,  than  it  will  be  to  support  it,  if,  disappointing  ours, 
he  should  preserve  the  established  policy  of  the  nation,  and  intro- 
duce no  new  principles  of  alarming  tendency. 

They  bestowed  their  suffrages  upon  the  supposition  that  the 
government  would  be  well  administered ;  that  public  pledges  would 
be  redeemed,  solemn  professions  be  fulfilled,  and  the  rights  and 
liberties  of  the  people  be  protected  and  maintained.  If  they  shall 
find  themselves  deceived  in  any  of  these  respects ;  should  principles 
avowed  during  the  canvass  be  violated  during  the  presidency,  and 
new  principles  of  dangerous  import,  neither  avowed  to  nor  antici- 
pated by  them,  be  put  forth,  they  will  have  been  betrayed ;  the 
distinguished  individual  for  whom  they  voted  will  have  failed  to 
preserve  his  identity,  and  they  will  be  urged  by  the  most  sacred  of 
duties  to  apply  the  proper  corrective. 

Government  is  a  trust,  and  the  officers  of  government  are  trustees  ; 
and  both  the  trust  and  the  trustees  are  created  for  the  benefit  of 
the  people.  Official  incumbents  are  bound,  therefore,  to  admin- 
ister the  trust,  not  for  their  own  private  or  individual  benefits,  but 
so  as  to  promote  the  prosperity  of  the  people.  This  is  the  vital 
principle  of  a  republic.  If  a  different  principle  prevail,  and  a  govern- 
ment be  so  administered  as  to  gratify  the  passions  or  to  promote  the 
interests  of  a  particular  individual,  the  forms  of  free  institutions 
may  remain,  but  that  government  is  essentially  a  monarchy.  The 
great  difference  between  the  two  forms  of  government  is,  that  in  a 
republic  all  power  and  authority  and  all  public  offices  and  honors 
emanate  from   the  people,  and   are   exercised  and  held  for  their 


BEGINNING     OF     JACKSON'S     ADMINISTRATION.    567 

benefit.  In  a  monarchy,  all  power  and  authority,  all  offices  and 
honors,  proceed  from  the  monarch.  His  interests,  his  caprices  and 
his  passions,  influence  and  control  the  destinies  of  the  kingdom. 
In  a  republic,  the  people  are  every  thing,  and  a  particular  indi- 
vidual nothing.  In  a  monarchy,  the  monarch  is  every  thing,  and 
the  people  nothing.  And  the  true  character  of  the  government  is 
stamped,  not  by  the  forms  of  the  appointment  to  office  alone,  but 
by  its  practical  operation.  If  in  one,  nominally  free,  the  chief 
magistrate,  as  soon  as  he  is  clothed  with  power,  proceeds  to  exercise 
it,  so  as  to  minister  to  his  passions,  and  to  gratify  his  favorites,  and 
systematically  distributes  his  rewards  and  punishments,  in  the 
application  of  the  power  of  patronage,  with  which  he  is  invested  for 
the  good  of  the  whole,  upon  the  principle  of  devotion  and  attach- 
ment to  him,  and  not  according  to  the  ability  and  fidelity  with 
which  the  people  are  or  may  be  served,  that  chief  magistrate,  for 
the  time  being,  and  within  the  scope  of  his  discretionary  powers, 
is  in  fact,  if  not  in  form,  a  monarch. 

It  was  objected  to  the  late  administration,  that  it  adopted  and 
enforced  a  system  of  proscription.  During  the  whole  period  of  it, 
not  a  solitary  officer  of  the  government,  from  Maine  to  Louisiana, 
within  my  knowledge,  was  dismissed  on  account  of  his  political 
opinions.  It  was  well  known  to  the  late  president,  that  many 
officers,  who  held  their  places  subject  to  the  power  of  dismission, 
were  opposed  to  his  reelection,  and  were  actively  employed  in 
behalf  of  his  competitor.  Yet  not  one  was  discharged  from  that 
cause.  In  the  commencement  and  early  part  of  his  administration, 
appointments  were  promiscuously  made  from  all  the  parties  in  the 
previous  canvass.  And  this  course  was  pursued  until  an  oppo- 
sition was  organized,  which  denounced  all  appointments  from  its 
ranks  as  being  made  for  impure  purposes. 

I  am  aware  that  it  may  be  urged,  that  a  change  was  made  in 
some  of  the  publishers  of  the  laws.  There  are  about  eighty 
annually  designated.  Of  these,  during  the  four  years  of  the  late 
administration,  about  twelve  or  fifteen  were  changed.  Some  of 
the  changes  were  made  from  geographical  or  other  local  consider- 
ations. In  several  instances  one  friend  was  substituted  for  another. 
In  others,  one  opponent  for  another. 

Several  papers,  among  the  most  influential  in  the  opposition, 
but  otherwise  conducted  with  decorum,  were  retained.  Of  the 
entire  number  of  changes,  not  more  than  four  or  five  were  made 
because  of  the  scurrilous  character  of  their  papers,  and  not 
on  account  of  the  political  sentiments  of  the  editors.  It  was 
deemed  injurious  to  the  respect  and  moral  influence,  which  the 
laws  should  always  command,  that  they  should  be  promulgated  in 
the  columns  of  a  public  paper,  parallel  with  which  were  other 
columns,  in  the  same  paper,  of  the  grossest  abuse  of  the  government 
and  its  functionaries. 


56S  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

On  this  subject  I  can  speak  with  certainty,  and  I  embrace  with 
pleasure  this  opportunity  for  explanation.  The  duty  of  designating 
the  printers  of  the  laws  appertains  to  the  office  which  J  lately  tilled. 
The  selection  is  usually  made  at  the  commencement  of  every 
session  of  congress.  It  was  made  by  me,  without  any  particular 
consultation  with  the  president,  or  any  member  of  his  cabinet.  In 
making  it,  i  felt  under  no  greater  obligation  to  select  the  publisher 
of  the  laws  of  the  previous  year,  than  an  individual  feels  himself 
bound  to  insert  a  succeeding  advertisement  in  the  same  paper  which 
published  his  last.  The  law  does  not  require  it,  but  leaves  the 
secretary  of  state  at  liberty  to  make  the  selection  according  to  his 
sense  of  propriety.  A  publisher  of  the  laws  is  not  an  officer  of  the 
government.  It  has  been  judicially  so  decided.  He  holds  no 
commission.  The  accuracy  of  the  statement,  therefore,  that  no 
officer  of  the  government  was  dismissed  by  the  late  administration, 
in  consequence  of  his  political  opinions,  is  not  impaired  by  the 
few  changes  of  publishers  of  the  laws  which  were  made. 

But  if  they  had  been  officers  of  government,  who  could  have 
imagined  that  those  who  objected  to  the  removal,  would  so  soon 
have  themselves  put  in  practice  a  general  and  sweeping  system  of 
exclusion. 

The  president  is  invested  with  ihe  tremendous  power  of  dismis- 
sion, to  be  exercised  for  the  public  good,  and  not  to  gratify  any 
private  passions  or  purposes.  It  was  conferred  to  prevent  the 
public  from  suffering  through  faithless  or  incompetent  officers.  It 
was  made  summary  because,  if  the  slow  progress  of  trial  before  a 
judicial  tribunal  were  resorted  to,  the  public  might  be  greatly 
injured  during  the  progress  and  prior  to  the  decision  of  the  case. 
But  it  never  was  in  the  contemplation  of  congress,  that  the  power 
would  or  could  be  applied  to  the  removal  of  competent,  diligent, 
and  faithful  officers.  Such  an  application  of  it  is  an  act  of  arbitrary 
power,  and  a  great  abuse. 

I  regret  extremely  that  I  feel  constrained  to  notice  the  innovation 
upon  the  principles  and  practice  of  our  institutions  now  in  progress. 
I  had  most  anxiously  hoped,  that  I  could  heartily  approve  the  acts 
and  measures  of  the  new  administration.  And  I  yet  hope  that  it 
will  pause,  and  hereafter  pursue  a  course  more  in  unison  with  the 
spirit  of  a  free  government.  I  entreat  my  friends  and  fellow- 
citizens,  here  and  elsewhere,  to  be  persuaded  that  I  now  perform 
a  painful  dutv  ;  and  that  it  is  far  from  my  wish  to  say  one  word 
that  can  inflict  any  wound  upon  the  feelings  of  any  of  them.  I 
think,  indeed,  that  it  is  the  dutv  of  all  of  them  to  exercise  their 
judgments  freely  and  independently  on  what  is  passing;  and  that 
none  ought  to  feel  themselves  restrained,  by  false  pride,  or  by  any 
part  which  they  took  in  the  late  election,  from  condemning  what 
their  hearts  cannot  approve. 

Knowing  the  imputations  to  which  I  expose  myself)  I  would 


BEGINNING     OF     JACKSON'S    ADMINISTRATION.    569 

remain  silent  if  I  did  not  solemnly  believe  that  there  was  serious 
cause  of  alarm  in  the  principle  of  removal,  which  has  been 
recently  acted  on.  Hitherto,  the  uniform  practice  of  the  govern- 
ment has  been,  where  charges  are  preferred  against  public  officers, 
foreign  or  domestic,  to  transmit  to  them  a  copy  of  the  charges,  for 
the  purpose  of  refutation  or  explanation.  This  has  been  considered 
an  equitable  substitute  to  the  more  tedious  and  formal  trials  before 
judicial  tribunals.  But  now,  persons  are  dismissed,  not  only 
without  trial  of  any  sort,  but  without  charge.  And,  as  if  the 
intention  were  to  defy  public  opinion,  and  to  give  to  the  acts  of 
power  a  higher  degree  of  enormity,  in  some  instances  the  persons 
dismissed  have  carried  with  them,  in  their  pockets,  the  strongest 
testimonials  to  their  ability  and  integrity,  furnished  by  the  very 
instruments  employed  to  execute  the  purposes  of  oppression.  If 
the  new  administration  had  found  these  discharged  officers  wanting 
in  a  zealous  cooperation  to  execute  the  laws,  in  consequence  of 
their  preference  at  the  preceding  election,  there  would  have  been 
ground  for  their  removal.  But  this  has  not  been  pretended;  and 
to  show  that  it  formed  no  consideration,  they  have  been  dismissed 
among  its  first  acts,  without  affording  them  an  opportunity  of 
manifesting  that  their  sense  of  public  duty  was  unaffected  by  the 
choice  which  they  had  at  the  preceding  election. 

I  will  not  dwell  on  the  injustice  and  individual  distress  which 
are  the  necessary  consequences  of  these  acts  of  authority.  Men 
who  accepted  public  employments  entered  on  them  with  the 
implied  understanding,  that  they  would  be  retained  as  long  as  they 
continued  to  discharge  their  duties  to  the  public  honestly,  ably,  and 
assiduously.  All  their  private  arrangements  are  made  accordingly. 
To  be  dismissed  without  fault,  and  without  trial ;  to  be  expelled, 
with  their  families,  without  the  means  of  support,  and  in  some 
instances  disqualified  by  age  or  by  official  habits  from  the  pursuit 
of  any  other  business,  and  all  this  to  be  done  upon  the  will  of  one 
man,  in  a  free  government,  was  surely  intolerable  oppression. 

Our  institutions  proclaim,  reason  enjoins,  and  conscience 
requires,  that  every  freeman  shall  exercise  the  elective  franchise 
freely  and  independently ;  and  that  among  the  candidates  for  his 
suffrage,  he  shall  fearlessly  bestow  it  upon  him  who  will  best 
advance  the  interests  of  his  country.  The  presumption  is,  that 
this  is  always  done,  unless  the  contrary  appears.  But  if  the 
consequence  of  such  a  performance  of  patriotic  duty  is  to  be 
punishment ;  if  an  honest  and  sincere  preference  of  A.  to  J.  is  to 
be  treated  as  a  crime,  then  our  dearest  privilege  is  a  mockery,  and 
our  institutions  are  snares. 

During  the  reign  of  Bonaparte,  upon  one  of  those  occasions  in 

which  he  affected  to  take  the  sense  of  the  French  people  as  to  his 

being  made  consul  for  life,  or  emperor,  an  order  was  sent  to  the 

French  armies  to  collect   their  suffrages.     They  were   told   in  a 

vol.  i.  72 


570  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

public  proclamation,  that  they  were  authorized  and  requested  to 
vote  freely,  according  to  the  dictates  of  their  best  judgments,  and 
their  honest  convictions.  But  a  mandate  was  privately  circulated 
among  them,  importing  that  if  any  soldier  voted  against  Bonaparte, 
he  should  be  instantly  shot. 

Is  there  any  other  difference,  except  in  the  mode  of  punishment, 
between  that  case  and  the  arbitrary  removal  of  men  from  their 
public  stations,  for  no  other  reasons,  than  that  of  an  honest  and 
conscientious  preference  of  one  presidential  candidate  to  another? 
And  can  it  be  doubted,  that  the  spirit  which  prompts  these  removals 
is  restrained  from  being  extended  to  all,  in  private  life,  who 
manifested  a  similar  preference,  only  by  barriers  which  it  dare  not 
yet  break  down  ?  But  should  public  opinion  sanction  them,  how 
long  will  these  barriers  remain  ? 

One  of  the  worst  consequences  of  the  introduction  of  this  tenure 
of  public  office  will  be,  should  it  be  permanently  adopted,  to 
substitute  for  a  system  of  responsibility,  founded  upon  the  ability 
and  integrity  with  which  public  officers  discharge  their  duties  to 
the  community,  a  system  of  universal  rapacity.  Incumbents, 
feeling  the  instability  of  their  situations,  and  knowing  their  liability 
to  periodical  removals,  at  short  terms,  without  any  regard  to  the 
manner  in  which  they  have  executed  their  trusts,  will  be  disposed 
to  make  the  most  of  their  uncertain  offices  while  they  hold  them. 
And  hence  we  may  expect  innumerable  cases  of  fraud,  peculation, 
and  corruption. 

President  Jackson  commenced  his  official  career  on  the  fourth 
of  March  last,  with  every  motive  which  should  operate  on  the 
human  heart  to  urge  him  to  forget  the  prejudices  and  passions 
which  had  been  exhibited  in  the  previous  contest,  and  to  practice 
dignified  moderation  and  forbearance.  He  had  been  the  choice 
of  a  considerable  majority  of  the  people,  and  was  elected  by  a 
large  majority  of  the  electoral  votes.  He  had  been  elected  mainly 
from  the  all-powerful  influence  of  gratitude  for  his  brilliant 
military  services,  in  spite  of  doubts  and  fears  entertained  by  many 
who  contributed  to  his  elevation.  He  was  far  advanced  in  years, 
and  if  fame  speak  true,  was  suffering  under  the  joint  infirmities  of 
age  and  disease.  He  had  recently  been  visited  by  one  of  the 
severest  afflictions  of  Providence,  in  the  privation  of  the  partner 
of  his  bosom,  whom  he  is  represented  to  have  tenderly  loved,  and 
who  warmly  returned  all  his  affection.  He  had  no  child  on  whom 
to  cast  his  honors.  Under  such  circumstances,  was  ever  man  more 
imperiously  called  upon  to  stifle  all  the  vindictive  passions  of  his 
nature,  to  quell  every  rebellious  feeling  of  his  heart,  and  to  dedicate 
the  short  residue  of  his  life  to  the  God  who  had  so  long  blessed  and 
spared  him,  and  to  the  country  which  had  so  greatly  honored  him  ? 

I  sincerely  hope  that  he  will  yet  do  this.  I  hope  so  for  the  sake 
of  human  nature,  and  for  the  sake  of  his  own  reputation.    Whether 


BEGINNING     OF     JACKSON'S     ADMINISTRATION.    571 

he  has,  during  the  two  months  of  his  administration,  so  conducted 
himself,  let  facts  tell  and  history  pronounce.  Truth  is  mighty,  and 
will  prevail. 

It  was  objected  to  Mr.  Adams,  that  by  appointing  several 
members  of  congress  to  public  places,  he  endangered  the  purity 
of  the  body,  and  established  a  precedent  fraught  with  the  most 
dangerous  consequences.  And  president  Jackson,  (no,  he  begged 
his  pardon,  it  was  candidate  Jackson,)  was  so  much  alarmed  by 
these  appointments,  for  the  integrity  and  permanency  of  our  institu- 
tions, that  in  a  solemn  communication  which  he  made  to  the 
legislature  of  Tennessee,  he  declared  his  firm  conviction  to  be,  that 
no  member  of  congress  ought  to  be  appointed  to  any  office  except 
a  seat  upon  the  bench.  And  he  added,  that  he  himself  would 
conform  to  that  rule. 

During  the  four  years  of  Mr.  Adams's  administration,  the  whole 
number  of  appointments  made  by  him  from  congress,  did  not 
exceed  four  or  five.  In  the  first  four  weeks  of  that  of  his  successor, 
more  than  double  that  number  have  been  appointed  by  him.  In 
the  first  two  months  of  president  Jackson's  administration,  he  has 
appointed  more  members  of  congress  to  public  office,  than  I  believe 
were  appointed  by  any  one  of  his  predecessors  during  their  whole 
period  of  four  or  eight  years.  And  it  appears,  that  no  office  is  too 
high  or  too  low  to  be  bestowed  by  him  on  this  favored  class,  from 
that  of  a  head  of  a  department,  down  to  an  inconsiderable  collector- 
ship,  or  even  a  subordinate  office  under  a  collector.  If  I  have  not 
been  misimformed,  a  representative  from  the  greatest  commercial 
metropolis  in  the  United  States,  has  recently  been  appointed  to 
some  inferior  station,  by  the  collector  of  the  port  of  New  York. 

Without  meaning  to  assert  as  a  general  principle,  that  in  no 
case  would  it  be  proper  that  a  resort  should  be  had  to  the  halls  of 
congress,  to  draw  from  them  tried  talents,  and  experienced  public 
servants,  to  aid  in  the  executive  or  judicial  departments,  all  must 
agree,  that  such  a  resort  should  not  be  too  often  made  and  that  there 
should  be  some  limit  both  as  to  the  number  and  the  nature  of  the 
appointments.  And  I  do  sincerely  think,  that  this  limit  has,  in 
both  particulars,  been  transcended  beyond  all  safe  bounds,  and  so 
as  to  excite  serious  apprehensions. 

It  is  not,  however,  my  opinion,  but  that  of  president  Jackson, 
which  the  public  has  now  to  consider.  Having  declared  to  the 
American  people,  through  the  Tennessee  legislature,  the  danger 
of  the  practice ;  having  deliberately  committed  himself  to  act  in 
consonance  with  that  declared  opinion,  how  can  he  now  be  justified 
in  violating  this  solemn  pledge,  and  in  entailing  upon  his  country 
a  perilous  precedent,  fraught  with  the  corrupting  tendency  which 
he  described? 

It  is  in  vain  to  say,  that  the  constitution,  as  it  now  stands,  does 
not  forbid  these  appointments.     It  does  not  enjoin  them.     If  there 


572  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

be  an  inherent  defect  in  the  theoretical  character  of  the  instrument, 
president  Jackson  was  bound  to  have  redeemed  his  pledge,  and 
employed  the  whole  influence  and  weight  of  his  name  to  remedy 
the  defect  in  its  practical  operation.  The  constitution  admitted  of 
the  service  of  one  man  in  the  presidential  office,  during  his  life,  if 
he  could  secure  successive  elections.  That  great  reformer,  as 
president  Jackson  describes  him,  whom  he  professes  to  imitate,  did 
not  wait  for  an  amendment  of  the  constitution,  to  correct  that  defect; 
but  after  the  example  of  the  father  of  his  country,  by  declining  to 
serve  longer  than  two  terms,  established  a  practical  principle  which 
is  not  likely  to  be  violated. 

There  was  another  class  of  citizens  upon  whom  public  offices 
had  been  showered  in  the  greatest  profusion.  I  do  not  know  the 
number  of  editors  of  newspapers  that  have  been  recently  appointed, 
but  I  have  noticed  in  the  public  prints,  some  fifteen  or  twenty. 
And  they  were  generally  of  those  whose  papers  had  manifested 
the  greatest  activity  in  the  late  canvass,  the  most  vulgar  abuse  of 
opponents,  and  the  most  fulsome  praise  of  their  favorite  candidate. 
Editors  are  as  much  entitled  to  be  appointed  as  any  other  class  of 
the  community ;  but  if  the  number  and  the  quality  of  those 
promoted,  be  such  as  to  render  palpable  the  motive  of  their 
appointment;  if  they  are  preferred,  not  on  account  of  their  fair 
pretensions,  and  their  ability  and  capacity  to  serve  the  public,  but 
because  of  their  devotion  to  a  particular  individual,  I  ask  if  the 
necessary  consequence  must  not  be  to  render  the  press  venal,  and 
in  time  to  destroy  this  hitherto  justly  cherished  palladium  of  our 
liberty. 

If  the  principle  of  all  these  appointments,  this  monopoly  of 
public  trusts  by  members  of  congress  and  particular  editors,  be 
exceptionable,  (and  I  would  not  have  alluded  to  them  but  from  my 
deliberate  conviction  that  they  are  essentially  vicious,)  their  effects 
are  truly  alarming.  I  will  not  impute  to  president  Jackson  any 
design  to  subvert  our  liberties.  I  hope  and  believe,  that  he  does 
not  now  entertain  any  such  design.  But  I  must  say,  that  if 
an  ambitious  president  sought  the  overthrow  of  our  government, 
and  ultimately  to  establish  a  different  form,  he  would,  at  the  com- 
mencement of  his  administration,  proclaim  by  his  official  acts,  that 
the  greatest  public  virtue  was  ardent  devotion  to  him.  That  no 
matter  what  had  been  the  character,  the  services,  or  the  sacrifices  of 
incumbents  or  applicants  for  office,  what  their  experience  or  ability 
to  serve  the  republic,  if  they  did  not  bow  down  and  worship  him, 
they  possessed  no  claim  to  his  patronage.  Such  an  ambitious 
president  would  say,  as  monarchs  have  said,  '  I  am  the  state.'  He 
would  dismiss  all  from  public  employment  who  did  not  belong  to 
the  true  faith.  He  would  stamp  upon  the  whole  official  corps  of 
government  one  homogeneous  character,  and  infuse  into  it  one 
uniform  principle  of  action.      He  would  scatter,  with  an  open  and 


BEGINNING     OF     JACKSON^     ADMINISTRATION.    573 

liberal  hand,  offices  among  members  of  congress,  giving  the  best 
to  those  who  had  spoken,  and  written,  and  franked,  most  in  his 
behalf.  He  would  subsidize  the  press.  It  would  be  his  earnest 
and  constant  aim  to  secure  the  two  greatest  engines  of  operation 
upon  public  opinion  —  congress  and  the  press.  He  would  promul- 
gate a  new  penal  code,  the  rewards  and  punishments  of  which, 
would  be  distributed  and  regulated  exclusively  by  devotion  or 
opposition  to  him.  And  when  all  this  powerful  machinery  was 
put  in  operation,  if  he  did  not  succeed  in  subverting  the  liberties  of 
his  country,  and  in  establishing  himself  upon  a  throne,  it  would  be 
because  some  new  means  or  principle  of  resistance  had  been 
discovered,  which  was  unknown  in  other  times  or  to  other  republics. 

But  if  an  administration,  conducted  in  the  manner  just  supposed, 
did  not  aim  at  the  destruction  of  public  liberty,  it  would  engender 
evils  of  a  magnitude  so  great  as  gradually  to  alienate  the  affections 
of  the  people  from  their  government,  and  finally  to  lead  to  its 
overthrow.  According  to  the  principle  now  avowed  and  practiced, 
all  offices,  vacant  and  rilled,  within  the  compass  of  the  Excutive 
power,  are  to  be  allotted  among  the  partisans  of  the  successful 
candidate.  The  people  and  the  service  of  the  state  are  to  be  put 
aside,  and  every  thing  is  to  be  decided  by  the  zeal,  activity,  and 
attachment,  in  the  cause  of  a  particular  candidate,  which  were 
manifested  during  the  preceding  canvass.  The  consequence  of 
these  principles  would  be  to  convert  the  nation  into  one  perpetual 
theatre  for  political  gladiators.  There  would  be  one  universal 
scramble  for  the  public  offices.  The  termination  of  one  presiden- 
tial contest  would  be  only  the  signal  for  the  commencement  of 
another.  And  on  the  conclusion  of  each  we  should  behold  the 
victor  distributing  the  prizes  and  applying  his  punishments,  like  a 
military  commander,  immediately  after  he  had  won  a  great  victory. 
Congress  corrupted,  and  the  press  corrupted,  general  corruption 
would  ensue,  until  the  substance  of  free  government  having  disap- 
peared, some  pretorian  band  would  arise,  and  with  the  general 
concurrence  of  a  distracted  people,  put  an  end  to  useless  forms. 

I  am  aware  that  the  late  acts  of  administration  on  which  it  has 
been  my  disagreeable  duty  to  animadvert,  (I  hope  without  giving 
pain  to  any  of  my  fellow-citizens,  as  I  most  sincerely  wish  to  give 
none,)  were  sustained  upon  some  vague  notion  or  purpose  ol 
reform.  And  it  was  remarkable  that  among  the  loudest  trum- 
peters of  reform  were  some  who  had  lately  received  appointments 
to  lucrative  offices.  Now  it  must  be  admitted  that,  as  to  them,  a 
most  substantial  and  valuable  reform  had  taken  place ;  but  I  trust 
that  something  more  extensively  beneficial  to  the  people  at  large 
was  intended  by  that  sweet  sounding  word.  I  know  that,  at  the 
commencement,  and  throughout  nearly  the  whole  progress  of  the 
late  administration,  a  reform  in  the  constitution  was  talked  of,  so  as 
to  exclude  from  public  office  members  of  congress,   during  the 


574  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

periods  for  which  they  were  elected,  and  a  limited  term  beyond 
them.  The  proposition  appeared  to  be  received  with  much  favor, 
was  discussed  in  the  house  of  representatives,  session  after  session, 
at  great  length,  and  with  unusual  eloquence  and  ability.  A 
majority  of  that  body  seemed  disposed  to  accede  to  it,  and  I 
thought  for  some  time,  that  there  was  high  probability  of  its  pas- 
sage, at  least,  through  that  house.  Its  great  champion  (general 
Smyth,  of  Virginia,)  pressed  it  with  resolute  perseverance.  But 
unfortunately,  at  the  last  session,  after  the  decision  of  the  presiden- 
tial question,  it  was  manifest  that  the  kindness  with  which  it  had 
been  originally  received  had  greatly  abated.  Its  determined  patron 
found  it  extremely  difficult  to  engage  the  house  to  consider  it. 
When,  at  length,  he  prevailed  by  his  frequent  and  earnest  appeals 
to  get  it  taken  up,  new  views  appeared  to  have  suddenly  struck 
the  reformists.  It  was  no  longer  an  amendment  in  their  eyes,  so 
indispensable  to  the  purity  of  our  constitution ;  and  the  majority 
which  had  appeared  to  be  so  resolved  to  carry  it,  now,  by  a  direct 
or  indirect  vote,  gave  it  the  go-by.  That  majority,  I  believe,  was 
composed  in  part  of  members  who,  after  the  fourth  of  March  last, 
gave  the  best  practical  recantation  of  their  opinions,  by  accepting 
from  the  new  president  lucrative  appointments,  in  direct  opposition 
to  the  principle  of  their  own  amendment.  And  now  general  Smyth 
would  find  it  even  more  impracticable  to  make  amongst  them 
proselytes  to  his  conservative  alteration  in  the  constitution,  than  he 
did  to  gain  any  to  his  exposition  of  the  Apocalypse. 

Reform,  such  as  alone  could  interest  a  whole  people,  can  only 
take  place  in  the  constitution,  or  laws,  or  policy  of  the  government. 
Now  and  then,  under  every  administration,  and  at  all  times,  a 
faithless  or  incompetent  officer  may  be  discovered,  who  ought  to 
be  displaced.  And  that,  in  all  the  departments  of  the  government. 
But  I  presume  that  the  correction  of  such  occasional  abuses  could 
hardly  be  expected  to  fulfil  the  promise  of  reform  which  had  been 
bo  solemnly  made.  I  would  then  ask,  what  was  the  reform 
intended  ?  What  part  of  the  constitution  was  to  be  altered  ?  what 
law  repealed  ?  what  branch  of  the  settled  policy  of  the  country  was 
lo  be  changed  ?  The  people  have  a  right  to  know  what  great 
blessing  was  intended  by  their  rulers  for  them,  and  to  demand 
some  tangible  practical  good,  in  lieu  of  a  general,  vague,  and 
undefined  assurance  of  reform. 

I  know  that  the  recent  removals  from  office  are  attempted  to  be 
justified  by  a  precedent  drawn  from  Mr.  Jefferson's  administration. 
But  there  was  not  the  most  distant  analogy  between  the  two  cases. 
"Several  years  prior  to  his  election,  the  public  offices  of  the  country 
had  been  almost  exclusively  bestowed  upon  the  party  to  which  that 
at  the  head  of  which  he  stood  was  opposed.  When  he  commenced 
his  administration  he  found  a  complete  monopoly  of  them  in  the 
hands  of  the  adverse  party.     He  dismissed  a  few  incumbents  for 


BEGINNING     OF     JACKSON'S     ADMINISTRATION.     575 

the  purpose  of  introducing  in  their  places  others  of  his  own  party, 
and  thus  doing  equal  justice  to  both  sects.  But  the  number  of 
removals  was  far  short  of  those  which  are  now  in  progress.  When 
president  Jackson  entered  on  his  administration,  he  found  a  far 
different  state  of  things.  There  had  been  no  previous  monopoly. 
Public  offices  were  alike  filled  by  his  friends  and  opponents  in  the 
late  election.  If  the  fact  could  be  ascertained,  I  believe  it  would 
be  found  that  there  was  a  larger  number  of  officers  under  the 
government  attached  than  opposed  to  his  late  election. 

Further,  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  election,  it  was  the 
consequence  of  the  people  having  determined  on  a  radical  change 
of  system.  There  was  a  general  belief  among  the  majority  who 
brought  about  that  event,  that  their  opponents  had  violated  the 
constitution  in  the  enactment  of  the  alien  and  sedition  laws ;  that 
they  had  committed  other  great  abuses,  and  that  some  of  them 
contemplated  an  entire  change  in  the  character  of  our  government, 
so  as  to  give  it  a  monarchical  cast.  I  state  the  historical  fact, 
without  intending  to  revive  the  discussion,  or  deeming  it  necessary 
to  examine  whether  such  a  design  existed  or  not.  But  those  who 
at  that  day  did  believe  it,  could  hardly  be  expected  to  acquiesce  in 
the  possession  by  their  opponents,  the  minority  of  the  nation,  of  all 
the  offices  of  a  government  to  which  some  of  them  were  believed 
to  be  hostile  in  principle.  The  object  of  Mr.  Jefferson  was,  to  break 
down  a  preexisting  monopoly  in  the  hands  of  one  party,  and  to 
establish  an  equilibrium  between  the  two  great  parties.  The  object 
of  president  Jackson  appears  to  be,  to  destroy  an  existing  equili- 
brium between  the  two  parties  to  the  late  contest,  and  to  establish 
a  monopoly.  The  object  of  president  Jefferson  was  the  republic, 
and  not  himself.  That  of  president  Jackson  is  himself,  and  not 
the  state. 

It  never  was  advanced  under  Mr.  Jefferson's  administration,  that 
devotion  and  attachment  to  him  were  an  indispensable  qualification, 
without  which  no  one  could  hold  or  be  appointed  to  office.  The 
contrast  between  the  inaugural  speech  of  that  great  man,  and  that 
of  his  present  successor,  was  remarkable  in  every  respect.  Mr. 
Jefferson's  breathed  a  spirit  of  peace.  It  breathed  a  spirit  of  calm 
philosophy  and  dignified  moderation.  It  treated  the  nation  as  one 
family.  '  We  are  all  republicans,  all  federalists.'  It  contained  no 
denunciations  ;  no  mysterious  or  ambiguous  language  ;  no  reflec- 
tions upon  the  conduct  of  his  great  rival  and  immediate  predecessor. 
What  is  the  character  of  the  inaugural  speech  of  the  present  chief 
magistrate,  I  shall  not  attempt  to  sketch.  Mr.  Jefferson,  upon  the 
solemn  occasion  of  his  installation  into  office,  laid  down  his  rule 
for  appointment  to  office  —  'is  he  honest ?  is  he  capable ?  is  he 
faithful  to  the  constitution  ?  '  But  capacity  and  integrity  and  fidelity, 
according  to  the  modern  rule,  appear  to  count  for  nothing,  without 
the  all-absorbing  virtue  of  fidelity  to  president  Jackson. 


576  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

I  will  not  consume  the  time  of  my  friends  and  fellow-citizens 
with  observations  upon  many  of  the  late  changes. 

My  object  has  been,  to  point  your  attention  to  the  principle 
which  appears  to  have  governed  all  of  them,  and  to  classes.  I 
would  not  have  touched  this  unpleasant  topic,  but  that  it  seems  to 
me  to  furnish  much  and  just  occasion  for  serious  alarm.  I  hope 
that  I  have  treated  it  in  a  manner  becoming  me,  without  incurring 
the  displeasure  of  any  one  now  present.  I  believe  the  times 
require  all  the  calm  heads  and  sound  hearts  of  the  country.  And 
I  would  not  intentionally  say  one  word  to  excite  the  passions. 

But  there  are  a  few  cases  of  recent  removal  of  such  flagrant 
impropriety,  as  I  sincerely  think,  that  I  cannot  forbear  alluding  to 
them.  Under  no  administration  prior  to  the  present,  from  the 
commencement  of  the  government,  have  our  diplomatic  represen- 
tatives been  recalled  from  abroad,  on  account  of  the  political 
opinions  they  entertained  in  regard  to  a  previous  presidential 
election.  Within  my  recollection,  at  this  time,  there  has  been  but 
one  instance  of  recall  of  a  foreign  minister  under  the  present  constitu- 
tion, on  account  of  any  dissatisfaction  with  him.  But  president 
Washington  did  not  recall  colonel  Monroe  (the  case  referred  to) 
from  France,  on  his  individual  account,  but  because  he  was  not 
satisfied  with  the  manner  in  which  he  performed  the  duties  of  the 
mission.  President  Jackson  has  ordered  home  two  of  our  foreign 
ministers,  one  filling  the  most  important  European  mission,  and 
the  other  the  most  important  of  our  missions  on  this  continent. 
In  both  cases  the  sole  ground  of  recall  is,  that  they  were  opposed 
to  his  election  as  president.  And  as  if  there  should  be  no  possible 
controversy  on  this  head,  one  of  them  was  recalled  before  it  was 
known  at  Washington  that  he  had  reached  Bogota,  the  place  of 
his  destination  ;  and  consequently  before  he  could  have  possibly 
disobeyed  any  instruction,  or  violated  any  duty. 

The  pecuniary  effect  of  these  changes,  is  the  certain  expenditure, 
in  outfits,  of  eighteen  thousand  dollars,  and  perhaps  more  than 
triple  that  sum  in  contingences.  Now  it  does  seem  to  me, 
that  (and  I  put  it  to  your  candid  judgments  whether)  this  is  too 
large  a  sum  for  the  public  to  pay,  because  two  gentlemen  had 
made  a  mistake  of  the  name  which  they  should  have  written  on  a 
little  bit  of  paper  thrown  into  the  ballot-boxes.  Mistake !  They 
had,  in  fact,  made  no  practical  mistake.  They  had  not  voted  at 
all,  one  being  out  of  the  United  States,  and  the  other  out  of  his 
own  state  at  the  time  of  the  election.  The  money  is  therefore  to 
be  paid  because  they  made  a  mistake  in  the  abstract  opinions 
which  they  held,  and  might  possibly,  if  they  had  been  at  home, 
have  erroneously  inscribed  one  name  instead  of  another  on  their 
ballots. 

There  would  be  some  consolation  for  this  waste  of  public 
treasure,  if  it  were  compensated  by  the  superiority  of  qualification 


BEGINNING     OF     JACKSON'S     ADMINISTRATION.     577 

on  the  part  of  the  late  appointments,  in  comparison  with  the 
previous.  But  I  know  all  four  of  the  gentlemen  perfectly  well, 
and  my  firm  conviction  is,  that  in  neither  change  has  the  public 
gained  any  intellectual  advantage.  In  one  of  them,  indeed,  the 
victor  of  Tippecanoe  and  of  Thames,  of  whose  gallantry  many 
who  are  now  here  were  witnesses,  is  replaced  by  a  gentleman 
who,  if  he  possesses  one  single  attainment  to  qualify  him  for  the 
office,  I  solemnly  declare  it  has  escaped  my  discernment. 

There  was  another  class  of  persons  whose  expulsion  from  office 
was  marked  by  peculiar  hardship  and  injustice.  Citizens  of  the 
District  of  Columbia  were  deprived  of  all  actual  participation  in 
the  elections  of  the  United  States.  They  are  debarred  from  voting 
for  a  president,  or  any  member  of  congress.  Their  sentiments, 
therefore,  in  relation  to  any  election  of  those  officers,  are  perfectly 
abstract.  To  punish  them,  as  in  numerous  instances  has  been 
done,  by  dismissing  them  from  their  employments,  not  for  what 
they  did,  but  for  what  they  thought,  is  a  cruel  aggravation  of  their 
anomalous  condition.  I  know  well  those  who  have  been  dis- 
charged from  the  department  of  state,  and  I  take  great  pleasure  in 
bearing  testimony  to  their  merits.  Some  of  them  would  have 
done  honor  to  any  bureau  in  any  country. 

We  may  worship  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  our  own 
consciences.  No  man's  right,  in  that  respect,  can  be  called  in 
question.  The  constitution  secures  it.  Public  offices  are  happily, 
according  to  the  theory  of  our  constitution,  alike  accessible  to  all, 
protestants  and  catholics,  and  to  every  denomination  of  each.  But 
if  our  homage  is  not  paid  to  a  mortal,  we  are  liable  to  a  punish- 
ment which  an  erroneous  worship  of  God  does  not  bring  upon  us. 
Those  public  officers,  it  seems,  who  have  failed  to  exhibit  their 
devotion  to  that  mortal,  are  to  be  visited  by  all  the  punishment 
which  he  can  inflict,  in  virtue  of  laws,  the  execution  of  which  was 
committed  to  his  hands  for  the  public  good,  and  not  to  subserve 
his  private  purposes. 

At  the  most  important  port  of  the  United  States,  the  office  of 
collector  was  filled  by  Mr.  Thompson,  whose  removal  was  often 
urged  upon  the  late  administration  by  some  of  its  friends,  upon 
the  ground  of  his  alleged  attachment  to  general  Jackson.  But  the 
late  president  was  immovable  in  his  resolution  to  deprive  no  man 
of  his  office,  in  consequence  of  his  political  opinions,  or  preferences. 
Mr.  Thompson's  removal  was  so  often  and  so  strongly  pressed,  for 
the  reason  just  stated,  that  an  inquiry  was  made  of  the  secretary  of 
the  treasury,  into  the  manner  in  which  the  duties  of  the  office  were 
discharged.  The  secretary  stated,  that  there  was  no  better  collector 
in  the  public  service ;  and  that  his  returns  and  accounts  were 
regularly  and  neatly  rendered,  and  all  the  duties  of  his  office  ably 
and  honestly  performed,  as  far  as  he  knew  or  believed.  This 
meritorious  officer  has  been  removed  to  provide  a  place  for  Mr. 
vol.  i.  73 


578  SPEECHES     OF     HE  N  fiY      CLAY. 

Swartwout,  whose  association  with  colonel  Burr  is  notorious 
throughout  the  United  States.  I  put  it  to  the  candor  of  all  who 
are  here,  to  say  if  such  a  change  can  be  justified  in  the  port  of 
New  York,  the  revenue  collected  at  which  amounts  to  about  ten 
millions  of  dollars,  or  more  than  one  third  of  the  whole  revenue  of 
the  United  States. 

I  will  detain  the  present  assembly  no  longer,  upon  subjects 
connected  with  the  general  government.  I  hope  that  I  shall  find, 
in  the  future  course  of  the  new  administration,  less  cause  for 
public  disapprobation.  I  most  anxiously  hope,  that  when  its 
measures  come  to  be  developed,  at  the  next  and  succeeding 
sessions  of  congress,  they  shall  be  perceived  to  be  such  as  are  best 
adapted  to  promote  the  prosperity  of  the  country.  I  will  say,  with 
entire  sincerity,  that  I  shall  be  most  happy  to  see  it  sustaining  the 
American  system,  including  internal  improvements,  and  upholding 
the  established  policy  of  the  government  at  home  and  abroad. 
And  I  shall  ever  be  as  ready  to  render  praise  where  praise  is  due, 
as  it  is  now  painful  to  me,  under  existing  circumstances,  to  par- 
ticipate in  the  disapprobation  which  recent  occurrences  have 
produced. 

No  occasion  can  be  more  appropriate  than  the  present,  when 
surrounded  by  my  former  constituents,  to  say  a  few  words  upon 
the  unimportant  subject  of  myself.  Prior  to  my  return  home  I 
had  stated,  in  answer  to  all  inquiries  whether  I  should  be  again 
presented  as  a  candidate  to  represent  my  old  district  in  the  house 
of  representatives,  that  I  should  come  to  no  absolute  decision, 
until  I  had  taken  time  for  reflection,  and  to  ascertain  what  might 
be  the  feelings  and  wishes  of  those  who  had  so  often  honored  me 
with  their  suffrages.  The  present  representative  of  the  district  has 
conducted  himself  towards  me  with  the  greatest  liberality,  and  I 
take  pleasure  now  in  making  my  public  acknowledgments,  so 
justly  due  to  him.  He  had  promptly  declined  being  a  candidate, 
if  I  would  offer,  and  he  warmly  urged  me  to  offer. 

Since  my  return  home,  I  have  mixed  freely  as  I  could  with  my 
friends  and  fellow-citizens  of  the  district.  They  have  met  me 
with  the  greatest  cordiality.  Many  of  them  have  expressed  a  wish 
that  I  would  again  represent  them.  Some  of  the  most  prominent 
and  respectable  of  those  who  voted  for  the  present  chief  magistrate, 
have  also  expressed  a  similar  wish.  I  have  every  reason  to  believe, 
that,  there  would  be  no  opposition  to  me,  from  any  quarter  or  any 
party,  if  I  were  to  offer.  But  if  I  am  not  greatly  deceived  in  the 
prevailing  feeling  throughout  the  district,  it  is  one  more  delicate 
and  respectful  towards  me,  and  I  appreciate  it  much  higher,  than  if 
it  had  been  manifested  in  loud  calls  upon  me  to  return  to  my  old 
post.  It  referred  the  question  to  my  own  sober  judgment.  My 
former  constituents  were  generally  ready  to  acquiesce  in  any 
decision  1  might  think  proper  to  make.     If  I  were  to  offer  for 


BEGINNING     OF     JACKSON'S     ADJJINI  8  T  B  ATION.      579 

congress,  they  were  prepared  to  support  me  with  their  accustomed 
zeal  and  true-heartedness.  I  thank  them  all,  from  the  very  bottom 
of  my  heart,  whether  they  agreed  or  differed  with  me  in  the  late 
contest,  for  this  generous  confidence. 

I  have  deliberated  much  on  the  question.  My  friends  in  other 
parts  of  the  union,  are  divided  in  opinion  about  the  utility  of  any 
services  which  I  could  render,  at  the  present  period,  in  the  national 
legislature.  This  state  of  things,  at  home  and  abroad,  left  me  free 
to  follow  the  impulse  of  my  own  feelings,  and  the  dictates  of  my 
own  judgment.  These  prompted  me  to  remain  in  private  life.  In 
coming  to  this  resolution,  I  did  not  mean  to  impair  the  force  of  the 
obligation  under  which  every  citizen,  in  my  opinion,  stood,  to  the 
last  flickering  of  human  life,  to  dedicate  his  best  exertions  to  the 
service  of  the  republic.  I  am  ready  to  act  in  conformity  with  that 
obligation,  whenever  it  shall  be  the  pleasure  of  the  people ;  and 
such  a  probability  of  usefulness  shall  exist  as  will  justify  my 
acceptance  of  any  service  which  they  may  choose  to  designate. 

I  have  served  my  country  now  near  thirty  years.  My  constitu- 
tion, never  very  vigorous,  requires  repose.  My  health,  always  of 
late  years  very  delicate,  demands  care.  My  private  affairs  want 
my  attention.  Upon  my  return  home,  I  found  my  house  out  of 
repair ;  my  farm  not  in  order,  the  fences  down,  the  stock  poor,  the 
crop  not  set,  and  late  in  April  the  corn-stalks  of  the  year's  growth 
yet  standing  in  the  field  —  a  sure  sign  of  slovenly  cultivation. 

Under  all  circumstances,  I  think  that,  without  being  liable  to  the 
reproach  of  dereliction  of  any  public  duty  to  my  country  or  to  my 
friends,  I  may  continue  at  home  for  a  season,  if  not  during  the 
remainder  of  my  life,  among  my  friends  and  old  constituents, 
cheering  and  cheered  by  them,  and  interchanging  all  the  kind  and 
friendly  offices  incident  to  private  life.  I  wished  to  see  them  all ; 
to  shake  hands  cordially  with  them ;  to  inquire  into  the  deaths, 
births,  marriages,  and  other  interesting  events  among  them ;  to 
identify  myself  in  fact,  as  I  am  in  feeling,  with  them,  and  with  the 
generation  which  has  sprung  up  whilst  I  have  been  from  home, 
serving  them.  I  wish  to  put  my  private  affairs  to  rights,  and  if  I 
can,  with  the  blessing  of  Providence,  to  reestablish  a  shattered 
constitution  and  enfeebled  health. 

It  has  been  proposed  to  me  to  offer  for  a  seat  in  the  legislature 
of  the  state.  I  should  be  proud  of  the  selection,  if  I  believed  I 
could  be  useful  at  Frankfort.  I  see,  I  think,  very  clearly,  the  wants 
of  Kentucky.  Its  finances  are  out  of  order,  but  they  could  be 
easily  put  straight,  by  a  little  moral  courage,  on  the  part  of  the 
general  assembly,  and  a  small  portion  of  candor  and  good  will 
among  the  people.  Above  all,  we  want  an  efficient  system  of 
internal  improvements  adopted  by  the  state.  No  Kentuckian  who 
travelled  in  or  out  of  it,  could  behold  the  wretched  condition  of 
our  roads,  without  the  deepest  mortification.     We  are  greatly  in 


580  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

the  rear  of  almost  all  the  adjacent  states,  some  of  which  sprung 
into  existence  long  after  we  were  an  established  commonwealth. 
Whilst  they  are  obeying  the  spirit  of  the  age,  and  nobly  marching 
forward  in  the  improvement  of  their  respective  territories,  we  are 
absolutely  standing  still,  or  rather  going  backwards.  It  is  scarcely 
credible,  but  nevertheless  true,  that  it  took  my  family,  in  the 
month  of  April,  nearly  four  days  to  travel,  through  mud  and  mire, 
a  distance  of  only  sixty-four  miles,  over  one  of  the  most  frequented 
roads  in  the  state. 

And  yet  our  wants,  on  this  subject,  are  perfectly  within  the 
compass  of  our  means,  judiciously  applied.  An  artificial  road 
from  Maysville  to  the  Tennessee  line,  one  branch  in  the  direction 
of  Nashville,  and  a  second  to  strike  the  mouth  of  Cumberland  or 
Tennessee  river;  an  artificial  road  extending  from  Louisville  to 
intersect  the  other,  somewhere  about  Bowling  Green ;  one  passing 
by  Shelbyville  and  Frankfort,  to  the  Cumberland  gap;  and  an 
artificial  road  extending  from  Frankfort  to  the  mouth  of  Big  Sandy; 
compose  all  the  leading  roads  which  at  present  need  the  resources 
of  the  state.  These  might  be  constructed,  partly  upon  the  Mc 
Adams  method,  and  partly  by  simply  graduating  and  bridging 
them,  which  latter  mode  can  be  performed  at  an  expense  less  than 
one  thousand  dollars  per  mile.  Other  lateral  connecting  these 
main  roads,  might  be  left  to  the  public  spirit  of  the  local  authorities 
and  of  private  companies. 

Congress,  without  doubt,  would  aid  the  state,  if  we  did  not  call 
upon  Hercules  without  putting  our  shoulders  to  the  wheel.  But 
without  that  aid  we  could  ourselves  accomplish  all  the  works  which 
I  have  described.  It  would  not  be  practicable  to  complete  them 
in  a  period  of  less  than  seven  or  eight  years,  and  of  course  not 
necessary  to  raise  the  whole  sum  requisite  to  the  object  in  one 
year.  Funds  drawn  from  executed  parts  of  the  system  might  be 
applied  to  the  completion  of  those  that  remained.  This  auxiliary 
source,  combined  with  the  ample  means  of  the  state,  properly 
developed,  and  faithfully  appropriated,  would  enable  us  to  construct 
all  the  roads  which  I  have  sketched,  without  burdening  the  people. 

But,  solicitous  as  I  feel  on  this  interesting  subject,  I  regret  that  I 
have  not  yet  seen  sufficient  demonstrations  of  the  public  will,  to 
assure  me  that  the  judgment  of  the  people  had  carried  them  to  the 
same  or  similar  conclusions  to  which  my  mind  has  conducted  me. 
We  have  been,  for  years  past,  unhappily  greatly  distracted  and 
divided.  These  dissensions  have  drawn  us  off  from  a  view  of 
greater  to  less  important  concerns.  They  have  excited  bitter  feel- 
ings and  animosities,  and  created  strong  prejudices  and  jealousies. 
I  fear  that  from  these  causes  the  public  is  not  yet  prepared  dispas- 
sionately to  consider  and  adopt  a  comprehensive,  I  think  the  only 
practical,  system  of  internal  improvements,  in  this  state.  A  prema- 
ture effort  might  retard,  instead  of  accelerating,  the  object.     And  J 


BEGINNING  OF  JACKSON'S  ADMINISTRATION.  581 

must  add,  that  I  fear  extraneous  causes  would  bias  and  influence 
the  judgment  of  the  legislature. 

Upon  the  whole,  I  must  decline  acceding  to  the  wishes  of  those 
who  desired  to  see  me  in  the  legislature.  Retirement,  unqualified 
retirement,  from  all  public  employment,  is  what  I  unaffectedly 
desire.  I  would  hereafter,  if  my  life  and  health  are  preserved,  be 
ready  at  all  times  to  act  on  the  principles  I  have  avowed,  and 
whenever,  at  a  more  auspicious  period,  there  shall  appear  to  be  a 
probability  of  my  usefulness  to  the  union  or  to  the  state,  I  will 
promptly  obey  any  call  which  the  people  may  be  pleased  to  make. 

And  now,  my  friends  and  fellow-citizens,  I  cannot  part  from 
you,  on  possibly  this  last  occasion  of  my  ever  publicly  addressing 
you,  without  reiterating  the  expression  of  my  thanks  from  a  heart 
overflowing  with  gratitude.  I  came  among  you,  now  more  than 
thirty  years  ago,  an  orphan  boy,  pennyless,  stranger  to  you  all, 
without  friends,  without  the  favor  of  the  great.  You  took  me  up, 
cherished  me,  caressed  me,  protected  me,  honored  me.  You  have* 
constantly  poured  upon  me  a  bold  and  unabated  stream  of  innu- 
merable favors.  Time,  which  wears  out  every  thing,  has  increased 
and  strengthened  your  affection  for  me.  When  I  seem  deserted 
by  almost  the  whole  world,  and  assailed  by  almost  every  tongue, 
and  pen,  and  press,  you  have  fearlessly  and  manfully  stood  by  me, 
with  unsurpassed  zeal  and  undiminished  friendship.  When  I  felt 
as  if  I  should  sink  beneath  the  storm  of  abuse  and  detraction, 
which  was  violently  raging  around  me,  I  have  found  myself  upheld 
and  sustained  by  your  encouraging  voices,  and  your  approving 
smiles.  I  have  doubtless  committed  many  faults  and  indiscretions, 
over  which  you  have  thrown  the  broad  mantle  of  your  charity. 
But  I  can  say,  and  in  the  presence  of  my  God  and  of  this  assem- 
bled multitude,  I  will  say,  that  I  have  honestly  and  faithfully  served 
my  country;  that  I  have  never  wronged  it;  and  that,  however 
unprepared  I  lament  that  I  am  to  appear  in  the  Divine  presence 
on  other  accounts,  I  invoke  the  stern  justice  of  his  judgment  on 
my  public  conduct,  without  the  smallest  apprehension  of  his 
displeasure. 

Mr.  Clay  concluded  by  proposing  the  following  toast : 

The  State  of  Kentucky.  A  cordial  union  of  alt  parties  in  favor  of  an  efficient 
system  of  internal  improvements,  adapted  to  the  wants  of  the  state. 


v 


M0i  I1 


EFFECT   OF  THE   PROTECTIVE   SYSTEM 
ON  THE  SOUTHERN  STATES. 

AT    NATCHEZ,    MISSISSIPPI,    MARCH    13,    1830. 


[On  this  occasion,  Mr.  Clay  (then  in  private  life)  being  on  his  return  home  from  a 
visit  to  New  Orleans,  was  invited  by  the  citizens  of  Natchez  to  partake  of  a  public 
dinner,  which  invitation  he  accepted.  A  brief  sketch  of  his  remarks  in  reply  to  a 
toast  in  honor  of  him,  taken  from  a  Natchez  paper,  is  given  below,  in  which  he 
shows  that  the  operation  of  a  protective  tariff  is  beneficial  to  the  cotton-growing 
regions  of  the  south,  as  well  as  to  the  interests  of  the  north,  although  the  latter  are 
more  directly  employed  in  manufactures.] 


THE  RECEPTION  AND  ENTERTAINMENT  OF  MR.  CLAY. 

1  The  manner  in  which  Mr.  Clay  has  been  received  in  Natchez,  reflects  great  credit 
upon  the  citizens  ;  nothing  they  could  do,  becoming  a  patriotic  and  hospitable  people, 
was  neglected,  and  the  attentions  were  not  confined  to  his  political  friends;  he 
accepted  private  entertainments  from  others,  and  was  visited  by  all. 

'  On  Saturday  (thirteenth  instant)  a  public  dinner  was  given  to  Mr.  Clay  by  the 
people  of  the  city  and  county,  agreeably  to  previous  engagements ;  on  this  occasion 
numbers  came  to  see  him  from  distant  counties.  But  on  one  occasion  of  the  kind, 
have  we  seen  in  this  city  a  larger  assemblage  of  citizens,  and  that  was  in  honor  of 
La  Fayette.' 

'The  honorable  Edward  Turner,  judge  of  the  supreme  court  of  this  state,  presided, 
assisted  by  several  vice-presidents.1 

4  Previous  to  giving  the  toast  in  honor  of  Mr.  Clay,  judge  Turner  addressed  the 
company,  in  which  he  alluded  to  his  (Mr.  Clay's)  great  public  services,  and  concluded 
by  announcing  the  following  sentiment,  which  was  received  with  the  strongest 
emotion. 

'  Our  distinguished  guest  —  the  firm  and  patriotic  statesman;  the  grandeur 
and  usefulness  of  his  political  views  can  only  be  surpassed  by  his  eloquence  and 
ability  in  advocating  them.' 

To  which  Mr.  Clay  replied  in  substance  as  follows : 


Mr.  President  and  fellow-citizens, 

I  not  only  rise  in  gratitude  for  the  favorable  opinions  you  enter- 
tain of  me,  but  to  avail  myself  of  an  opportunity  to  acknowledge 
my  sense  of  the  honors  conferred  upon  me  by  my  fellow-citizens 
of  Mississippi.  I  did,  indeed,  expect  to  receive  from  them  such 
kind  attentions,  as  they  are  celebrated  for  extending  to  every 
stranger  having  had  the  satisfaction  to  visit  them;  but  it  is  my 
pride  to  acknowledge,   that  those  paid  to   me,  have  far,  very  far, 


THE  PROTECTIVE  SYSTEM.  583 

exceeded  my  expectations ;  to  have  received  and  not  acknowledge 
how  sensible  I  am  of  them,  would  seem  an  affectation  of  conceal- 
ing feelings,  which  I  ought  to  rejoice  in  possessing,  and  which 
justice  to  myself,  as  well  as  to  those  who  bestow  this  kindness, 
requires  of  me  to  avow. 

Ere  I  landed  on  your  shores,  your  welcome  and  congratulations 
came  to  meet  me ;  and  they  came  too  the  more  welcome,  because 
I  saw  commingling  around  me,  citizens,  who,  though  at  variance 
on  political  subjects,  do  not  suffer  their  differences  to  interfere  with 
the  claims,  which,  as  friends  and  as  countrymen,  they  have  on  each 
other;  and  if  I  have  done  aught  deserving  their  approbation  as 
well  as  their  censure,  believe  me,  in  all  that  I  have  done,  I  have 
acted  in  view  of  the  interest  and  happiness  of  our  common 
country. 

There  is  nothing  in  life  half  so  delightful  to  the  heart,  as  to  know, 
that,  notwithstanding  all  the  conflicts  that  arise  among  men,  yet 
there  comes  a  time  when  their  passions  and  prejudices  shall  slumber, 
and  that  the  stranger  guest  shall  be  cheered  in  seeing,  that  whatever 
differences  may  arise  among  them,  yet  there  are  moments  when 
they  shall  cease  from  troubling,  and  when  all  that  is  turbulent  and 
distrustful  among  them,  shall  be  sacrificed  to  the  generous  and 
social  dictates  of  their  nature ;  and  it  would  be  to  me  a  source  of 
great  satisfaction  to  think,  that  a  recollection  of  the  present  would 
act  as  a  mediator,  and  soften  the  asperities  of  your  divisions,  as 
circumstances  and  events  may  renew  them. 

The  gentleman  who  sits  at  the  head  of  this  festive  board,  and 
near  whose  person  your  kind  consideration  and  courtesy  has  placed 
me,  was  the  companion  of  my  early  days ;  and  neither  time  nor 
distance  have  weakened  in  him  the  feelings  which  began  with  our 
youth,  the  strong  and  bright  evidences  of  which  are  shown  in  the 
narration  he  has  given  of  my  public  services.  But  I  fear  that  he 
has  rather  conceived  me  to  be  what  his  wishes  would  have  me ; 
and  that  to  these,  more  than  to  my  own  deservings,  must  I  attribute 
his  flattering  notice  of  me. 

He  then  adverted  to  that  part  of  judge  Turner's  address  which 
spoke  of  Mr.  Clay  as  the  decided  advocate  of  the  late  war.  We 
cannot  attempt  to  draw  even  the  outlines  of  his  observations,  or  to 
portray  the  feelings  he  discovered  while  depicting  the  part  which 
Kentucky  acted  in  the  war ;  of  the  volunteers  she  sent  forth  to 
battle,  of  the  privations  she  suffered,  of  the  money  expended,  and 
of  the  blood  that  flowed  from  her  sons,  in  supporting  the  nation  in 
the  defence  of  her  rights  and  independence.  The  expression  of 
his  eye,  his  attitude,  and  gestures,  evinced  how  deeply  the  subject 
affected  him.  The  people  of  Kentucky,  he  said,  acted  nobly 
throughout  the  whole  contest;  and  whether  in  defeat  or  in  victory, 
she  still  showed  the  determination  to  sustain  the  American  charac- 
ter, and  to  maintain   American  independence ;    and  it  would  be 


584  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

only  to  repeat,  what  was  a  common  observation  among  the  people 
of  his  state,  to  say,  that  their  countrymen  of  Mississippi,  acted  with 
a  spirit  during  the  war  worthy  the  best  days  of  the  revolution. 

In  speaking  of  the  invasion  of  Louisiana,  and  of  the  battle  of 
New  Orleans,  his  feelings  and  his  voice  seemed  to  rise  with  the 
subject.  The  encomiums  he  passed  upon  the  hero  who  had 
achieved  the  victory,  though  said  in  a  few  wTords,  were  such  as 
might  be  expected  from  a  statesman  so  great  in  honor,  and  so 
exalted  in  patriotism  as  Mr.  Clay.  He  concluded  this  part  of  his 
speech,  by  saying,  that,  although  by  the  negotiations  at  Ghent, 
none  of  the  objects  for  which  the  nation  went  to  war,  were  guaran- 
tied by  the  treaty  of  peace ;  yet  they  were  secured  to  us  by  a  power 
much  stronger  than  any  treaty  stipulations  could  give ;  the  influence 
of  our  arms,  the  resources  and  power  of  the  republic,  as  brought 
forth  and  shown  in  the  contest. 

He  now  spoke  of  the  apprehensions  entertained  by  many,  that 
the  union  would  be  dissolved  ;  but  he  considered  all  apprehensions 
of  this  kind,  as  arising  more  from  our  fears  that  such  a  misfortune 
should  visit  the  country,  than  from  any  substantial  reasons  to  justify 
them.  Rumors,  he  said,  had  gone  abroad  ever  since  the  adoption 
of  the  present  constitution,  that  the  republic  would  be  dismembered. 
Whenever  any  important  question  arose,  in  which  the  passions  and 
prejudices  of  party,  rather  than  the  reason  of  the  people,  was 
brought  to  bear  on  the  discussion,  the  cry  would  be  heard,  that  the 
union  would  fall  in  the  conflict ;  to-day,  the  disposition  to  separate 
would  be  charged  on  the  west ;  to-morrow,  against  the  north  or 
the  east;  and  then  it  would  be  returned  back  again  to  the  south; 
but  as  long  as  I  have  lived,  said  Mr.  Clay,  I  have  seen  nothing  to 
give  me  any  serious  fears  that  such  an  evil  could  befall  us.  First, 
the  people  were  divided  into  democrats  and  federalists ;  then  we 
had  the  funding  system,  and  the  bank  of  the  United  States ;  then 
came  the  Missouri  question,  and  last  the  tariff.  On  this  question 
my  partial  friend  has  honored  me  with  the  appellation  of  the 
advocate  of  domestic  industry.  I  am,  indeed,  from  conscientious 
convictions,  the  friend  of  that  system  of  public  policy,  which  has 
been  called  the  American  system  ;  and  here,  among  those  who 
honestly  differ  with  me  on  this  question,  I  would  be  indulged, 
by  this  magnanimous  people,  in  offering  a  few  remarks  on  this 
subject. 

It  has  been  objected  to  this  policy  by  a  distinguished  statesman 
in  congress,  that  our  country  was  too  extended,  the  lands  too  cheap 
and  fertile,  and  our  population  too  sparse  to  admit  of  the  manu- 
facturing system  ;  that  our  people  were  physically  incapable  of  that 
confined  degree  of  labor,  necessary  to  excellence  in  manufactures  ; 
but  experience  has  surely  disproved  these  positions.  We  are  by 
nature  inferior  to  no  people,  physically  or  mentally,  and  time  has 
proved  and  will  continue  to  prove  it. 


THE     PROTECTIVE     SYSTEM.  585 

I  am  aware  that  the  people  of  this  quarter  of  the  union  consci- 
entiously believe,  that  the  tariff  bears  heavily  on  them ;  yet  I  feel 
also  well  assured,  from  a  retrospect  of  the  past,  that  if  the  laws  on 
this  subject  were  even  more  severe  in  their  operation  than  I  believe 
them  to  be,  this  patriotic  people  would  endure  them  patiently. 
Yes,  if  the  independence  of  the  country,  the  interests,  and  above 
all  the  cavse  of  the  union  required  heavy  sacrifices,  they  would 
endure  them.  But  whilst  claiming  no  immunity  from  error,  I  feel 
the  most  sincere,  the  deepest  conviction,  that  the  tariff,  so  far  from 
having  proved  injurious  to  the  peculiar  interests  of  this  section  of 
country,  has  been  eminently  beneficial.  I  ask  leave  to  put  two 
questions  to  those  interested  in  your  great  staple.  I  would  take  the 
common  operations  of  sale  and  of  purchase ;  has  the  operation  of  the 
tariff  lowered  the  price  of  what  you  sell  ?  The  price  of  every  article 
must  be  regulated  mainly  by  the  demand  ;  has,  then,  the  consump- 
tion of  cotton  diminished  since  the  tariff  of  1824,  or  1828?  No, 
it  has  increased,  greatly  increased ;  and  why  ?  Because  the 
protection  extended  by  this  policy,  has  created  a  neiv  customer  in 
the  American  manufacturer,  who  takes  two  hundred  thousand 
bales,  without  having  lessened  the  demand  for  the  European 
market. 

British  merchants  have  found  new  markets  for  their  cotton 
fabrics,  and  the  competition,  thus  created,  while  it  has  reduced  the 
price  of  the  manufactured  article,  has  increased  the  consumption 
of  the  raw  material.  Again,  has  the  tariff  increased  the  price  of 
what  you  buy  ?  Take  the  article  of  domestic  cottons,  for  example ; 
has  not  the  American  manufacturer,  since  the  adoption  of  this 
system,  afforded  you  a  better  article  and  at  less  price  than  before  ? 
Take  a  familiar  instance,  one  in  which  having  some  personal 
interest,  I  ought  to  be  acquainted  with ;  take  the  article  manufac- 
tured in  my  own  state,  for  the  covering  of  your  cotton  bales ;  take 
any  period,  say  six  years  before  and  six  years  since  the  tariff  of 
1824;  has  the  average  price  of  cotton  bagging  increased  or 
diminished,  in  that  period?  I  think  I  can  appeal  confidently  to 
those  around  me,  for  the  reply.  We  afford  you  a  better  article  than 
the  European,  and  at  a  greatly  reduced  price.  But,  I  am  permit- 
ting myself  to  be  carried  away  by  the  subject ;  I  will  obtrude  no 
longer  on  the  indulgence  of  this  generous  people.  I  feel  my 
inability  to  express  my  profound  and  heartfelt  gratitude,  for  the  too 
flattering  reception  you  have  given  me,  and  for  the  sentiments  you 
have  been  pleased  to  honor  me  with,  an  humble  individual  in 
private  life.     I  ask  permission  to  offer  a  sentiment. 

'  The  health  and  prosperity  of  the  people  of  the  state  of  Mississippi.' 


vol.  i.  74 


ON  THE  REDUCTION  OF  DUTIES  ON  IMPORTS. 


IN  THE  SENATE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  JANUARY  11,  1832. 


[The  following  resolution,  previously  offered  by  Mr.  Clay,  was  taken  up  for 
consideration : 

'Resolved,  that  the  existing  duties  upon  articles  imported  from  foreign  countries, 
and  not  coming  into  competition  with  similar  articles  made  or  produced  within  the 
United  States,  ought  to  be  forthwith  abolished,  except  the  duties  upon  wines  and  silks, 
and  that  those  ought  to  be  reduced.  And  that  the  committee  on  finance  be  instructed 
to  report  a  bill  accordingly.' 

To  meet  the  approaching  crisis  of  the  extinguishment  of  the  national  debt,  and  to 
endeavor  to  allay  the  hostility  to  a  protective  tariff,  then  existing  in  the  southern 
states,  Mr.  Clay  offered  the  above  proposition,  which  he  supported  in  the  following 
speech.  The  discussion  of  the  subject,  in  the  senate,  led  to  a  debate  which  was  not 
terminated  until  late  in  the  month  of  March,  when  the  resolution  was  referred  to  the 
committee  on  manufactures.  Mr.  Clay  having  given  his  views  in  part  in  this  opening 
of  the  debate,  followed  it  up  in  February  by  a  more  elaborate  speech  in  defence  of 
the  American  system  (as  will  be  seen  by  the  one  which  we  have  given  under  that 
head).  The  resolution  having  been  read,  Mr.  Clay  rose  and  addressed  the  senate  as 
follows.! 


I  have  a  few  observations,  Mr.  President,  and  only  a  few,  to 
submit  to  the  senate,  on  the  measure  now  before  you,  in  doing 
which  I  have  to  ask  all  your  indulgence.  1  am  getting  old ;  I  feel 
but  too  sensibly  and  unaffectedly  the  effects  of  approaching  age, 
and  I  have  been  for  some  years  very  little  in  the  habit  of  addressing 
deliberative  assemblies.  I  am  told  that  I  have  been  the  cause  — 
the  most  unwilling  cause,  if  I  have  been  —  of  exciting  expectations, 
the  evidence  of  which  is  around  us.  I  regret  it ;  for,  however  the 
subject  on  which  I  am  to  speak,  in  other  hands,  might  be  treated,  to 
gratify  or  to  reward  the  presence  and  attention  now  given  in  mine, 
I  have  nothing  but  a  plain,  unvarnished,  and  unambitious  exposi- 
tion to  make. 

It  forms  no  part  of  my  present  purpose  to  enter  into  a  considera- 
tion of  the  established  policy  of  protection.  Strong  in  the  convic- 
tions and  deeply  seated  in  the  affections  of  a  large  majority  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  it  stands  self-vindicated  in  the  general 
prosperity,  in  the  rich  fruits  which  it  has  scattered  over  the  land,  in 
the  experience  of  all  prosperous  and  powerful  nations,  present  and 
past,  and  now  in  that  of  our  own.  Nor  do  I  think  it  necessary  to 
discuss  that  policy  on  this  resolution.     Other  gentlemen  may  think 


REDUCTION     OF     DUTIES     ON     IMPORTS.  587 

differently,  and  may  choose  to  argue  and  assail  it.  If  they  do,  I 
have  no  doubt  that  in  all  parts  of  the  senate,  members  more 
competent  than  I  am,  will  be  ready  to  support  and  defend  it.  My 
object  now  is  to  limit  myself  to  a  presentation  of  certain  views  and 
principles  connected  with  the  present  financial  condition  of  the 
country. 

A  consideration  of  the  state  of  the  public  revenue  has  become 
necessary  in  consequence  of  the  near  approach  of  the  entire 
extinction  of  the  public  debt;  and  I  concur  with  you,  sir,  in 
believing  that  no  season  could  be  more  appropriate  than  the  present 
session  of  congress,  to  endeavor  to  make  a  satisfactory  adjustment 
of  the  tariff.  The  public  debt  chiefly  arose  out  of  the  late  war, 
justly  denominated  the  second  contest  for  national  independence. 
An  act,  commonly  called  the  sinking  fund  act,  was  passed  by 
congress  nearly  fifteen  years  ago,  providing  for  its  reimbursement. 
That  act  was  prepared  by  a  friend  of  yours  and  mine,  and  proposed 
by  him,  whose  premature  death  was  not  a  loss  merely  to  his  native 
state,  of  which  he  was  one  of  its  brightest  ornaments,  but  to  the 
whole  nation.  No  man  with  whom  I  ever  had  the  honor  to  be 
associated  in  the  legislative  councils,  combined  more  extensive  and 
useful  information,  with  more  firmness  of  judgment,  and  blandness 
of  manner,  than  did  the  lamented  Mr.  Lowndes.  And  when  in 
the  prime  of  life,  by  the  dispensation  of  an  all- wise  Providence,  he 
was  taken  from  us,  his  country  had  reason  to  anticipate  the  greatest 
benefits  from  his  wisdom  and  discretion.  By  that  act  an  annual 
appropriation  was  made,  of  ten  millions  of  dollars,  towards  the 
payment  of  the  principal  and  interest  of  the  public  debt,  and  also 
any  excess  which  might  yearly  be  in  the  treasury,  beyond  two 
millions  of  dollars,  which  it  was  thought  prudent  to  reserve  for 
unforeseen  exigences. 

But  this  system  of  regular  and  periodical  application  of  public 
revenue  to  the  payment  of  the  public  debt,  would  have  been 
unavailing  if  congress  had  neglected  to  provide  the  necessary  ways 
and  means.  Congress  did  not,  however,  neglect  the  performance 
of  that  duty.  By  various  acts,  and  more  especially  by  the  tariff 
of  1824  —  the  abused  tariff  of  1824  —  the  public  coffers  were 
amply  replenished,  and  we  have  been  enabled  to  reach  our  present 
proud  eminence  of  financial  prosperity.  After  congress  had  thus 
abundantly  provided  funds,  and  directed  their  systematical  applica- 
tion, the  duty  remaining  to  be  performed  by  the  executive  was  one 
simply  ministerial.  And  no  executive,  and  no  administration,  can 
justly  claim  for  itself  any  other  merit  in  the  discharge  of  the  public 
debt,  than  that  of  a  faithful  execution  of  the  laws ;  no  other  merit 
than  that  similar  one  to  which  it  is  entitled,  for  directing  a  regular 
payment  of  what  is  due  from  time  to  time  to  the  army  and  navy, 
or  to  the  officers  of  the  civil  government,  for  their  salaries. 

The  operation  of  the  sinking   fund  act  commenced  with    the 


588  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

commencement  of  Mr.  Monroe's  administration.  During  its 
continuance,  of  eight  years,  in  consequence  of  the  embarrassments 
of  the  treasury,  the  ten  millions  were  not  regularly  applied  to  the 
payment  of  the  debt,  and  upon  the  termination  of  that  adminis- 
tration the  treasury  stood  largely  in  arrear  to  the  sinking  fund. 
During  the  subsequent  administration  of  four  years,  not  only  were 
the  ten  millions  faithfully  applied  during  each  year,  but  those 
arrears  were  brought  up,  and  all  previous  deficiencies  made  good. 
So  that,  when  the  present  administration  began,  a  plain,  unincum- 
bered, and  well-defined  path  lay  directly  before  it.  Under  the 
measures  which  have  been  devised  in  the  short  term  of  fifteen 
years,  the  government  has. paid  nearly  one  hundred  millions  of 
principal,  and  about  an  equal  sum  of  interest,  leaving  the  small 
remnant  behind,  of  twenty-four  millions.  Of  that  amount,  thirteen 
millions  consist  of  three  per  cent,  stock,  created  by  the  act  of 
1790,  which  the  government  does  not  stand  bound  to  redeem  at 
any  prescribed  time,  but  which  it  may  discharge  whenever  it  may 
suit  its  own  convenience,  and  when  it  is  discharged  it  must  be 
done  by  the  payment  of  dollar  for  dollar.  I  cannot  think,  and  I 
should  suppose  congress  can  hardly  believe  with  the  secretary  of 
the  treasury,  that  it  would  be  wise  to  pay  off  a  stock  of  thirteen 
millions,  entitling  its  holders  to  but  three  per  cent.,  with  a  capital 
of  thirteen  millions,  worth  an  interest  of  six  per  cent.  In  other 
words,  to  take  from  the  pockets  of  the  people  two  dollars,  to  pay 
one  in  the  hands  of  the  stockholder. 

The  moral  value  of  the  payment  of  a  national  debt  consists  in 
the  demonstration  which  it  affords  of  the  ability  of  a  country  to 
meet,  and  its  integrity  in  fulfilling,  all  its  engagements.  That  the 
resources  of  this  country,  increasing,  as  it  constantly  is,  in  popula- 
tion and  wealth,  are  abundantly  sufficient  to  meet  any  debt,  which 
it  may  ever  prudently  contract,  cannot  be  doubted.  And  its 
punctuality  and  probity,  from  the  period  of  the  assumption,  in  1790, 
of  the  debt  of  the  revolution,  down  to  the  present  time,  rest  upon  a 
solid  and  incontestable  foundation.  The  danger  is  not,  perhaps, 
that  it  will  not  fairly  meet  its  engagements,  but  that,  from  an  inordi- 
nate avidity,  arising  from  temporary  causes,  it  may  bring  discredit 
upon  itself  by  improvident  arrangement,  which  no  prudent  man,  in 
the  management  of  his  private  affairs,  would  ever  think  of  adopting. 

Of  the  residue  of  that  twenty-four  millions  of  debt,  after 
deducting  the  thirteen  millions  of  three  per  cent.,  less  than  two 
millions  are  due,  and  of  right  payable  within  the  present  year.  If 
to  that  sum  be  added  the  moiety  which  becomes  due  on  the  thirty- 
first  of  December  next,  of  the  four  million  four  hundred  and  fifty- 
iour  thousand  seven  hundred  and  twenty-seven  dollars,  created  by 
the  act  of  the  twenty-sixth  of  May,  1824,  we  have  but  a  sum  of 
about  four  millions,  which  the  public  creditor  can  lawfully 
demand,    or    which    the    government   is   bound   to    pay    in    the 


REDUCTION  OF  DUTIES  ON  IMPORTS.       589 

course  of  this  year.  If  more  is  paid,  it  can  only  be  done  by 
anticipating  the  period  of  its  payment,  and  going  into  the  public 
market  to  purchase  the  stock.  Can  it  be  doubted  that,  if  you  do 
so,  the  vigilant  holder  of  the  stock,  taking  advantage  of  your 
anxiety,  will  demand  a  greater  price  than  its  value  ?  Already  we 
perceive,  that  the  three  per  cent,  have  risen  to  the  extraordinary 
height  of  ninety-six  per  cent.  The  difference  between  a  pay- 
ment of  the  inconsiderable  portion  remaining  of  the  public  debt 
in  one,  two,  or  three  years,  is  certainly  not  so  important  as  to  justify 
a  resort  to  highly  disadvantageous  terms. 

Whoever  may  be  entitled  to  the  credit  of  the  payment  of  the 
public  debt,  I  congratulate  you,  sir,  and  the  country,  most  cordially, 
that  it  is  so  near  at  hand.  It  is  so  nearly  being  totally  extinguished, 
that  we  may  now  safely  inquire  whether,  without  prejudice  to  any 
established  policy,  we  may  not  relieve  the  consumption  of  the 
country,  by  the  repeal  or  reduction  of  duties,  and  curtail  consid- 
erably the  public  revenue.  In  making  ihis  inquiry,  the  first  question 
that  presents  itself  is,  whether  it  is  expedient  to  preserve  the 
existing  duties  in  order  to  accumulate  a  surplus  in  the  treasury,  for 
the  purpose  of  subsequent  distribution  among  the  several  states.  I 
think  not.  If  the  collection  for  the  purpose  of  such  a  surplus  is  to 
be  made  from  the  pockets  of  one  portion  of  the  people,  to  be 
ultimately  returned  to  the  same  pockets,  the  process  would  be 
attended  with  the  certain  loss  arising  from  the  charges  of  collection, 
and  with  the  loss  also  of  interest  while  the  money  is  performing 
the  unnecessary  circuit,  and  it  would  therefore  be  unwise.  If  it  is 
to  be  collected  from  one  portion  of  the  people  and  given  to  another, 
it  would  be  unjust.  ]f  it  is  to  be  given  to  the  states  in  their  corpo- 
rate capacity,  to  be  used  by  them  in  their  public  expenditure,  I  know 
of  no  principle  in  the  constitution  that  authorizes  the  federal 
government  to  become  such  a  collector  for  the  states,  nor  of  any 
principle  of  safety  or  propriety  which  admits  of  the  states  becoming 
such  recipients  of  gratuity  from  the  general  government. 

The  public  revenue,  then,  should  be  regulated  and  adapted  to 
the  proper  service  of  the  general  government.  It  should  be  ample ; 
for  a  deficit  in  the  public  income,  always  to  be  deprecated,  is 
sometimes  attended,  as  we  know  well  from  history  and  from  what 
has  happened  in  our  own  time,  with  fatal  consequences.  In  a 
country  so  rapidly  growing  as  this  is,  with  such  diversified  interests, 
new  wants  and  unexpected  calls  upon  the  public  treasury  must 
frequently  occur.  Take  some  examples  from  this  session.  The 
state  of  Virginia  has  presented  a  claim  for  an  amount  but  little 
short  of  a  million,  which  she  presses  with  an  earnestness  demon- 
strating her  conviction  of  its  justice.  The  state  of  South  Carolina  has 
also  a  claim  for  no  inconsiderable  sum,  being  upwards  of  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  which  she  urges  with  equal  earnestness.  The 
gentleman  from  Pennsylvania  (Mr.  Wilkins)  has  brought  forward  a 


590  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

claim  arising  out  of  French  spoliations  previous  to  the  convention  of 
1800,  which  is  perhaps  not  short  of  five  millions,  and  to  some 
extent  I  have  no  doubt  it  has  a  just  foundation.  In  any  provision 
of  public  revenue,  congress  ought  so  to  fix  it  as  to  admit  of  the 
payment  of  honest  and  proper  demands,  which  its  justice  cannot 
reject  or  evade. 

I  hope,  too,  that  either  in  the  adjustment  of  the  public  revenue, 
or  what  would  be  preferable,  in  the  appropriation  of  the  proceeds  of 
the  public  lands,  effectual  and  permanent  provision  will  be  made 
for  svch  internal  improvements  as  may  be  sanctioned  by  congress. 
This  is  due  to  the  American  people,  and  emphatically  due  to  the 
western  people.  Sir,  temporary  causes  may  exact  a  reluctant 
acquiescence  from  the  people  of  the  west  in  the  suspension  of  appro- 
priations to  objects  of  internal  improvement,  but  as  certain  as  you 
preside  in  that  chair,  or  as  the  sun  performs  its  diurnal  revolution, 
they  will  not  be  satisfied  with  an  abandonment  of  the  policy.  They 
will  come  here  and  tell  you,  not  in  a  tone  of  menace  or  suppli- 
cation, but  in  the  language  of  conscious  right,  that  they  must  share 
with  you  in  the  benefits,  as  they  divide  with  you  the  burdens  and  the 
perils,  of  a  common  government.  They  will  say  that  they  have  no 
direct  interest  in  the  expenditures  for  the  navy,  the  fortifications,  nor 
even  the  army,  those  greatest  absorbents  of  the  public  treasure.  That 
they  are  not  indifferent,  indeed,  to  the  safety  and  prosperity  of  any 
part  of  our  common  country.  On  the  contrary,  that  every  portion  of  the 
republic  is  indirectly,  at  least,  interested  in  the  welfare  of  the  whole, 
and  that  they  ever  sympathize  in  the  distresses  and  rejoice  in  the  hap- 
piness of  the  most  distant  quarter  of  the  union.  And  to  demonstrate 
that  they  are  not  careless  or  indifferent  to  interests  not  direclly  their 
own,  they  may  proudly  and  triumphantly  appeal  to  the  gallant  part 
which  they  bore  in  the  late  war,  and  point  to  the  bloody  fields  on 
which  some  of  their  most  patriotic  sons  nobly  fell  fighting  in  the 
common  cause.  But  they  will  also  say,  that  these  paternal  and  just 
sentiments  ought  to  be  reciprocated  by  their  Atlantic  brethren. 
That  these  ought  not  to  be  indifferent  to  the  welfare  of  the  west, 
and  that  they  have  the  same  collateral  or  indirect  interest  in  its 
success  and  advancement  that  the  west  has  in  theirs.  That  it  does 
not  ask  internal  improvements  to  be  confined  exclusively  to  itself, 
but  that  it  may  receive,  in  common  with  the  rest  of  the  union,  a 
practical  benefit  in  the  only  form  compatible  with  its  interior 
condition. 

The  appropriation  of  the  proceeds  of  the  public  lands,  or  a 
considerable  portion  of  them,  to  that  object,  would  be  a  most 
natural  and  suitable  disposition.  And  I  do  hope,  sir,  that  that 
great  resource  will  be  cherished  and  dedicated  to  some  national 
purpose,  worthy  of  the  republic.  Utterly  opposed  as  I  trust  con- 
gress will  show  itself  to  be,  to  all  the  mad  and  wild  schemes  —  and 
to  that  latest,  but  maddest  and  wildest  of  all,  recommended  by  the 


REDUCTION     OF     DUTIES     ON     IMPORTS.  £91 

secretary  of  the  treasury  —  for  squandering  the  public  domain,  I 
hope  it  will  be  preserved  for  the  present  generation  and  for  posterity, 
as  it  has  been  received  from  our  ancestors,  a  rich  and  bountiful 
inheritance.  In  these  halcyon  days  of  peace  and  plenty  and  an 
overflowing  treasury,  we  appear  to  embarrass  ourselves  in  devising 
visionary  schemes  for  casting  away  the  bounties  with  which  the 
goodness  of  Providence  has  blessed  us.  But,  sir,  the  storm  of  war 
will  come  when  we  know  not,  the  day  of  trial  and  difficulty  will 
assuredly  come,  and  now  is  the  time,  by  a  prudent  forecast,  to 
husband  our  resources,  and  this,  the  greatest  of  them  all.  Let  them 
not  be  hoarded  and  hugged  with  a  miser's  embrace,  but  liberally 
used.  Let  the  public  lands  be  administered  in  a  generous  spirit; 
and  especially  towards  the  states  within  which  they  are  situated. 
Let  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  the  public  lands  be  applied  in  a 
season  of  peace  to  some  great  object  and  when  war  does  come, 
by  suspending  that  application  of  them  during  its  continuance,  you 
will  be  at  once  put  in  possession  of  means  for  its  vigorous  prose- 
cution. More  than  twenty-five  years  ago,  when  first  I  took  a  seat 
in  this  body,  I  was  told  by  the  fathers  of  the  government,  that  if  we 
had  any  thing  perfect  in  our  institutions,  it  was  the  system  for 
disposing  of  the  public  lands,  and  I  was  cautioned  against  rash 
innovations  in  it.  Subsequent  experience  fully  satisfied  me  of  the 
wisdom  of  their  counsels,  and  that  all  vital  changes  in  it  ought  to 
be  resisted. 

Although  it  may  be  impracticable  to  say  what  the  exact  amount 
of  the  public  revenue  should  be  for  the  future,  and  what  would  be 
the  precise  produce  of  any  given  system  of  imports,  we  may  safely 
assume  that  the  revenue  may  now  be  reduced,  and  considerably 
reduced.  This  reduction  may  be  effected  in  various  ways  and  on 
different  principles.     Only  three  modes  shall  now  be  noticed. 

First,  to  reduce  duties  on  all  articles  in  the  same  ratio,  without 
regard  to  the  principle  of  protection. 

Second,  to  retain  them  on  the  unprotected  articles,  and  augment 
them  on  the  protected  articles.     And, 

Third,  to  abolish  and  reduce  the  duties  on  unprotected  articles, 
retaining  and  enforcing  the  faithful  collection  of  those  on  the 
protected  articles. 

To  the  first  mode  there  are  insuperable  objections.  It  would 
lead  inevitably  to  the  destruction  of  our  home  manufactures.  It 
would  establish  a  sort  of  bed  of  Procrustes,  by  which  the  duties  on 
all  articles  should  be  blindly  measured,  without  respect  to  their 
nature  or  the  extent  of  their  consumption.  And  it  would  be 
derogatory  to  every  principle  of  theory  or  practice  on  which  the 
government  has  hiiherto  proceeded. 

The  second  would  be  still  more  objectionable  to  the  foes  of  the 
tariff*  than  either  of  the  others.  But  it  cannot  be  controverted,  that, 
by  augmenting  considerably  the  duties  on  the  protected  class,  so  as 


592  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

to  carry  them  to  the  point,  or  near  to  the  confines,  of  absolute 
prohibition,  the  object  in  view,  of  effecting  the  necessary  reduction 
of  the  public  revenue,  may  be  accomplished  without  touching  the 
duties  on  the  unprotected  class.  The  consequence  of  such  an 
augmentation  would  be,  a  great  diminution  in  the  importation  of 
the  foregoing  article,  and  of  course  in  the  duties  upon  it.  But 
against  entire  prohibition,  except  perhaps  in  a  few  instances,  I  have 
been  always  and  still  am  opposed.  By  leaving  the  door  open  to 
the  foreign  rival  article,  the  benefit  is  secured  of  a  salutary  compe- 
tition. If  it  be  hermetically  closed,  the  danger  is  incurred  of 
monopoly. 

The  third  mode  is  the  most  equitable  and  reasonable,  and  it 
presents  an  undebatable  ground,  on  which  I  had  hoped  we  all  could 
safely  tread  without  difficulty.  It  exacts  no  sacrifice  of  principle 
from  the  opponent  of  the  American  system,  it  comprehends  none 
on  the  part  of  its  friends.  The  measure  before  you  embraces  this 
mode.  It  is  simple,  and  free  from  all  complexity.  It  divides  the 
whole  subject  of  imports  according  to  its  nature.  It  settles  at  once 
what  ought  not  to  be  disputed,  and  leaves  to  be  settled  hereafter,  if 
necessary,  what  may  be  controverted. 

A  certain  part  of  the  south  has  hitherto  complained,  that  it  pays 
a  disproportionate  amount  of  the  imports.  If  the  complaint  be 
well  founded,  by  the  adoption  of  this  measure  it  will  be  relieved  at 
once,  as  will  be  hereafter  shown,  from  at  least  a  fourth  of  its 
burdens.  The  measure  is  in  conformity  with  the  uniform  practice 
of  the  government  from  its  commencement,  and  with  the  professions 
of  all  the  eminent  politicians  of  the  south  until  of  late.  It  assumes 
the  right  of  the  government,  in  the  assessment  of  duties,  to  discrim- 
inate between  those  articles  which  sound  policy  requires  it  to  foster 
and  those  which  it  need  not  encourage.  This  has  been  the 
invariable  principle  on  which  the  government  has  proceeded,  from 
the  act  of  congress  of  the  fourth  of  July,  1789,  down  to  the  present 
time.  And  has  it  not  been  admitted  by  almost  every  prominent 
southern  politician  ?  Has  it  not  even  been  acknowledged  by  the 
fathers  of  the  free-trade  church,  in  their  late  address  promulgated 
from  Philadelphia  to  the  people  of  the  United  States?  If  we 
never  had  a  system  of  foreign  imports,  and  were  now  called  upon 
for  the  first  time  lo  originate  one,  should  we  not  discriminate 
between  the  objects  of  our  own  industry  and  those  produced  by 
foreigners?  And  is  there  any  difference  in  its  application  between 
the  modification  of  an  existing  system  and  the  origination  of  a  new 
one  ?  If  the  gentlemen  of  the  south,  opposed  to  the  tariff,  were  to 
obtain  complete  possession  of  the  powers  of  government,  would 
they  hazard  their  exercise  on  any  other  principle?  If  it  be  said 
that  some  of  the  articles  that  would  by  this  measure  be  liberated 
from  duties,  are  luxuries,  the  remark  is  equally  true  of  some  of  the 
articles  remaining  subject  to  duties.     In  the  present  advanced  stage 


REDUCTION     OF     DUTIES     ON     IMPORTS.  593 

of  civilization  and  comfort,  it  is  not  easy  to  draw  the  line  between 
luxuries  and  necessaries.  It  will  be  difficult  to  make  the  people 
believe  that  bohea  tea  is  a  luxury,  and  the  article  of  fine  broadcloth 
is  a  necessary,  of  life. 

In  stating  that  the  duties  on  the  protected  class  ought  to  be 
retained,  it  has  been  far  from  my  wish  to  preclude  inquiry  into 
their  adequacy  or  propriety.  If  it  can  be  shown  that  in  any  instance 
they  are  excessive  or  disproportionately  burdensome  on  any  section 
of  the  union,  for  one  I  am  ready  to  vote  for  their  reduction,  or 
modification.  The  system  contemplates  an  adequate  protection ; 
beyond  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  go.  Short  of  that  its  operation 
will  be  injurious  to  all  parties. 

The  people  of  this  country,  or  a  large  majority  of  them,  expect 
that  the  system  will  be  preserved.  And  its  abandonment  would 
produce  general  surprise,  spread  desolation  over  the  land,  and 
occasion  as  great  a  shock  as  a  declaration  of  war  forthwith  against 
the  most  powerful  nation  of  Europe. 

But  if  the  system  be  preserved,  it  ought  to  be  honestly,  fairly, 
and  faithfully  enforced.  That  there  do  exist  the  most  scandalous 
violations  of  it,  and  the  grossest  frauds  upon  the  public  revenue  in 
regard  to  some  of  the  most  important  articles,  cannot  be  doubted. 
As  to  iron,  objects  really  belonging  to  one  denomination  to  which 
a  higher  duty  is  attached,  are  imported  under  another  name,  to 
which  a  lower  duty  is  assigned,  and  thus  the  law  is  evaded.  False 
invoices  are  made  as  to  woollens,  and  the  classifications  into 
minimums  is  constantly  eluded.  The  success  of  the  American 
manufacture  of  cotton  bagging  has  been  such  that,  by  furnishing 
a  better  and  cheaper  article,  the  bagging  of  Inverness  and  Dundee 
has  been  almost  excluded  from  the  consumption  of  the  states 
bordering  on  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries.  There  has  not  yet 
been  sufficient  time  to  fabricate  and  transport  the  article  in  neces- 
sary quantities  from  the  western  states  to  the  southern  Atlantic 
states,  which  have  therefore  been  almost  exclusively  supplied  from 
the  Scottish  manufactories.  The  payment  of  the  duty  is  evaded  by 
the  introduction  of  the  foreign  fabric,  under  the  name  of  burlops, 
or  some  other  mercantile  phrase,  and  instead  of  paying  five  cents 
the  square  yard,  it  is  entered  with  a  duty  of  only  fifteen  per  centum 
ad  valorem.  That  this  practice  prevails  is  demonstrated  by  the 
treasury  report  of  the  duties  accruing  on  cotton  bagging  for  the 
years  1828,  1829-30.  During  the  first  year  the  amount  was  one 
hundred  thirty-seven  thousand  five  hundred  and  six  dollars,  the 
second,  one  hundred  and  six  thousand  and  sixty-eight  dollars, 
and  the  third  it  sank  down  to  fourteen  thousand  one  hundred 
and  forty-one  dollars. 

The  time  has  arrived  when  the  inquiry  ought  to  be  seriously 
made,  whether  it  be  not  practicable  to  arrest  this  illegitimate  course 
of  trade,  and  secure  the  faithful  execution  of  the  laws.  No  time 
vol.  i.  75 


594  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

could  be  more  suitable  than  that  at  which  it  is  contemplated  to 
make  a  great  reduction  of  the  public  revenue.  Two  radical 
changes  have  presented  themselves  to  my  mind,  and  which  I  will 
now  suggest  for  consideration  and  investigation.  On  such  a  sub- 
ject, I  would,  however,  seek  from  the  mercantile  community  and 
practical  men,  all  the  light  which  they  are  so  capable  of  affording, 
and  should  be  reluctant  to  act  on  my  own  convictions,  however 
strong. 

The  first  is,  to  make  a  total  change  in  the  place  of  valuation. 
Now  the  valuation  is  made  in  foreign  countries.  We  fix  the 
duties,  and  we  leave  to  foreigners  to  assess  the  value  on  articles 
paying  ad  valorem  duties.  That  is,  we  prescribe  the  rule  and  leave 
its  execution  to  the  foreigner.  This  is  an  anomaly,  I  believe, 
peculiar  to  this  country.  It  is  evident  that  the  amount  of  duty 
payable  on  a  given  article,  subject  to  an  ad  valorem  duty,  may  be 
effected  as  much  by  the  fixation  of  the  value,  as  by  the  specifica- 
tion of  the  duty.  And,  for  all  practical  purposes,  it  would  be  just 
as  safe  to  retain  to  ourselves  the  ascertainment  of  the  value,  and 
leave  to  the  foreigner  to  prescribe  the  duty,  as  it  is  to  reserve  to 
ourselves  the  right  to  declare  the  duty  and  allow  to  him  the  privilege 
to  assess  the  value. 

The  effect  of  this  vicious  condition  of  the  law  has  been,  to  throw 
almost  the  whole  import  trade  of  the  country,  as  to  some  important 
articles,  into  the  hands  of  the  foreigner.  I  have  been  informed 
that  seven  eighths  of  the  importation  of  woollens  into  the  port  of 
New  York,  where  more  is  received  than  in  all  the  other  ports  of 
the  United  States  together,  are  in  his  hands.  This  has  not  pro- 
ceeded from  any  want  of  enterprise,  intelligence,  or  capital,  on  the 
part  of  the  American  merchant;  for  in  these  particulars  he  is 
surpassed  by  the  merchant  of  no  country.  It  has  resulted  from 
his  probity,  his  character,  and  his  respect  to  the  laws  and  institu- 
tions of  his  country  —  a  respect  which  does  not  influence  the 
foreigner.  I  am  aware  that  it  is  made,  by  law,  the  duty  of  the 
appraiser  to  ascertain  the  value  of  the  goods  in  certain  cases.  But 
what  is  his  chief  guide.  It  is  the  foreign  invoice,  made  by  whom 
he  knows  not ;  certainly  by  no  person  responsible  to  our  laws. 
And  if  its  fairness  be  contested,  they  will  bring  you  cart-loads  of 
certificates  and  affidavits,  from  unknown  persons,  to  verify  its 
exactness  and  the  first  cost  of  the  article. 

Now,  sir,  it  seems  to  me  that  this  is  a  state  of  things  to  which 
we  should  promptly  apply  an  efficient  remedy ;  and  no  other 
appears  to  me  but  that  of  taking  into  our  own  hands  both  parts  of 
the  operation  —  the  ascertainment  of  the  value  as  well  as  the  duty 
to  be  paid  on  the  goods.  If  it  be  said  that  we  might  have  in 
different  ports  different  rules,  the  answer  is,  that  there  could  be  no 
diversity  greater  than  that  to  which  we  are  liable,  from  the  fact  of 
the  valuation  being  now  made  in  all  the  ports  of  foreign  countries, 


REDUCTION     OF     DUTIES     ON     IMPORTS.  595 

from  which  we  make  our  importations.  And  that  it  is  better  to 
have  the  valuations  made  by  persons  responsible  to  our  own 
government,  and  regulated  by  one  head,  than  by  unknown  foreign- 
ers, standing  under  no  responsibility  whatever  to  us.  The  other 
change  to  which  I  allude,  is,  to  reduce  the  credits  allowed  for  the 
payment  of  duties,  and  to  render  them  uniform.  It  would  be 
better,  if  not  injurious  to  commerce,  to  abolish  them  altogether. 
Now  we  have  various  periods  of  credit,  graduated  according  to 
the  distance  of  the  foreign  port,  and  the  nature  of  the  trade.  These 
credits  operate  as  so  much  capital,  on  which  the  foreign  merchant 
can  sometimes  make  several  adventures,  before  the  day  of  payment 
arrives.  There  is  no  reciprocal  advantage  afforded  to  the  Ameri- 
can merchant,  I  believe,  in  any  foreign  port.  As  we  shall  probably 
abolish,  or  greatly  reduce  the  duties  on  all  articles  imported  beyond 
the  cape  of  Good  Hope,  on  which  the  longest  credits  are  allowed, 
the  moment  would  seem  to  be  propitious  for  restricting  the  other 
credits  in  such  manner,  that  while  they  afforded  a  reasonable 
facility  to  the  merchant,  they  should  not  supply  the  foreigner,  at 
the  instance  of  the  public,  with  capital  for  his  mercantile  operations. 
If  the  laws  can  be  strictly  enforced,  and  some  such  alterations  as 
have  been  suggested  can  be  carried  into  effect,  it  is  quite  probable 
that  a  satisfactory  reduction  may  be  made,  on  some  of  the  articles 
falling  within  the  system  of  protection.  And  without  impairing 
its  principle,  other  modes  of  relief  may  probably  be  devised  to 
some  of  those  interests  upon  which  it  is  suffered  to  press  most 
heavily. 

There  remains  one  view  to  present  to  the  senate,  in  respect  to 
the  amount  of  reduction  of  the  revenue  which  will  be  produced  by 
the  proposed  measure,  if  adopted,  and  its  influence  upon  the 
payment  of  the  public  debt  within  the  time  suggested  by  the 
secretary  of  the  treasury.  The  estimate  which  I  have  made  of 
that  amount,  is  founded  upon  treasury  returns  prior  to  the  late 
reduction  of  duties  on  tea,  coffee,  and  cocoa.  Supposing  the  duties 
on  wines  and  silks  to  be  reduced  as  low  as  I  think  they  may  be, 
the  total  amount  of  revenue  with  which  the  proposed  measure  will 
dispense,  will  be  about  seven  millions  of  dollars.  The  secretary 
of  the  treasury  estimates  the  receipts  of  the  present  year,  from  all 
sources,  at  thirty  million  one  hundred  thousand  dollars;  and  he 
supposes  those  of  the  next  year  will  be  of  an  equal  amount.  He 
acknowledges  that  the  past  year  has  been  one  of  extraordinary 
commercial  activity,  but  on  what  principles  does  he  anticipate 
that  the  present  will  also  be?  The  history  of  our  commerce 
demonstrates  that  it  allernates,  and  that  a  year  of  intemperate 
speculation,  is  usually  followed  by  one  of  more  guarded  importa- 
tion. That  the  importations  of  the  last  year  have  been  excessive, 
I  believe  is  generally  confessed,  and  is  demonstrated  by  two 
unerring  facts.     The  first  is,  that  the  imports  have  exceeded  the 


596  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

exports,  by  about  seventeen  millions  of  dollars.  Whatever  may- 
be the  qualifications  to  which  the  theory  of  the  balance  of  trade 
may  be  liable,  it  may  be  safely  affirmed,  that  when  the  aggregate 
of  the  importations  from  all  foreign  countries  exceeds  the  aggregate 
of  the  exportalions  to  all  foreign  countries,  considerably,  the 
unfavorable  balance  must  be  made  up  by  a  remittance  of  the 
precious  metals  to  some  extent.  Accordingly  we  find  the  existence 
of  the  other  fact  to  which  I  allude,  the  high  price  of  bills  of  exchange 
on  England.  It  is,  therefore,  fairly  to  be  anticipated,  that  the 
duties  accruing  this  year  will  be  less  in  amount,  than  those  of  the 
past  year.  And  I  think  it  would  be  unwise  to  rely  upon  our 
present  information,  as  to  the  income  of  either  of  these  two  years, 
as  furnishing  a  safe  guide  for  the  future.  The  years  1829-30 
will  supply  a  surer  criterion.  There  is  a  remarkable  coincidence 
in  the  amount  of  the  receipts  into  the  treasury  during  those  two 
years,  it  having  been  the  first,  from  all  sources,  twenty-four  million 
eight  hundred  and  twenty-seven  thousand  six  hundred  and  twenty- 
seven  dollars  and  thirty-eight  cents,  and  the  second,  twenty-four 
million  eight  hundred  and  forty-four  thousand  one  hundred  and 
sixteen  dollars  and  fifty-one  cents,  differing  only  about  seventeen 
thousand  dollars. 

The  mode  recommended  by  the  secretary  for  the  modification 
of  the  tariff  is,  to  reduce  no  part  of  the  duties  on  the  unprotected 
articles  prior  to  March,  1833,  and  then  to  retain  a  considerable 
portion  of  them.  And  as  to  the  protected  class,  he  would  make  a 
gradual  but  prospective  reduction  of  the  duties.  The  effect  of  this 
would  be,  to  destroy  the  protecting  system,  by  a  slow  but  certain 
poison.  The  object  being  to  reduce  the  revenue,  every  descending 
degree  in  the  scale  of  his  plan  of  gradual  reduction,  by  letting  in 
more  of  the  foreign  article  to  displace  the  domestic  rival  fabric, 
would  increase  the  revenue,  and  create  the  necessity  for  further  and 
further  reduction  of  duties,  until  they  would  be  carried  so  low  as 
to  end  in  the  entire  subversion  of  the  system  of  protection. 

For  the  reasons  which  have  been  assigned,  it  would,  I  think,  be 
unwise  in  congress  at  this  time  to  assume  for  the  future,  that  there 
would  be  a  greater  amount  of  net  annual  revenue  from  all  sources, 
including  the  public  lands,  than  twenty-five  millions  of  dollars. 
Deducting  from  that  sum  the  amount  of  seven  millions  of  dollars, 
which  it  has  been  supposed  ought  to  be  subtracted,  if  the  resolution 
before  you  should  be  adopted,  there  would  remain  eighteen  millions 
of  dollars,  as  the  probable  revenue  for  future  years.  This  includes 
the  sum  of  three  millions  of  dollars,  estimated  as  the  future  annual 
receipt  from  the  sale  of  the  public  lands  —  an  estimate  which  I 
presume  will  be  demonstrated  by  experience  to  be  much  too  large. 

If  a  reduction  so  large  as  seven  millions  be  made  at  this  session, 
and  if  the  necessary  measures  be  also  adopted  to  detect  and  punish 
frauds,  and  insure  a  faithful  execution  of  the  laws,  we  may  safely 


REDUCTION     OF     DUTIES     ON     IMPORTS.  597 

make  a  temporary  pause,  and  await  the  development  of  the  effect 
of  these  arrangements  upon  the  revenue.  That  the  authority  of 
the  laws  should  be  vindicated,  all  ought  to  agree.  Now  the  fraud- 
ulent importer,  after  an  exposure  of  his  fraud,  by  a  most  strange 
treasury  construction  of  the  law,  (made,  I  understand,  however, 
not  by  the  present  secretary,)  eludes  all  punishment,  and  is  only 
required  to  pay  those  very  duties  which  he  was  originally  bound 
for,  but  which  he  dishonestly  sought  to  evade.  Other  measures, 
with  a  view  to  a  further  reduction  of  the  revenue,  may  be  adopted. 
In  some  instances  there  might  be  an  augmentation  of  duties  for 
that  purpose.  I  will  mention  the  article  of  foreign  distilled  spirits. 
In  no  other  country  upon  earth  is  there  so  much  of  the  foreign 
article  imported,  as  in  this.  The  duties  ought  to  be  doubled,  and 
the  revenue  thereby  further  reduced  from  six  hundred  thousand,  to 
a  million  of  dollars.  The  public  morals,  the  grain-growing  country, 
the  fruit-raising  and  the  cane-planting  country,  would  be  all  ben- 
efited by  rendering  the  duty  prohibitory.  I  have  not  proposed  the 
measure,  because  it  ought  to  originate,  perhaps,  in  the  other  house. 

That  the  measure  which  I  have  proposed  may  be  adopted, 
without  interfering  with  the  plan  of  the  secretary  of  the  treasury 
for  the  payment  of  the  public  debt  by  the  fourth  of  March  next,  I 
will  now  proceed  to  show.  The  secretary  estimates  that  the 
receipts  of  the  present  year,  after  meeting  all  other  just  engage- 
ments, will  leave  a  surplus  of  fourteen  millions  of  dollars,  applicable 
to  the  payment  of  the  principal  of  the  debt.  With  this  sum,  eight 
millions  of  dollars,  which  he  proposes  to  derive  from  the  sale  of 
the  bank  stock,  and  two  millions  of  dollars,  which  he  would 
anticipate  from  the  revenue  of  the  next  year,  he  suggests  that  the 
whole  of  the  debt  remaining,  may  be  discharged  by  the  time 
indicated.  The  fourteen  millions,  I  understand,  (although  on  this 
subject  the  report  is  not  perfectly  explicit,)  are  receipts  anticipated 
this  year,  from  duties  which  accrued  last  year.  If  this  be  the 
secretary's  meaning,  it  is  evident  that  he  wants  no  part  of  the  duties 
which  may  accrue  during  the  current  year,  to  execute  his  plan. 
But  if  his  meaning  be,  that  the  fourteen  millions  will  be  composed, 
in  part,  of  duties  accruing-  and  payable  within  the  present  year, 
then  the  measure  proposed  might  prevent  the  payment  of  the  whole 
of  the  remnant  of  the  debt  by  the  exact  day  which  has  been  stated. 
If,  however,  the  entire  seven  millions  embraced  by  the  resolution 
on  your  table  were  subtracted  from  the  fourteen,  it  would  still  leave 
him  seven  millions,  besides  the  bank  stock  to  be  applied  to  the 
debt,  and  that,  of  itself,  would  be  three  millions  more  than  can  be 
properly  applied  to  the  object  in  the  course  of  this  year,  as  I  have 
already  endeavored  to  show. 

I  came  here,  sir,  most  anxiously  desiring  that  an  arrangement 
of  the  public  revenue  should  be  made,  which,  without  sacrificing 
any  of  the  great  interests   of  the   country,  would  reconcile  and 


59S  SPEECHES      OF      HENRY      CLAY. 

satisfy  all  its  parts.  I  thought  T  perceived,  in  the  class  of  objects 
not  produced  within  the  country,  a  field  on  which  we  could  all 
enter,  in  a  true  and  genuine  spirit  of  compromise  and  harmony, 
and  agree  upon  an  amicable  adjustment.  Why  should  it  not  be 
done  ?  Why  should  those  who  are  opposed  to  the  American 
system,  demand  of  its  friends  an  unconditional  surrender?  Our 
common  object  should  be,  so  to  reduce  the  public  revenue  as  to 
relieve  the  burdens  of  the  people,  if  the  people  of  this  country  can 
be  truly  said  to  be  burdened.  The  government  must  have  a 
certain  amount  of  revenue,  and  that  amount  must  be  collected 
from  the  imports.  Is  it  material  to  the  consumer,  wherever  situated, 
whether  the  collection  be  made  upon  a  few,  or  many  objects, 
provided,  whatever  be  the  mode,  the  amount  of  his  contribution  to 
the  public  exchequer  remains  the  same  ?  If  the  assessment  can 
be  made  on  objects  which  will  greatly  benefit  large  portions  of  the 
union,  without  injury  to  him,  why  should  he  object  to  the  selection 
of  those  objects  ?  Yes,  sir,  I  came  here  in  a  spirit  of  warm  attach- 
ment to  all  parts  of  our  beloved  country,  with  a  lively  solicitude  to 
restore  and  preserve  its  harmony,  and  with  a  firm  determination 
to  pour  oil  and  balm  into  existing  wounds,  rather  than  further 
to  lacerate  them.  For  the  truth  and  sincerity  of  these  declarations, 
I  appeal  to  Him  whom  none  can  deceive.  I  expected  to  be  met 
by  corresponding  dispositions,  and  hoped  that  our  deliberations, 
guided  by  fraternal  sentiments  and  feelings,  would  terminate  in 
diffusing  contentment  and  satisfaction  throughout  the  land.  And 
that  such  may  be  the  spirit  presiding  over  them,  and  such  their 
issue,  I  yet  most  fervently  hope. 


ON  THE  NOMINATION  OF  MR.  YAN  BURIN  AS  MINISTER 
TO  GREAT  BRITAIN. 

IN  SECRET  SESSION  IN  THE  U.  S.  SENATE,  JANUARY  24,  1832. 


[In  April,  1831,  a  rupture  in  the  cabinet  of  president  Jackson  terminated  in  the 
resignation  of  the  four  secretaries,  and  the  attorney  general.  Among  them  was  Mr. 
Martin  Van  Buren,  who  resigned  the  office  of  secretary  of  state,  which  he  had  held  a 
little  over  two  years.  General  Jackson  soon  afterwards  appointed  Mr.  Van  Buren 
minister  to  Great  Britain, and  he  took  his  departure  for  London  during  the  recess  of 
the  senate  ;  of  course,  before  the  nomination  could  be  submitted  to  that  body,  for  their 
action.  At  ihe  ensuing  session  of  congress,  the  president  sent  in  his  name  to  the 
senate,  and  the  subject  was  as  usual  acted  upon  in  secret  session,  but  the  injunction 
of  secrecy  was  afterwards  removed,  which  enables  us  to  give  Mr.  Clay's  brief  but 
pointed  remarks  on  the  occasion.  The  principal  ground  of  opposition  to  the  con- 
firmation of  the  nomination,  was.  that  Mr.  Van  Buren,  while  secretary  of  slate,  in 
July.  1829,  had  instructed  Mr.  McLane,  then  minister  to  Great  Britain,  to  represent 
to  the  British  government  that  a  change  of  administration  in  the  United  States  had 
produced  a  change  of  policy ;  thus  bringing  our  party  politics  into  our  negotiations 
with  a  tbreign  power.  The  senate,  therefore,  rebuked  Mr.  Van  Buren  and  the  presi- 
dent, by  rejecting  his  nomination  on  this  occasion,  by  an  equal  vote  of  the  senators, 
and  the  casting  vote  of  the  vice-president  (Mr.  Calhoun). 


Mr.  President, 

I  regret  that  I  find  myself  utterly  unable  to  reconcile  with  the 
duty  I  owe  to  my  country  a  vole  in  favor  of  this  nomination.  I 
regret  it,  because  in  all  the  past  strife  of  party  the  relations  of 
ordinary  civility  and  courtesy  were  never  interrupted  between  the 
gentleman  whose  name  is  before  us  and  myself.  But  I  regard  my 
obligations  to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  and  to  the  honor  and 
character  of  their  government,  as  paramount  to  every  private 
consideration.  There  was  no  necessity  known  to  us  for  the 
departure  of  this  gentleman  from  the  United  States,  prior  to  the 
submission  of  his  name  to  the  senate.  Great  Britain  was  repre- 
sented here  by  a  diplomatic  agent,  having  no  higher  rank  than  that 
of  a  charge  des  affaires.  We  were  represented  in  England  by  one 
of  equal  rank  ;  one  who  had  shed  lustre  upon  his  country  by  his 
high  literary  character,  and  of  whom  it  may  be  justly  said,  that  in 
no  respect  was  he  inferior  to  the  gentleman  before  us.  Although 
I  shall  not  controvert  the  right  of  the  president,  in  an  extraordinary 
case,  to  send  abroad  a  public  minister  without  the  advice    and 


600  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

consent  of  the  senate,  I  do  not  admit  that  it  ever  ought  to  be  done 
without  the  existence  of  some  special  cause,  to  be  communicated 
to  the  senate.  We  have  received  no  communication  of  the  exist- 
ence of  any  such  special  cause.  This  view  of  the  matter  might 
not  have  been  sufficient  alone  to  justify  a  rejection  of  this  nomi- 
nation ;  but  it  is  sufficient  to  authorize  us  to  examine  the  subject 
with  as  perfect  freedom  as  we  could  have  done  if  the  minister  had 
remained  in  the '  United  Slates,  and  awaited  ihe  decision  of  the 
senate.  I  consider  myself,  therefore,  not  committed  by  the  separate 
and  unadvised  act  of  the  president  in  despatching  Mr.  Van  Buren 
in  the  vacation  of  the  senate,  and  not  a  very  long  time  before  it 
was  to  assemble. 

My  main  objection  to  the  confirmation  of  his  appointment 
arises  out  of  his  instructions  to  the  late  minister  of  the  United 
States  at  the  court  of  Great  Britain.  The  attention  of  the  senate 
has  been  already  called  to  parts  of  those  instructions,  but  there  are 
oiher  parts  of  them,  in  my  opinion,  highly  reprehensible.  Speaking 
of  the  colonial  question,  he  says,  '  in  reviewing  the  events  which 
have  preceded,  and  more  or  less  contributed,  to  a  result  so  much  to 
be  regretted,  there  will  be  found  three  grounds,  on  which  we  are 
most  assailable.  First,  in  our  too  long  and  too  tenaciously  resisting 
the  right  of  Great  Britain  to  impose  protecting  duties  in  her 
colonies.'  *  #  #  *  ■  And,  thirdly,  in  omitting  to  accept  the 
terms  offered  by  the  act  of  parliament  of  July,  1825,  after  the  subject 
had  been  brought  before  congress,  and  deliberately  acted  upon  by 
our  government.  #  #  #  #  You  will,  therefore,  see  the  pro- 
priety of  possessing  yourself  of  all  the  explanatory  and  mitigating 
circumstances  connected  with  them,  that  you  may  be  enabled  to 
obviate,  as  far  as  practicable,  the  unfavorable  impression  which  they 
have  produced.'  And  after  reproaching  the  late  administration  with 
setting  up  claims  for  the  first  time,  which  they  explicitly  aban- 
doned, he  says,  in  conclusion,  \  I  will  add  nothing  as  to  the 
impropriety  of  suffering  any  feelings,  that  find  their  origin  in  the 
past  pretensions  of  this  government,  to  have  adverse  influence  upon 
the  present  conduct  of  Great  Britain.' 

On  our  side,  according  to  Mr.  Van  Buren,  all  was  wrong;  on 
the  British  side,  all  was  right.  We  brought  forward  nothing  but 
claims  and  pretensions.  The  British  government  asserted,  on  the 
other  hand,  a  clear  and  incontestable  right.  We  erred  in  too 
tenaciously  and  loo  long  insisting  upon  our  pretensions,  and  not 
yielding  at  once  to  the  force  of  their  just  demands.  And  Mr. 
McLane  was  commanded  to  avail  himself  of  all  ihe  circumstances 
in  his  power  to  mitigate  our  offence,  and  to  dissuade  the  British 
government  from  allowing  their  feelings,  justly  incurred  by  the 
past  conduct  of  the  party  driven  from  power,  to  have  an  adverse 
influence  towards  the  American  party  now  in  power.  Sir,  was 
this  becoming  language  from  one  independent  nation  to  another  ? 


NOMINATION    d  *"    M  fc.     VAN    BUREN.  601 

Was  it  proper,  in  the  mouth  of  an  American  minister?  Was  it 
in  conformity  with  the  high,  unsullied,  and  dignified  character  of 
our  previous  diplomacy?  Was  it  not,  on  the  contrary,  the 
language  of  an  humble  vassal  to  a  proud  and  haughty  lord  ?  Was 
it  not  prostrating  and  degrading  the  American  eagle  before  the 
British  lion  ? 

Let  us  examine  a  little  those  pretensions  which  the  American 
government  so  unjustly  put  forward,  and  so  pertinaciously 
maintain.  The  American  government  contended,  that  the  produce 
of  the  United  States  ought  to  be  admitted  into  the  British  West 
Indies,  on  the  same  terms  as  similar  produce  of  the  British 
American  continental  possessions ;  that  without  this  equality  our 
produce  could  not  maintain  in  the  British  West  Indies  a  fair 
competition  with  the  produce  of  Canada,  and  that  British  preference 
given  to  the  Canadian  produce  in  the  West  Indies  would  draw 
from  the  western  part  of  New  York,  and  the  northern  part  of  Ohio, 
American  produce  into  Canada,  aggrandizing  Montreal  and 
Quebec,  and  giving  employment  to  British  shipping,  to  the 
prejudice  of  the  canals  of  New  York,  the  port  of  New  York,  and 
American  shipping. 

This  was  the  offence  of  the  American  government,  and  we  are 
at  this  moment  realizing  the  evils  which  it  foresaw.  Our  produce 
is  passing  into  Canada,  enriching  her  capitals,  and  nourishing 
British  navigation.  Our  own  wheat  is  transported  from  the  western 
part  of  New  York  into  Canada,  there  manufactured,  and  then 
transported  in  British  ships  in  the  form  of  Canadian  flour.  We 
are  thus  deprived  of  the  privilege  even  of  manufacturing  our  own 
grain.  And  when  the  produce  of  the  United  States,  shipped  from 
the  Atlantic  ports,  arrives  at  the  British  West  Indies,  it  is  unable, 
in  consequence  of  the  heavy  duties  with  which  most  of  it  is 
burdened,  to  sustain  a  competition  with  British  or  colonial  produce, 
freely  admitted. 

The  general  rule  may  be  admitted,  that  every  nation  has  a  right 
to  favor  its  own  productions,  by  protecting  duties,  or  other  regula- 
tions ;  but,  like  all  general  rules,  it  must  have  its  exceptions.  And 
the  relation  in  which  Great  Britain  stands  to  her  continental  and 
West  India  colonies,  from  which  she  is  separated  by  a  vast  sea, 
and  the  relations  in  which  the  United  States  stand  to  those  colonies, 
some  of  which  are  in  juxtaposition  with  them,  constitute  a  fit  case 
for  such  an  exception. 

It  is  true,  that  the  late  administration  did  authorize  Mr.  Gallatin 
to  treat  with  Great  Britain  on  the  basis  of  the  rule  which  has  been 
stated,  but  it  was  with  the  express  understanding,  that  some 
competent  provision  should  be  made  in  the  treaty  to  guard  against 
the  British  monopoly  of  the  transportation  of  our  own  produce 
passing  through  Canada.  Mr.  Gallatin  was  informed,  'that  the 
United  States  consent  to  the  demand  which  they  have  heretofore 
vol.  i.  76 


602  SPEECHES     OP     HENRY     CLAY. 

made  of  the  admission  of  their  productions  into  British  colonies,  at 
the  same  and  no  higher  rate  of  duty  as  similar  productions  are 
chargeable  with  when  imported  from  one  into  another  British  colony, 
with  the  exception  of  our  produce  descending  the  St.  Lawrence  and 
the  SoreW 

There  was  no  abandonment  of  our  right,  no  condemnation  of 
the  previous  conduct  of  our  government,  no  humiliating  admission, 
that  we  had  put  forth  and  too  tenaciously  clung  to  unsustainable 
pretensions,  and  that  Great  Britain  had  all  along  been  in  the  right. 
We  only  forebore  for  the  present  to  assert  a  right,  leaving  ourselves 
at  liberty  subsequently  to  resume  it.  What  Mr.  Gallatin  was  au- 
thorized to  do  was,  to  make  a  temporary  concession,  and  it  was 
proposed  with  this  preliminary  annunciation.  '  But,  notwithstand- 
ing on  a  full  consideration  of  the  whole  subject,  the  president, 
anxious  to  give  a  strong  proof  to  Great  Britain  of  the  desire  of  the 
government  of  the  United  States  to  arrange  this  long  contested 
matter  of  the  colonial  intercourse  in  a  manner  mutually  satisfactory, 
authorizes  you,'  &c.  And  Mr.  Gallatin  was  required  '  to  endeavor 
to  make  a  lively  impression  on  the  British  government  of  the 
conciliatory  spirit  of  that  of  the  United  States,  which  has  dictated 
the  present  liberal  offer,  and  of  their  expectation  to  meet,  in  the 
progress  of  the  negotiations,  with  a  corresponding  friendly  dispo- 
sition.' 

Now,  sir,  keeping  sight  of  the  object  which  the  late  secretary  of 
state  had  in  view,  the  opening  of  the  trade  with  the  British  colonies, 
which  was  the  best  mode  to  accomplish  it — to  send  our  minister 
to  prostrate  himself  as  a  suppliant  before  the  British  throne,  and  to 
say  to  the  British  king,  we  have  offended  your  majesty !  the  late 
American  administration  brought  forward  pretensions  which  we 
cannot  sustain,  and  they  too  long  and  too  tenaciously  adhered  to 
them !  your  majesty  was  always  in  the  right ;  but  we  hope  that 
your  majesty  will  be  graciously  pleased  to  recollect,  that  it  was 
not  we  who  are  now  in  possession  of  the  American  power,  but 
those  who  have  been  expelled  from  it,  that  wronged  your  majesty, 
and  that  we,  when  out  of  power,  were  on  the  side  of  your  majesty ; 
and  we  do  humbly  pray,  that  your  majesty,  taking  all  mitigating 
circumstances  into  consideration,  will  graciously  condescend  to 
extend  to  us  the  privileges  of  the  British  act  of  parliament  of  1825, 
and  to  grant  us  the  boon  of  a  trade  with  your  majesty's  West 
India  colonies — or  to  have  presented  himself  before  the  British 
monarch  in  the  manly  and  dignified  attitude  of  a  minister  of  this 
republic,  and,  abstaining  from  all  condemnation  or  animadversion 
upon  the  past  conduct  of  his  own  government,  to  have  placed  the 
withdrawal  of  our  former  demand  upon  the  ground  of  concession 
in  a  spirit  of  amity  and  compromise  ? 

But  the  late  secretary  of  state,  the  appointed  organ  of  the  Amer- 
ican people  to  vindicate  their  rights  with  all  foreign  powers,  and  to 


NOMINATION     OF     MR.     VAN     BUREN.  G03 

expose  the  injustice  of  any  unfounded  demands  which  they  might 
assert,  was  not  content  to  exert  his  own  ingenuity  to  put  his  own 
country  in  the  wrong,  and  the  British  government  in  the  right. 
He  endeavored  to  attach  to  the  late  administration  the  discredit  of 
bringing  forward  unfounded  pretensions,  and  by  disclaiming  them, 
to  propitiate  the  favor  of  the  British  king.  He  says,  that  the  views 
of  the  present  administration  upon  the  subject  of  the  colonial  trade 
1  have  been  submitted  to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  and  the 
counsels  by  which  your  conduct  is  now  directed  are  the  result  of 
the  judgment,  expressed  by  the  only  earthly  tribunal  to  which  the 
late  administration  was  amenable  for  its  acts.  It  should  be  sufficient, 
that  the  claims  set  up  by  them,  and  what  caused  the  interruption 
of  the  trade  in  question,  have  been  explicitly  abandoned  by  those 
who  first  asserted  them,  and  are  not  revived  by  their  successors.' 
The  late  secretary  of  state  —  the  gentleman  under  consideration  — 
here  makes  the  statement,  that  the  late  administration  were  the 
first  to  set  up  the  claims  to  which  he  refers.  Now,  under  all  the 
high  responsibility  which  belongs  to  the  seat  which  I  occupy, 
I  deliberately  pronounce  that  this  statement  is  untrue,  and  that  the 
late  secretary  either  must  have  known  it  to  be  untrue,  or  he  was 
culpably  negligent  of  his  duty  in  not  ascertaining  what  had  been 
done  under  prior  administrations.  I  repeat  the  charge,  the  statement 
must  have  been  known  to  be  untrue,  or  there  was  culpable  negli- 
gence. If  it  were  material,  I  believe  it  could  be  shown,  that  the 
claim  in  question  —  the  right  to  the  admission  into  the  British 
West  Indies  of  the  produce  of  the  United  States  upon  an  equal 
footing  with  similar  produce  of  the  British  continental  colonies  — 
is  coeval  with  the  existence  of  our  present  constitution,  and  that 
whenever  the  occasion  arose  for  asserting  the  claim,  it  was  asserted. 
But  I  shall  go  no  further  back  than  to  Mr.  Madison's  administration. 
Mr.  Monroe,  the  then  secretary  of  state,  instructed  our  then  minister 
at  London  upon  this  subject.  He  negotiated  with  lord  Castle- 
reagh  in  respect  to  it,  and  this  very  claim  prevented  an  adjustment 
at  that  time  of  the  colonial  question.  It  was  again  brought  forward 
under  Mr.  Monroe's  administration,  when  Mr.  Eush  was  our 
minister  at  London.  He  opened  a  long  and  protracted  negotia- 
tion upon  this  and  other  topics,  which  was  suspended  in  the  summer 
of  1824,  principally  because  the  parties  could  not  agree  on  any 
satisfactory  arrangement  of  this  very  colonial  question. 

Thus,  at  least,  two  administrations  prior  to  that  of  Mr.  Adams's 
had  brought  forward  this  identical  claim  or  pretension,  which  his 
was  the  first  to  assert,  according  to  the  late  secretary  of  state. 

The  next  charge  which  the  late  secretary  of  state  — *  the  official 
defender  of  the  rights  of  the  American  people  —  preferred  against 
his  own  government,  was  that  of  '  omitting  to  accept  the  terms 
offered  by  the  act  of  parliament,  of  July,  1825,  after  the  subject 
had  been  brought  before  congress,  and  deliberately  acted  upon  by 


604  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

our  government.'  Never  was  there  a  more  unfounded  charge 
brought  forward  by  any  native  against  his  own  government,  and 
never  was  there  a  more  unwarranted  apology  set  up  for  a  foreign 
government ;  and  a  plain,  historical  narrative,  will  demonstrate  the 
truth  of  both  these  propositions. 

It  has  been  already  stated,  that  the  negotiations  of  Mr.  Rush, 
embracing  the  precise  colonial  claim  under  consideration,  ivas 
suspended  in  1824,  within  understanding  between  the  two  govern- 
ments, that  it  was  to  be  resumed  on  all  points,  at  some  future 
convenient  period.  Early  in  July,  1825,  neither  government  having 
then  proposed  a  resumption  of  the  negotiation,  the  British  parlia- 
ment passed  an  act  to  regulate  the  colonial  trade  with  foreign 
powers.  This  act  was  never,  during  the  late  administration,  either 
at  London  or  Washington,  officially  communicated  by  the  British 
to  the  American  government,  and  we  only  obtained  it  through  other 
channels.  Now  if  it  had  been  the  purpose  of  the  British  govern- 
ment, by  the  passage  of  that  act,  to  withdraw  the  colonial  question 
from  the  negotiation,  it  ought  to  have  communicated  that  purpose 
to  this  government,  and  at  the  same  time,  the  act  of  parliament,  as 
supplanting  and  substituting  the  negotiation.  But  it  never  did 
communicate  such  purpose.  The  act  itself  did  not  specifically 
embrace  the  United  States,  and  offered  terms,  which,  upon  the 
face  of  the  act,  it  was  impossible  for  the  United  States  to 
accede  to.  It  required,  for  example,  that,  to  entitle  powers  not 
possessing  colonies,  to  the  benefit  of  the  act,  they  must  place  the 
navigation  and  commerce  of  Great  Britain  upon  the  footing  of  the 
most  favored  nations.  To  have  done  this,  would  have  admitted 
British  shipping  to  import  into  the  United  States,  on  the  same 
conditions  with  native  shipping,  the  productions  of  any  quarter  of 
the  globe,  without  a  reciprocal  liberty,  on  the  part  of  the  shipping 
of  the  United  States,  in  British  ports.  The  act  itself  was  differ- 
ently construed,  in  different  colonial  ports  of  Great  Britain,  and  an 
order  of  the  local  government  of  Halifax,  closing  that  port  against 
our  vessels  from  the  fifth  of  January,  was  subsequently  revoked, 
thereby  confirming  the  impression,  that  the  act  of  parliament  was 
not  intended  to  dispense  with  the  previous  negotiation.  And  to 
conclude  this  part  of  the  narrative,  as  late  as  the  twentieth  of 
October,  1826,  Mr.  Vaughan,  the  British  minister,  upon  being 
interrogated  by  the  then  secretary  of  state,  was  totally  uninstructed 
to  afford  any  information,  as  to  the  meaning  or  intent  of  the  act  of 
July,  1825. 

Meantime,  in  March,  more  than  six  months  after  the  passage  of 
the  act  of  parliament,  Mr.  Vaughan  notified  the  department  of 
state,  that  he  had  <  received  instructions  from  his  majesty's  govern- 
ment, to  acquaint  you  that  it  is  preparing  to  proceed  to  the  impor- 
tant negotiations  between  that  country  and  the  United  States,  now 
placed  in  the  hands  of  the  American  minister,  in  London.'    *   *    * 


NOMINATION     OF     MR.     VAN     BUREN.  605 

*  The  negotiations  will  therefore  be  forthwith  resumed.'  *  *  * 
Here  the  negotiations  were  spoken  of  without  exception  of  the 
colonial  question,  the  most  important  of  them.  If  it  had  been 
intended  to  withdraw  that,  no  time  could  have  been  more 
suitable  to  announce  that  intention,  but  no  such  annunciation 
was  made.  Mr.  Vaughan  was  informed,  that  we  also  would 
prepare  for  the  negotiation,  (including,  of  course,  the  colonial  ques- 
tion,) and  Mr.  Gallatin  was  accordingly  shortly  after  sent  out,  with 
full  powers  and  instructions,  amicably  "to  settle  that  question.  On 
his  arrival  in  England,  in  the  summer  of  1826,  he  was  told  by  the 
British  government,  that  they  would  not  negotiate  on  the  colonial 
question ;  that  they  had  made  up  their  mind,  from  the  passage  of 
the  act  of  July,  1825,  not  to  negotiate  about  it;  and  he  was 
informed  by  the  sarcastic  Mr.  Canning,  that  as  we  had  failed  to 
accept  the  boon  which  the  British  government  had  then  offered,  we 
were  then  too  late ! 

Such  is  the  state  of  the  case  on  which  the  late  secretary  of  state  so 
authoritatively  pronounces  judgment  against  his  own  government, 
for  <  omitting  to  accept  the  terms  offered  by  the  act  of  parliament, 
of  July,  1825 ! '  He  adds,  indeed,  '  after  the  subject  had  been 
brought  before  congress,  and  deliberately  acted  upon  by  our  gov- 
ernment.' It  was  brought  before  congress  in  the  session  of  1825-6, 
not  at  the  instance  of  the  American  executive,  but  upon  the  spon- 
taneous and  ill-judged  motion  of  the  gentleman  from  Maryland, 
(Mr.  Smith),  and  Mr.  Gallatin  was  informed  that  if  the  bill  proposed 
by  that  gentleman  had  been  passed,  it  would  have  been  unsatisfac- 
tory to  the  British  government. 

I  have  another  objection  to  this  nomination.  I  believe,  upon 
circumstances  which  satisfy  my  mind,  that  to  this  gentleman  is 
principally  to  be  ascribed  the  introduction  of  the  odious  system  of 
proscription,  for  the  exercise  of  the  elective  franchise,  in  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States.  I  understand  that  it  is  the  system  on 
which  the  party  in  his  own  state,  of  which  he  is  the  reputed  head, 
constantly  acts.  He  was  among  the  first  of  the  secretaries,  to 
apply  that  system  to  the  dismission  of  clerks  in  his  department, 
known  to  me  to  be  highly  meritorious,  and  among  them  one  who 
is  now  a  representative  in  the  other  house.  It  is  a  detestable  system, 
drawn  from  the  worst  periods  of  the  Roman  republic,  and  if  it 
were  to  be  perpetuated — if  the  offices,  honors,  and  dignities  of  the 
people  were  to  be  put  up  to  a  scramble,  and  to  be  decided  by  the 
results  of  every  presidential  election  —  our  government  and  institu- 
tions, becoming  intolerable,  would  finally  end  in  a  despotism  as 
inexorable  as  that  at  Constantinople. 

Sir,  the  necessity  under  which  we  are  placed  is  painful.  But  it 
is  no  fault  of  the  senate,  whose  consent  and  advice  are  required  by 
the  constitution,  to  consummate  this  appointment,  that  the  minister 
has  been  sent  out  of  the  United  States,  without  their  concurrence. 


606  SPEECHES     OF     HENRY     CLAY. 

I  hope  that  the  public  will  not  be  prejudiced  by  his  rejection,  if  he 
should  be  rejected.  And  I  feel  perfectly  assured,  that  if  the  govern- 
ment to  which  he  has  been  deputed,  shall  learn  that  he  has  been 
rejected,  because  he  has  there,  by  his  instructions  to  Mr.  McLane, 
stained  the  character  of  our  country,  the  moral  effect  of  our 
decision  will  greatly  outweigh  any  advantages  to  be  derived  from 
his  negotiations,  whatever  they  may  have  been  intended  to  be. 


END    OF    VOLUME    FTRST. 


s  r. 


14  DAY  USE 

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